(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), property levied upon, or property to be sold upon which foreclosure or other proceedings for sale have been commenced, prior to the operative date that would have been sold subject to the right of redemption under prior law shall be sold subject to the right of redemption and may be redeemed as provided by prior law.
§ 694.050.Property Sold Subject to Right of Redemption of Prior Law
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 1 · Chapter 20. Transitional Provisions · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 694.050 kept the judgment debtor's redemption right alive under prior law for property already levied on or already in a sale process before the operative date, unless the creditor and debtor agreed in writing to sell under the new law instead, and preserved the redemption right for sales that already happened before that date.
Full Text of § 694.050
(b) If the judgment creditor and judgment debtor agree in writing, property described in subdivision (a) may be sold as provided in this title rather than subject to the right of redemption.
(c) Property sold prior to the operative date subject to the right of redemption under prior law may be redeemed as provided by prior law.
Plain-English Summary
Before 1983, a judgment debtor whose property was sold at an execution sale often kept a right to redeem it afterward — buy it back within a set period. The new Enforcement of Judgments Law moved away from that redemption model. Section 694.050 addressed what happened to redemption rights already in motion when the law changed.
Subdivision (a) kept prior law's redemption rules in force: property already levied upon, or already headed toward a sale through foreclosure or other proceedings commenced before the operative date, that would have carried a right of redemption under prior law would still be sold subject to that right, redeemable as prior law provided. Subdivision (b) gave the parties an opt-out — if the creditor and debtor agreed in writing, that property could instead be sold under the new title, without the redemption right, rather than under the old redemption-sale model.
Subdivision (c) closed the loop for sales that had already happened: property sold before the operative date, subject to a redemption right under prior law, could still be redeemed under prior law's terms. Like the rest of this chapter, this section is now a historical artifact — any sale or redemption period it once governed ran its course decades ago.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the new law eliminate redemption rights for sales already underway in 1983?
No, § 694.050(a) preserved prior law's redemption right for property already levied upon or already subject to sale proceedings commenced before the operative date.
Could the parties choose to sell property under the new law instead?
Yes, subdivision (b) allowed the creditor and debtor to agree in writing to sell the property under the new title rather than subject to the redemption right.
What happened to redemption rights for sales that occurred before the operative date?
Subdivision (c) preserved them, letting that property still be redeemed as prior law provided.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: redemption right execution sale california 1983prior law redemption sale transition