Holding a non-performing or sub-performing California note?

Every month a loan sits non-performing, it costs you. Servicing fees, legal spend, advances for taxes and insurance, and the opportunity cost of capital that is not redeploying. Sub-performing paper ties up a position that could be working somewhere else.

Foreclosing in California is not fast. A Notice of Default starts the clock, and at least three months must pass before a sale can be set (Civil Code §2924). A Notice of Trustee's Sale is then posted at least 20 days before the auction (Civil Code §2924f), and the borrower's right to catch up runs until five business days before the sale (Civil Code §2924c). That is at least about 110 days from the first notice to an auction, and often longer. This is education, not legal advice.

Sometimes the reason is simply portfolio hygiene. A fund winding down, a servicer cleaning a tape, a family office rebalancing, or an investor who wants concentration risk off the books. A clean sale removes the position without the operational drag of a workout.

Every sale is a trade between discount and time. A note sells for less than its face balance; how much less depends on the collateral, the payment record, and what a foreclosure would cost in time and money. Selling now converts an uncertain future recovery into cash today. Holding may recover more, but you carry the time, the cost, and the outcome risk. We help you see that tradeoff clearly and price it to real market signals, not wishful math.

It starts with the file. We review the note, the deed of trust, the assignment and endorsement chain, the payment and servicing history, and any prior workout or modification. A complete, well-organized file is the single biggest driver of a clean, confident bid.

Next is the collateral and the title picture. What is the property, where does it sit, what condition and occupancy, and what does title show behind your lien? Francisco Williams, CCIM, values the underlying real estate so the note is priced on the asset that actually secures it — not a guess.

Then we read the market. Pricing signals come from where comparable paper is trading, the depth of the current buyer pool, the collateral type, and the cost and timeline of the foreclosure alternative. We frame a realistic range in plain terms and tell you what moves it up or down.

Finally, we take it to buyers. We market the position confidentially, field offers, and coordinate the assignment, allonge, and collateral delivery through close. You decide; we execute.

Buyers pay for certainty, and certainty lives in the documents. The original note or a clean copy, the recorded deed of trust, an unbroken assignment chain, the title policy, and a current servicing ledger all raise confidence — and price. Gaps and missing endorsements do the opposite. If pieces are missing, we help you reconstruct the file before it goes to market.

Payment history tells the story a buyer underwrites. A sub-performing loan with a partial or recent-pay record often prices better than a note that has gone silent for years. We present the record as it is; a documented history earns a stronger bid than a claim without receipts.

And the collateral story has to hold up. A borrower with real equity behind your lien, a property in a liquid market, clear title, and a plausible resolution path all widen the buyer pool. When the collateral story is strong, more buyers compete — and competition is what protects your price.

Francisco Williams, CCIM, leads note and REO advisory for Williams Capital Advisors. We help lenders and note-holders value collateral, then execute a sale or REO path with a clear next step.

Francisco Williams, CCIM, brings the collateral valuation and capital-markets discipline. CCIM-credentialed and active across Los Angeles and Orange County, he prices the real estate that secures your note and knows the capital that buys distressed paper. Together we are licensed California real estate professionals covering both halves of the trade — the paper and the dirt.

Sometimes selling the note is not the right move. If you would rather complete the foreclosure and dispose of the asset yourself, we run that lane too. A broker price opinion (BPO) establishes value, and we list, market, and sell the REO once it is yours. Note sale or REO disposition — we help you pick the exit with the better math, then work it.