California Codes

Cal. Civil Code § 2924h (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026

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(a)Each and every bid made by a bidder at a trustee’s sale under a power of sale contained in a deed of trust or mortgage shall be deemed to be an irrevocable offer by that bidder to purchase the property being sold by the trustee under the power of sale for the amount of the bid. Any second or subsequent bid by the same bidder or any other bidder for a higher amount shall be a cancellation of the prior bid.

(b)At the trustee’s sale, the trustee shall have the right to require any of the following:

(1)Every bidder to show evidence of the bidder’s ability to deposit with the trustee the full amount of their final bid in cash, a cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state, or a cash equivalent which has been designated in the notice of sale as acceptable to the trustee prior to, and as a condition to, the recognizing of the bid, and to conditionally accept and hold these amounts for the duration of the sale.

(2)Any bid that is not cash to be made directly payable to the trustee, if the requirement is set forth by the trustee in the notice of sale.

(3)The last and highest bidder to deposit, if not deposited previously, the full amount of the bidder’s final bid in cash, a cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state, or a cash equivalent which has been designated in the notice of sale as acceptable to the trustee, immediately prior to the completion of the sale, the completion of the sale being so announced by the fall of the hammer or in another customary manner. The present beneficiary of the deed of trust under foreclosure shall have the right to offset their bid or bids only to the extent of the total amount due the beneficiary including the trustee’s fees and expenses.

(c)In the event the trustee accepts a check drawn by a credit union or a savings and loan association pursuant to this subdivision or a cash equivalent designated in the notice of sale, the trustee may withhold the issuance of the trustee’s deed to the successful bidder submitting the check drawn by a state or federal credit union or savings and loan association or the cash equivalent until funds become available to the payee or endorsee as a matter of right. The trustee may require the successful bidder to replace the check drawn by a credit union or a savings and loan association or cash equivalent pursuant to this subdivision with a check drawn by a credit union or a savings and loan association or cash equivalent to this subdivision made directly payable to the trustee if necessary for the funds to be made available to the trustee.

For the purposes of this subdivision, the trustee’s sale shall be deemed final upon the acceptance of the last and highest bid, and shall be deemed perfected as of 8 a.m. on the actual date of sale if the trustee’s deed is recorded within 21 calendar days after the sale, or the next business day following the 21st day if the county recorder in which the property is located is closed on the 21st day. If an eligible bidder submits a written notice of intent to bid pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 2924m, the trustee’s sale shall be deemed perfected as of 8 a.m. on the actual date of sale if the trustee’s deed is recorded within 60 calendar days after the sale or the next business day following the 60th day if the county recorder in which the property is located is closed on the 60th day. However, the sale is subject to an automatic rescission for a failure of consideration in the event the funds are not “available for withdrawal” as defined in Section 12413.1 of the Insurance Code. The trustee shall send a notice of rescission for a failure of consideration to the last and highest bidder submitting the check or alternative instrument, if the address of the last and highest bidder is known to the trustee.

If a sale results in an automatic right of rescission for failure of consideration pursuant to this subdivision, the interest of any lienholder shall be reinstated in the same priority as if the previous sale had not occurred.

(d)If the trustee has not required the last and highest bidder to deposit the cash, a cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state, or a cash equivalent which has been designated in the notice of sale as acceptable to the trustee in the manner set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), the trustee shall complete the sale. If the last and highest bidder then fails to deliver to the trustee, when demanded, the amount of their final bid in cash, a cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state, or a cash equivalent which has been designated in the notice of sale as acceptable to the trustee, that bidder shall be liable to the trustee for all damages which the trustee may sustain by the refusal to deliver to the trustee the amount of the final bid, including any court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

If the last and highest bidder willfully fails to deliver to the trustee the amount of their final bid in cash, a cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state, or a cash equivalent which has been designated in the notice of sale as acceptable to the trustee, or if the last and highest bidder cancels a cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state, or a cash equivalent that has been designated in the notice of sale as acceptable to the trustee, that bidder shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).

In the event the last and highest bidder cancels an instrument submitted to the trustee as a cash equivalent, the trustee shall provide a new notice of sale in the manner set forth in Section 2924f and shall be entitled to recover the costs of the new notice of sale as provided in Section 2924c.

(e)Any postponement or discontinuance of the sale proceedings shall be a cancellation of the last bid.

(f)Except as specifically provided in Section 2924m, in the event that this section conflicts with any other statute, then this section shall prevail.

(g)It shall be unlawful for any person, acting alone or in concert with others, (1) to offer to accept or accept from another, any consideration of any type not to bid, or (2) to fix or restrain bidding in any manner, at a sale of property conducted pursuant to a power of sale in a deed of trust or mortgage. However, it shall not be unlawful for any person, including a trustee, to state that a property subject to a recorded notice of default or subject to a sale conducted pursuant to this chapter is being sold in an “as-is” condition.

In addition to any other remedies, any person committing any act declared unlawful by this subdivision or any act which would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any beneficiary, trustor, or junior lienor shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or imprisoned in the county jail for not more than one year, or be punished by both that fine and imprisonment.

(h)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2031, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2031, deletes or extends that date.

(i)The amendments made to this section by the bill adding this subdivision shall become operative on January 1, 2022.

(j)The amendments made to this section by the act adding this subdivision are declaratory of existing law.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 58 cases (13 in the last 5 years), 1980–2026 · leading case: Fjeldsted v. Lien (In Re Fjeldsted), 293 B.R. 12 (9th Cir. BAP 2003).

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Fjeldsted v. Lien (In Re Fjeldsted), 293 B.R. 12 (9th Cir. BAP 2003). · cites it 4× “See Cal. Civ.Code § 2924h(c). 5 Concerning the issue of Lien’s inquiry notice, the court found that a two-hour delay of a trustee’s sale would not reasonably be considered to be caused by a bankruptcy filing.”

In re Richter, 525 B.R. 735 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2015). · cites it 4× “In a typical trustee’s sale, every bid is “deemed to be an irrevocable offer by that bidder,” Cal. Civ.Code § 2924h(a), and the sale is “deemed final upon the acceptance of the last and highest bid,” id.”

Blatnick v. Sanders (In Re Sanders), 198 B.R. 326 (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 1996). · cites it 5× “In response to the frustration expressed by lenders and foreclosure trustees, the California legislature in 1993 amended California Civil Code section 2924h to provide in relevant part: For the purposes of this subdivision, the trustee’s sale .”

Davisson v. Engles (In Re Engles), 193 B.R. 23 (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 1996). · cites it 3× “The Debtors oppose relief from the automatic stay, asserting the Davis-sons failed to perfect their interest in the Property under California Civil Code section 2924h(c). Presumably, the Debtors assertion is that because the sale was not perfected prepetition and the fifteen day…”

Dreyfuss v. Union Bank of California, 11 P.3d 383 (Cal. 2000). · cites it 2× “; Civ. Code, § 2924h, subd. (b).) Such a credit bid can be made in an amount up to the sum of the total amount due, including the fees and expenses of the trustee.”

In Re Grant, 303 B.R. 205 (D. Nev. 2003). · cites it 2× “Cal. Civ. Code § 2924h(c) was amended in 1993 to solve the problem of what happens when a bankruptcy *212 is filed after a trustee's sale is final, but before the deed is recorded.”

Kolodge v. Boyd, 2001 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2778 (Cal. Ct. App. 2001). “(Civ. Code, § 2924h, subd. (b); Cornelison v.”

Kolodge v. Boyd, 105 Cal. Rptr. 2d 749 (Cal. Ct. App. 2001). “"At a nonjudicial foreclosure sale the lender-beneficiary is entitled to make a credit bid up to the amount of his indebtedness, since it would be pointless to require the bidder to tender cash that would only be immediately returned to him.”

California Golf, L.L.C. v. Cooper, 163 Cal. App. 4th 1053 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008). “) 12 Civil Code section 2924h (hereinafter, § 2924h) provides, in relevant part: “(a) Each and every bid made by a bidder at a trustee’s sale under a power of sale contained in a deed of trust or mortgage shall be deemed to be an irrevocable offer by that bidder to purchase the…”

Passanisi v. Merit-McBride Realtors, Inc., 190 Cal. App. 3d 1496 (Cal. Ct. App. 1987). ““The present beneficiary of the deed of trust under foreclosure shall have the right to offset his or her bid(s) only to the extent of the total amount due the beneficiary including the trustee’s fees and expenses.”

Angell v. Superior Court, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5736 (Cal. Ct. App. 1999). “” (Civ. Code, § 2924h, subd. (c).) Thus, “[t]he sale is completed for most purposes affecting the rights of the trustor and junior liens when the auctioneer accepts the final bid, even though the deed is not given until a subsequent time.”

Hatch v. Collins, 90 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8588 (Cal. Ct. App. 1990). “(Civ. Code, § 2924h subd. (e); CEB § 2.23, p.”

Show all 58 citing cases →

— Cal. Civil Code § 2924h(a) — 2 cases

In re Richter, 525 B.R. 735 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2015). “In a typical trustee’s sale, every bid is “deemed to be an irrevocable offer by that bidder,” Cal. Civ.Code § 2924h(a), and the sale is “deemed final upon the acceptance of the last and highest bid,” id.”

Antion Fin., LC v. Christensen, 2013 UT App 60 (Utah Ct. App. 2013).

— Cal. Civil Code § 2924h(b) — 3 cases

In Re Shandrew, 210 B.R. 829 (Bankr. E.D. Cal. 1997).

Robert Jacobsen v. Aurora Loan Servs., 661 F. App'x 474 (9th Cir. 2016).

Keo v. Fed. Home Loan Mortg. Corp. (N.D. Cal. 2019).

— Cal. Civil Code § 2924h(c) — 25 cases

Fjeldsted v. Lien (In Re Fjeldsted), 293 B.R. 12 (9th Cir. BAP 2003). “See Cal. Civ.Code § 2924h(c). 5 Concerning the issue of Lien’s inquiry notice, the court found that a two-hour delay of a trustee’s sale would not reasonably be considered to be caused by a bankruptcy filing.”

Davisson v. Engles (In Re Engles), 193 B.R. 23 (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 1996). “The Debtors oppose relief from the automatic stay, asserting the Davis-sons failed to perfect their interest in the Property under California Civil Code section 2924h(c). Presumably, the Debtors assertion is that because the sale was not perfected prepetition and the fifteen day…”

Blatnick v. Sanders (In Re Sanders), 198 B.R. 326 (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 1996). “In response to the frustration expressed by lenders and foreclosure trustees, the California legislature in 1993 amended California Civil Code section 2924h to provide in relevant part: For the purposes of this subdivision, the trustee’s sale .”

In Re Grant, 303 B.R. 205 (D. Nev. 2003). “Cal. Civ. Code § 2924h(c) was amended in 1993 to solve the problem of what happens when a bankruptcy *212 is filed after a trustee's sale is final, but before the deed is recorded.”

— Cal. Civil Code § 2924h(e) — 1 case

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