Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 392: Listen and Learn -- Recording Statutes (Real Property)
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 146: Listen and Learn -- Mortgages and Priority
A foreclosure sale purchaser attempting to evict a tenant on the property can encounter pitfalls, as made clear in a series of court cases in recent years. Here is a summary, capped by an update on a recently filed opinion: ...more
Obligations reduced to a promissory note are often accompanied by a written guaranty. The law treats the guaranty as an independent obligation. A case recently decided by California’s First District Court of Appeal —...more
Under California’s easement “merger” (merger of title) doctrine set forth in Civil Code sections 811 and 805, an easement (or servitude) is “extinguished” by “the vesting of the right of the servitude and the right to the...more
As we previously noted, the statute of limitations on actions to enforce a note or deed of trust can be a brutally effective sword for borrowers in Washington State. Under the six-year limitations period of RCW 7.28.300, a...more
Clete Pavone bought property in West Virginia from Patrick Russell in October of 2018. Because he did not obtain a title search before buying the property, Mr. Pavone did not know that it was encumbered by a deed of trust...more
Can a California real property owner challenge a lender’s authority to foreclose before a foreclosure sale has occurred? It’s looking less likely with each new appellate opinion....more
Flashback: Five years ago, Money and Dirt covered the Salazar v. Thomas opinion from California’s Fifth District Court of Appeal holding that a Notice of Default does not “disturb possession” sufficiently to start the...more
In Futuri Real Estate, Inc. v. Atlantic Trustee Servs., LLC, borrowers Milton and Armida Cortez (the “Borrowers”) obtained three loans secured by separate deeds of trust on their residence: (A) a $415,000 deed of trust in...more
To be enforceable, a deed of trust must sufficiently describe the real property security. There are several different ways to describe real property. Commonly used methods include referring to a block and lot number from a...more
That pesky excess sale proceeds statute, A.R.S. § 33-727, is making waves again. We previously blogged about this statute... In the prior post, we explained that excess sale proceeds (i.e., a foreclosure sale price greater...more
A trustee in charge of administering a trust has many duties. A trustee appointed pursuant to a deed of trust, however, is different. The duties of a deed of trust trustee are exceptionally narrow. A recent opinion...more
As any seasoned developer knows, condominium development projects involve a delicate interplay between the developer, unit owners, the condo association, and the lenders that fund construction and acquisition costs. Last...more
This week, the California Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dr. Leevil, LLC v. Westlake Health Care Center. The case reviewed the decision of the California Court of Appeal from March 2017...more
Lenders who prevail on claims arising from a deed of trust can always recover their attorney fees from the losing party as long as the deed of trust says something about fee recovery, right? It’s not that simple....more
For nearly three years, one of the rapidly developing areas of California foreclosure law has focused on whether a borrower has “standing” to challenge a wrongful foreclosure based on defective assignments of the note or deed...more
When a foreclosure sale generates more money than needed to pay off the lien, the excess proceeds usually go first to creditors in the order of their priority, and second to the owner after creditors are paid in full. So, in...more
Lenders routinely accelerate notes after a default occurs, calling the entire loan due immediately. Less regularly, a lender may change its mind and unilaterally revoke the acceleration. Rarely, however, does a lender fail to...more
A recent appeal to the Fourth Circuit may shed light on whether Virginia borrowers can assert federal mortgage servicing requirements as a defense to foreclosure when the mortgage instrument pre-dates the federal requirement....more
Sometimes, the law is just weird. The case of PGA West Residential Ass’n, Inc. v. Hulven Int’l, Inc., Cal. Ct. App. Case No. E064270 (Aug. 9, 2017) is weirder than most. The lawsuit alleged that the defendant had tried to...more
What law governs a deficiency action if the choice-of-law provisions in the note and deed of trust conflict? The Arizona Court of Appeals answered that very question in ZB, N.A. v. Hoeller, No. 1 CA-CV 16-0071 (Ct. App. April...more
The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of Nevada's pre-2015 statutory scheme for homeowners association (HOA) foreclosures. This decision contradicts the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' conclusion that the...more
The Ninth Circuit sent shockwaves through the mortgage industry when it held that NRS 116—the statute allowing an HOA to impose a nominal super-priority lien that can extinguish a senior deed of trust when foreclosed—was...more
North Carolina is a "pure race" state, for real estate title purposes. That is, “first to record an interest in land holds an interest superior to all other purchases for value, regardless of actual or constructive notice as...more
The NC Court of Appeals has issued a number of opinions this year involving lender foreclosure or collection efforts. Not all of the holdings have been monumental, but there is a common thread of useful principles,...more
As reported in our blog article below, in June the Second District Court of Appeal held that California’s non-judicial foreclosure statutes do not grant a defaulting borrower the right to enjoin a foreclosure sale by alleging...more