Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

The judicial council maintains a website with forms. You can either download a blank TRO or fill in the form online and print it. Just make sure you click on the right hand column if you want to fill it in online. Their website is: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/. Go under Claim and Delivery section of forms . I thnk you will need forms CD-190 and CD-200. You will need to have someone other than yourself serve the mortgage lender or foreclosure company with the notice of the hearing. You may want to check with your local court house and see if the clerk can tell you which other forms to file. They can't give legal advice, but they are often helpful. Good luck.

Claim and Delivery proceedings and remedies are for personal property, not real estate. Sorry to get to your question so late; I just happened to notice it while looking through my e-mail for something else. IMHO, these forms will not work for you.

In order to get a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop a foreclosure sale, you must first file a lawsuit. Then, depending upon local procedures, you'd prepare and serve an ex-parte application for a TRO and an Order to Show Cause why the TRO should not be turned into a preliminary injunction. The lawsuit would have to state some legally-plausible arguments why the proposed foreclosure was unlawful, and while I'm nearly certain that working with a loan modification company is NOT a ground upon which a court would enjoin a foreclosure, I must admit I'm not 100% sure of that.

You would also have to post an undertaking (bond) sufficient to protect the other parties in your lawsuit against losses if the TRO and preliminary injunction were granted, but you did not ultimately prevail in the lawsuit. The court can waive the requirement of an undertaking if you can show you are indigent. Further, depending upon the nature of the allegations in your complaint, you might also have to prepare, serve, record and file a Notice of Pendency of Action, or lis pendens.

There are several series of Judicial Council forms relating to special-purpose TROs, including Claim and Delivery, Civil Harassment, Domestic Violence, Elder Abuse, etc., but none covering general civil lawsuits, in particular those involving real estate.

I think preparing, filing and serving the necessary documents in a short time frame is well beyond the capabilities of the average in pro. per. plaintiff. Most lawyers would have to do a little research and a little copying from templates to get it right.