Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 146: Listen and Learn -- Mortgages and Priority
On November 14, 2024, the United States Court for the District of Arizona dismissed a pro se litigant’s claims against Sun West Mortgage Company, Inc. (Sun West) and Cody N. Crosier, foreclosure counsel for Sun West...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
Recently, the Circuit Court of Arlington County, Virginia, issued an important decision involving the modification and enforcement of deeds of trust. In Mahaley v. Metters, CL21002581-00/01, 2023 Va. Cir. LEXIS 80 (Arlington...more
On January 18, 2021, the Washington Court of Appeals in Copper Creek (Marysville) Homeowners Ass’n v. Kurtz reaffirmed an important rule related to real property foreclosures and the statute of limitations after a bankruptcy...more
Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! In today's installment of our "Listen and Learn" series, we're focusing on Real Property. In particular, we're diving into the tricky subtopic of mortgages and priorities. In...more
Oscar Wilde is quoted for saying—“To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.” This advice certainly holds true for a senior deed of trust lienholder contemplating foreclosure on real property security. ...more
A recently issued opinion by the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District tells a cautionary tale regarding a lender’s failure to name a junior lienholder in its initial judicial foreclosure action. In Cathleen Robin v....more
Consider this scenario: You loan money to a borrower. You intend to secure the loan with a deed of trust encumbering real property. Your borrower signs a promissory note dated November 7, 2006. But your deed of trust is...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
Arizona’s trustee’s sale statutory scheme provides for the waiver of all defenses and objections to a trustee’s sale that: (i) are not raised prior to the sale, and (ii) do not result in an injunction against the sale going...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
An annoying question for lenders is whether or not a lender can enforce two loans to the same borrower and secured by the same property. The nagging issue is usually raised when a lender makes (1) a first loan and an...more
Over the last few months there have been several significant commercial law cases in Arizona. These have included four Court of Appeals and three Supreme Court cases, each addressing common loan document provisions and...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
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
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - - Foreclosure/Standing: to establish a prima facie case for mortgage foreclosure, successor mortgagor must introduce evidence it was in possession of original note with blank endorsement at time...more
AC35632- U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Foote - Second time is the charm. Defendant succeeded in getting plaintiff’s foreclosure action dismissed for lack of standing due to the inability of the witnesses to establish that the...more
In the case of Ashley Martins v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P. and Federal National Mortgage Association (No. 12-20559, 2013 WL 3213633), the Fifth Circuit Court of Texas was first asked to decide whether the...more