Second Mortgage in Bakersfield

Yes. California regulates business-purpose real estate lending; the question is under which law. The California Financing Law covers commercial loans of $5,000 or more whose proceeds are for something other than personal, family or household use, and the state regulator says that includes loans secured by residential real estate. The two lawful routes are a CFL license or a real estate broker license. The state's residential mortgage lending act defines its scope by a federal term that reaches first or subordinate liens on 1 to 4 unit residential property; federal rules separately exempt credit made primarily for a business purpose, and no state guidance we found says whether that exemption carries into the state definition. California's homestead exemption protects the principal dwelling you live in from judgment creditors, and the Homeowner Bill of Rights is limited to owner-occupied, consumer-purpose first liens, so neither is built for a business-purpose second on a rental. This is not legal advice; talk to your attorney about your own structure. See the second mortgage program page for terms.

A senior trustee sale can wipe out the second, so its protections come before the sale and from the surplus. California deeds of trust are foreclosed by trustee sale under the power of sale. The sale is held in the county where the property sits, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a business day, at the time and place stated in the recorded notice of sale; we found no official source naming a standing Kern County sale site, so read the notice for the property. The holder of a later-recorded deed of trust must be mailed notice within one month after the senior's notice of default records, and notice of sale at least 20 days before the sale (Civil Code section 2924b). A junior can reinstate the senior loan up to five business days before the sale date in the first recorded notice of sale (section 2924c), and surplus proceeds pay junior liens in order of priority before the owner sees any (section 2924k). For a 1 to 4 unit property, eligible bidders such as tenant buyers and prospective owner-occupants get a post-sale window under section 2924m, so the result is not final at the gavel. What a sold-out junior can recover on its note is fact-specific under California's anti-deficiency rules; ask counsel. Read lien position explained for how position works.

It may; whether it reaches business-purpose seconds is unsettled. Civil Code section 2924.13, added by AB 130 and signed on June 30, 2025, defines a "subordinate mortgage" as a security instrument in residential real property, including a deed of trust, that was junior to another security interest when recorded. It makes foreclosure unlawful where the servicer gave the borrower no written communication for at least three years or failed to provide a periodic account statement the law required, and a nonjudicial foreclosure cannot proceed until the servicer records a certification under penalty of perjury and mails it to the borrower. No unit-count, occupancy or loan-purpose limit appears in the text. California Mortgage Association v. Bonta, filed in federal court in September 2025, alleges the section reaches both consumer and business loans; that is an allegation, not a ruling, and no outcome was found. If you plan to refinance your first later, the second-lien holder generally has to sign a resubordination agreement. This is not legal advice; your attorney or title company has the final say.

A per-page recording fee, a $10 real estate fraud fee, and usually the state's $75 SB 2 fee. The Bakersfield metro is Kern County and nothing else, so every deal records with the Kern County Assessor-Recorder. Kern's recording page lists deeds of trust among the documents that carry the $10 real estate fraud fee, charged per document title. The SB 2 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee is $75 per instrument per transaction per parcel, capped at $225, and its exemptions cover a transfer subject to documentary transfer tax and a transfer to an owner-occupier; a cash-out second recorded without a sale fits neither on its face. California charges no documentary transfer tax or mortgage tax on a deed of trust (Revenue and Taxation Code section 11921). At the counter, Kern takes a single check or money order payable to the Kern County Recorder, not a credit card. These are county charges, not a quote for your documents; get the total from the Recorder or your title company.

The rate for the parcel's own tax rate area, not a countywide average. Kern's 2025-26 rate book lists tax rate areas from 1.031567% to 1.759252%, and by our count the median is 1.159484%; ordinary parcels run about 1.03% to 1.27%. A purchase reassesses the property to its price and can trigger a supplemental bill, so a rental you bought recently may carry a higher bill than the seller's, and a supplemental bill may still be coming. Read your own bill before you add a second payment. Talk to your CPA about your own numbers.

Yes, under state law, whatever the city's rules. California voids association rules that prohibit or unreasonably restrict renting a unit, but it lets a homeowners association ban rentals of 30 days or less (Civil Code section 4741), so a condo or planned-development rental can be shut out of short stays by its own association. A unit created under SB 9 must be rented for more than 30 days. Our program lends on short-term rentals; the association documents and the city or county rules decide whether a property can operate as one, so confirm both before you borrow against nightly income. Compare your options in second mortgage on investment property.