Second Mortgage in San Bernardino

Mostly not, because they are built around your own home. California's homestead exemption protects the debtor's principal dwelling from judgment creditors, and by statute the exemptions do not apply to the foreclosure of a deed of trust at all. The Homeowner Bill of Rights is limited to owner-occupied first liens securing a loan made for personal, family or household purposes, so a business-purpose second on a rental sits outside it on both counts. One rule does reach rentals: CCP 580e bars a deficiency after a lender-approved short sale of a dwelling of up to four units with no occupancy test, but it does not apply when the borrower is a corporation, LLC or limited partnership, so how you hold title matters. Business-purpose real estate lending is itself a licensed activity in California, under the California Financing Law or a real estate broker license. This is not legal advice; your attorney or title company has the final say. See the second mortgage program page for terms.

The second lender gets notice, a chance to cure, and a place in line for any surplus. California deeds of trust are usually foreclosed by trustee sale under the power of sale, with at least three months between the notice of default and the notice of sale. Civil Code 2924b requires notice of the default to be mailed, within one month of recording it, to the holder of any later-recorded deed of trust, and notice of the sale at least 20 days before it. Under 2924c a junior lienholder can reinstate the senior loan until five business days before the sale date in the first notice of sale. If the sale brings more than the senior debt and costs, 2924k pays junior liens in order of priority before anything goes to the owner. Under 2924m a trustee sale of a 1 to 4 unit property is not final at the gavel, because eligible bidders such as tenants and prospective owner-occupants get a window after the sale, so surplus can take longer to settle. The sale must be held in the county where the property sits, and the recorded notice of sale names the time and place for each property. Read lien position explained before you stack debt.

There is no one-line answer; it turns on the facts of each case. For a San Bernardino County rental with a first and a second, these are the rules a court starts from. CCP 580d bars a deficiency on a note whose own deed of trust was sold under a power of sale. In Black Sky Capital v. Cobb (2019), the California Supreme Court restated Roseleaf v. Chierighino (1963): section 580d "does not appear to extend to a junior lienor whose security has been sold out in a senior sale." On the facts in Black Sky, where one creditor held both notes, signed more than two years apart with no evasive loan splitting, the court held that 580d did not bar a deficiency on the junior note. Those are holdings on their facts, not a rule for any other loan. Separately, Civil Code 2924.13, signed on June 30, 2025 as part of AB 130, makes it unlawful to foreclose a subordinate deed of trust on residential property if the servicer sent the borrower no written communication for at least three years or skipped a periodic statement the law required, and bars a nonjudicial foreclosure until the servicer records and mails a certification under penalty of perjury. The statute's text shows no unit-count, occupancy or loan-purpose limit, and whether it reaches business-purpose seconds is unsettled: a lawsuit filed September 8, 2025 (California Mortgage Association v. Bonta, E.D. Cal.) alleges it reaches both consumer and business loans, which is an allegation, not a ruling. How either rule applies to your loan is a question for your attorney.

Recording fees, yes; transfer tax, no. California's documentary transfer tax does not apply to an instrument given to secure a debt, and the state charges no mortgage tax, so the transfer tax line on the county schedule is for conveyances, not your deed of trust. The San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk's schedule dated July 1, 2026 lists a deed of trust among the titles tied to the real estate fraud fee: $24 for the first page (against $14 for titles without it) and $3 for each additional page, plus the $75 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee per title, capped at $225. That $75 exempts a recording tied to a transfer subject to transfer tax or a transfer of a home to an owner-occupier, and a cash-out second recorded without a sale fits neither on its face. As an illustration, not a quote for your documents: a 20-page deed of trust comes to $24 + (19 x $3) + $75 = $156 in county charges, before any other fee. Electronic recording runs only through approved submitters under the state's electronic recording framework.

Yes. A new grant deed restarts the county permit. The program accepts short-term rentals and entity borrowers, but in unincorporated San Bernardino County the rental itself has to stay permitted. The county program covers only the Mountain and Desert regions, and apartments and other multi-family structures are not eligible. Permits do not transfer to a new owner, and the county says any change in ownership that creates a new grant deed, even where the name changes but the ownership responsibility does not, needs a new application; operation can continue only if that application is filed within 30 days of the ownership change. The City of Big Bear Lake runs its own program: two licences per individual or entity, and the licence expires on a change of ownership. Settle title before you borrow, not after. Check the HOA too: California voids most association bans on renting, but lets an association prohibit rentals of 30 days or less.

Community facilities district taxes and, in two cities, rental inspection. Mello-Roos special taxes are fixed charges outside the 1% ad valorem rate, and they can escalate on their own schedule. One county district, CFD 2006-1 (Lytle Creek North), raises its maximum special taxes each July 1 by CPI with a floor of 2% and a cap of 4% a year; that formula belongs to that district only, so read your own parcel's lines on the bill. On the inspection side, the City of San Bernardino requires inspection of single-family, duplex and triplex rentals, and Ontario inspects rental units over seven years old and charges $51 per unit a year. Both costs come out of the same rent that carries the first and the second. Our CLTV guide shows how the loans stack.