House vacant after death, no family, no probate

[Nick Seevers]

I was driving for dollars and have found a house that the owner died in 2014, my search shows no children and no probate in the county records. There was a $150,000 loan taken out in 2007, it has moved to pre-foreclosure in January, but no sales date has been posted since 1/2017. 

Is it possible to contact the bank (assuming the loan is still outstanding) to purchase the house? I think that it may be a tax foreclosure (in CA it's 5 years, we're going on 3 years since the owners death). Any ideas on who to contact in regards to purchasing this property would be greatly appreciated.