Request for Notice

The requester does not have to have any interest in the property whatsoever, nor qualify in any other way, in order to file such a request.

Furthermore, the request for notice will almost never come to the attention of the property owner since it does not show up on any ordinary title report. The only report it would show up on is a trustee's sale guarantee (TSG) that would be issued by a title company to a trustee when the trustee is foreclosing against the deed of trust described in the request for notice. Such a TSG report would not be available to anyone except the trustee processing the foreclosure.

The request for notice could also show up informally if an individual researched the title record of that particular property at the county recorder's office. But such an individual would have to possess the exceptional skills it takes to conduct such a tedious exercise. It's really a rare skill nowadays since title companies stopped giving such training when they changed their title record research approach. Now they use their own proprietary computer databases that key in on a property's unique legal description rather than the county recorder's grantee/grantor index.

The purpose for recording such a request is to give the requester early notice (within the first ten business days of California's four month foreclosure procedure) that a foreclosure has been filed against a certain trust deed secured by a specific property.

The logical users of the request for notice are usually those parties having an actual interest in the property, such as a junior lienor, tenant, any owner, option holder, potential heir, etc.

However, just interested bystanders can record such a request too. They could be a contiguous neighbor, business competitors, family members, speculators, unsecured creditors, etc.

Generally persons who have an actual interest in the property would file a separate request for notice for each recorded trust deed that is senior to the requester's own recorded interest. On the other hand, persons with only a "lookyloo" interest would just request notice on the most junior, bank-owned or institutional trust deed. That's because that's the trust deed most likely to start their foreclosure first when an owner defaults in their monthly payment.

The Request For Copy Of Notice Of Default form is freely available at any local title insurance company, just for the asking. The preparer of the form would also need a copy of the particular recorded trust deed that pertains to the notice they seek. From it they would get the details necessary to fill in the request. The request requires the seeker's notarized signature.