Section 5236. Sale of real property

(a) Time of sale; public auction.
  Between  the  fifty-sixth  and  the  sixty-third  day  after  the  first
  publication of a copy of the notice of sale, unless the time is extended
  by  order  or  the  sale  postponed  by the sheriff, the interest of the
  judgment debtor in real property which has been  levied  upon  under  an
  execution  delivered  to the sheriff or which was subject to the lien of
  the judgment at the time of such delivery shall be sold by  the  sheriff
  pursuant  to  the  execution  at  public  auction at such time and place
  within the county where the real property is situated and as a  unit  or
  in  such  parcels, or combination thereof, as in his judgment will bring
  the highest price, but no sale may be made to that  sheriff  or  to  his
  deputy  or  undersheriff.  If  the property is situated in more than one
  county, it may be sold in a county in which any part is situated, unless
  the court orders otherwise.
    (b) Sale of mortgaged property.  Real property mortgaged shall not  be
  sold  pursuant  to an execution issued upon a judgment recovered for all
  or part of the mortgage debt.
    (c) Notice of sale. A printed notice of the time and place of the sale
  containing a description of the property to be sold shall be  posted  at
  least  fifty-six days before the sale in three public places in the town
  or city in which the property is located, and, if the sale is to be held
  in another town or city, in three public places therein. Service by  the
  sheriff of a copy of said notice on the judgment debtor shall be made as
  provided  in section 308.  A list containing the name and address of the
  judgment debtor and of every judgment creditor whose judgment was a lien
  on the real property to be sold and of every person who  had  of  record
  any  interest  in  or lien on such property forty-five days prior to the
  day fixed for the sale shall be furnished the sheriff  by  the  judgment
  creditor,  and  each  person  on the list shall be served by the sheriff
  with a copy of the notice by  personal  delivery  or  by  registered  or
  certified  mail, return receipt requested, at least thirty days prior to
  the day fixed for the sale. A copy of the notice shall be  published  at
  least  once  in  each  of  four periods of fourteen successive days, the
  first of which  periods  may  be  measured  from  any  day  between  the
  fifty-sixth  and sixty-third days, preceding the time fixed for the sale
  in a newspaper published in the county in which the property is  located
  or,  if  there is none, in a newspaper published in an adjoining county.
  An omission to give  any  notice  required  by  this  or  the  following
  subdivision,  or  the defacing or removal of a notice posted pursuant to
  either, does not affect the title of a purchaser without notice  of  the
  omission or offense.
    (d)  Notice  of  postponement  of  sale.  Any person may, in a writing
  served on the sheriff either by personal delivery or  by  registered  or
  certified  mail,  return  receipt  requested,  request  that the sheriff
  notify him in the event that a scheduled sale is postponed. Such writing
  shall contain the person's name and mailing address. If the sale is  for
  any  reason  postponed,  notice of the postponed date need be given only
  to:
    1. those whose requests, made as above provided, have been received by
  the sheriff at least five days prior to the postponed date,
    2. those who appeared at the time and place previously  appointed  for
  the sale, and
    3. the judgment debtor at his last known address.
    The  notice may be served either by personal delivery or by registered
  or certified mail, return receipt  requested.  Unless  the  court  shall
  otherwise direct, it need not be posted or published.
    (e)  Effect  of  notice  as  against  judgment creditors.   A judgment
  creditor duly notified pursuant to subdivisions (c) or (d) who fails  to

  deliver  an  execution  to  the  sheriff prior to the sale shall have no
  further lien on the property and, except as against the judgment debtor,
  no further interest in the proceeds of the sale.
    (f)  Conveyance;  proof of notice. Within ten days after the sale, the
  sheriff  shall  execute  and  deliver  to  the   purchaser   proofs   of
  publication, service and posting of the notice of sale, and a deed which
  shall  convey  the  right,  title  and interest sold. Such proofs may be
  filed and recorded in the office of the clerk of the  county  where  the
  property is located.
    (g)  Disposition of proceeds of sale.  After deduction for and payment
  of fees, expenses  and  any  taxes  levied  on  the  sale,  transfer  or
  delivery,  the  sheriff  making  a  sale of real property pursuant to an
  execution shall, unless the court otherwise directs,
    1.  distribute  the  proceeds  to  the  judgment  creditors  who  have
  delivered  executions  against the judgment debtor to the sheriff before
  the sale, which executions have not been returned, in the order in which
  their judgments have priority, and
    2. pay over any excess to the judgment debtor.