Usually, residential lenders do not file judicial foreclosures. Rather, they prefer to hold a trustee’s sale to get the property back. This is a much faster, and streamlined, process which is governed by statute. In holding a trustee’s sale foreclosure however, the lender gives up any rights to a deficiency…
It is a given under California law that a seller financing a purchase money loan in the sale of real estate may not get a deficiency judgment against the borrower, but is only entitled to foreclose the property. CCP section 580b provides that, when the buyer purchases property, if buyer…
California has a number of statutory provisions that provide borrowers with protection from deficiency judgments- personal liability for the loan balance remaining after a foreclosure sale. There is protection if the seller takes back the note, or, in the case of a standard third party loan, if it is a…
I wrote last about a Sacramento developer who demolished the building on a property to build a mixed-use development. But, the market crashed, the developer defaulted, and the property was foreclosed by trustee’s sale. The lender than sued; in the last post I discussed the claim for bad faith waste.…
I wrote in March about the loan guaranties and how the guarantor can waive antideficiency protections. A recent decision out of Sacramento concerned a commercial loan where, because of the drop in property value, the lender did not bother to foreclose but went directly to the guarantor, and was successful.…
Several years ago I had written about how to determine whether or not your California real estate loan is a non-recourse loan, and if you lost the property, through foreclosure, would you have personal liability for the remainder of the debt. I did not discuss two other important considerations, even…
Property buyers in California purchase a title insurance policy as a matter of course. Many do not understand what exactly such insurance does for them, and should consult with an experienced Sacramento real estate attorney. Title insurance does not guaranty the state of title. Instead, it is an agreement to…
A recent decision concerned a property in a real estate transaction that had two deeds of trust securing two different lenders which were recorded at the exact same time. However, they were indexed at different times, and the earlier indexed lender thought he had priority. Generally, where it is a…
A typical California commercial mortgage loan requires the borrower and/or its principals to execute a “bad boy guaranty” (a/k/a recourse carve out guaranty). This which provides for personal liability against the borrower and principals of borrower if certain listed ‘bad acts’ are committed by the borrower and its principals. It…
Court decisions in other states, as well as California bankruptcy courts, have implied that there are strict rules regarding assigning and recording assignments of Deeds of Trust and Promissory Notes. The Salazar bankruptcy court decision implied that the note had to be assigned, and in possession of the foreclosing lender.…