Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This sounds pretty unusual. Any reason why mail might be going astray, or not being opened and read? Are you still receiving monthly statements from the lender, and if so, what do they say? Do you live at the property? Has anyone visited you to discuss change of possession or other issues?

You should gather as much information as possible from all sources. First, after a trustee's sale is completed, the trustee will record a trustee's deed with the county recorder. So, I suggest you pay a visit to the recorder's office at a time when they aren't likely to be busy, probably mid-day is best, and try to get a clerk to assist you in checking the records for your address and parcel number to see what's been recorded. I'd expect to find a Notice of Default and a Notice of Trustee's Sale, and probably a Trustee's Deed, which would at least tell you who the buyer was -- and would confirm that the sale actually took place. Often, trustee's sales are postponed. Then, I'd contact the lender/beneficiary and the buyer at the trustee's sale (assuming it's not the lender/beneficiary).

Civil Code section 2924j requires the trustee to mail a notice when there are excess proceeds of sale, above costs of sale and what's owed the foreclosing lender. I suggest you look up this section and compare what it requires the trustee to do with what has actually happened. Note that 2924j cross-references other sections of the Civil Code, e.g., 2924k and 2924b. In some cases, it is incumbent upon various claimants against the proceeds of a trustee's sale to make a written claim. Possibly for some unknown reason this reqirement, contained in 2924j, might apply to you?

If further research and questioning doesn't clear up the mystery, by all means contact a local real-estate attorney fairly promptly. My hunch is that for some reason the sale never took place.