A California condo owner sued his association for repair costs In plaintiff’s suit against the homeowner association for repair costs to his condo aused by a leaky sewer pipe beneath the concrete slab underlying plaintiff’s condominium. The association argued that the sewer pipes were exclusive use common areas, so the…
California’s Solar Shade Control Act gained some notoriety in 2005 when some homeowners were criminally convicted of a violation, requiring them to prune their trees. As a result the law was revised to eliminate criminal prosecution and make it more workable for homeowners. The Act provides that, once a solar…
The insurer, MBIA , claims that Morgan Stanley made loans to homeowners who couldn’t afford them, and packaged the risky loans into securities that did not meet its underwriting guidelines. They also allege that Morgan’s servicing arm did not have the staffing or ability to service the loans. MBIA, relying…
Depositions in Bankruptcy cases are providing bits and pieces of how the mortgage industry worked the last few years. In addition to learning about the robosigners who were “vice presidents” of MERS, this recent revelation, noted by Mike Konczal, reveals a fundamental flaw that may exist in many Countrywide sourced-…
A camper was riding a bicycle in a National Forest in California. A forest service employee hit him with his car. The camper sued the U.S. for damages. The trial court said that the government was immune from liability to a recreational user of the land, due to Civil Code…
California Civil Code section 2923.5 requires that, prior to recording a Notice of Default (the first step in a non-judicial foreclosure), the lender must contact the borrower to assess their financial situation and explore options to prevent foreclosure. An Orange County homeowner filed suit against the lender for recording a…
A commercial lease specified an address for service of notices. Here was a default, and the landlord sent notice to the tenant’s leasing agent (by mail, fax, and email), who was not at the address specified in the lease. The agent acknowledged receiving notice by email. In the eviction action,…
Bingo Investments was in the business of making mezzanine loans in real estate matters. In a mezzanine loan, the borrower owns an entity (i.e. an LLC) that owns real property. The borrower does not actually own the real property, just the LLC. The mezzanine lender takes a security interest not…
Some southern California brokers listed a home for $749,000 to $799,000. A buyer entered a contract to buy for $749,000, and proceeding to sell their own house so they could pay for the new house. The Brokers knew, but did not tell potential buyers, that there were loans against the…
Al’s siblings were put on title to Al’s property so that it would pass to them if Al died. Al decided to create a trust, and have the trust be on title, so the siblings conveyed title back to Al, and Al conveyed the property to the trust. But, Al…