Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I assume you mean that your mother's lender is foreclosing.

There are two common ways property taxes are paid. One is that the homeowner receives a tax bill from the county and pays directly, usually twice a year in December and April. The other way involves a so-called "impound account," where the lender collects the taxes that are going to be due as an add-on to the loan payment, then transfers the accumulated money to the county treasurer on the due dates.

You said you received a tax bill.....I'm not sure why that would be; normally the bill would go either to your mother or to the lender, but maybe you had yourself set up to receive the bills as part of a within-the-family plan to make sure the important bills got paid.

In any case, whether to pay the taxes on the eve of foreclosure is a kind of personal decision. Which bills do you pay when there isn't enough money to pay them all? Your mother is liable for the taxes on the due dates, and there is a lien on the property for them until paid, but the same is true of the delinquent loan payments.

I agree with Mr. Whipple. Technically, your mother is required to pay property taxes, and this requirement does not end until the property is sold at the foreclosure sale to either the lender or someone purchasing at the sale. On the other hand, she is in default on the payments and facing foreclosure, and her failure to pay the taxes is just another default. Although the property could be considered to be in tax default, it is not going to be subject to a tax foreclosure sale this early in her default, and the lender or the new purchaser would obviously have to bring the taxes current when they purchase.