Your commercial property is in default. Here are your paths.

The basic clock can look familiar. If your loan is a deed of trust with a power of sale, the same nonjudicial path a homeowner faces can apply to your property. A Notice of Default starts the clock. By law, at least three months must pass before a sale can be set (Civil Code §2924). This is education, not legal advice.

But commercial loans carry more moving parts. Yours may include a personal guaranty, so the debt can follow you, not just the property. It may let the lender ask a court for a receiver to run the asset. It may have cash-management or lockbox terms that sweep the rent to the lender.

That is why one rule sits above the rest: your loan documents control. Two commercial loans on the same street can behave very differently. Have a lawyer read yours before you assume anything. What is true for a house may not be true for your building.

Many owners do not know this. A lender usually does not want your building. Taking back an asset, running it, and reselling it is slow and costly for them. An orderly outcome can be easier for everyone.

So a workout is often on the table. That is a plain word for a new agreement — more time, a pause on payments, or changed terms while you sell or refinance. It is a possibility, not a promise. Whether it happens is the lender's call.

We do not negotiate with your lender for you. We are not a rescue service. What we do is list and market the property, and help you put a clean package together. You and your lender make the decisions.

Reinstate or refinance. Reinstating means you catch up on what is past due, and the loan is current again. That right ends five business days before the sale (Civil Code §2924c). If a new loan is the right fit, WCA Mortgage Brokerage can help you look. This is education, not legal advice.

Sell before the sale date. An auction is built for a discount. A quiet, full-market sale gives more buyers a chance to compete, which can protect equity an auction would erase. The escrow has to close before the date on the Notice of Trustee's Sale, posted at least 20 days before the auction (Civil Code §2924f). This is education, not legal advice.

Deed-in-lieu. This means handing the property back to the lender instead of going to auction. It exists, but the lender must agree, and the terms matter. Never sign one without a lawyer. It is lender-gated and lawyer-guided, not a quick fix.

A note sale. Sometimes the lender sells your loan to someone else. If that happens, the clock can continue, but the person on the other side of the table changes. You may end up talking to a new holder with new goals. A lawyer can help you read what that means for you.

Every path above turns on one question: what is the property really worth? A number that is too high wastes days you do not have. A number that is too low leaves money behind. On a clock, getting value right is the whole game.

That is the work Francisco Williams, CCIM, does. He builds a defensible value you can stand behind — with the lender, with a buyer, with a court if it comes to that. He reads the capital markets, so the price reflects what real buyers will pay right now.

And the marketing stays discreet. Your notice may be public record, but how you sell is not. We can market quietly to real buyers, without a sign in front of your building or word reaching your tenants and lenders before you are ready.

One last thing. A default notice is a business event, not a verdict on you. Good operators hit hard cycles — rates move, a tenant leaves, a market turns. Handling it early, with a clear head, is what strong owners do. This setback is not your identity.