When a lender holds multiple deeds of trust on the same California Real Estate, they may be forced to make a decision. If the borrower defaults on one of the notes, the lender has all the remedies as to that loan – he can conduct a judicial foreclosure, or hold…
A title defect in California real estate transactions usually results in unsalable property – i.e., the property is unmarketable. But not all property with problems of marketability have a cloud on title. There just might not be a market for it – hazardous waste dump, steep unstable slopes, zoning restrictions,…
A Quiet Title action is a lawsuit which a person files to establish their title against adverse claims. The plaintiff’s interest in the land can be the title to the property, an easement, a license, a lease, or title by adverse possession. Sacramento real estate attorneys often see quiet title…
The plan to build tunnels to ship water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta is underway. The Department of Water Resources needed to conduct environmental and geological tests by boring test holes on over 150 privately owned properties. Normally, the government is not allowed to take actions on privately owned real…
A lis pendens, or Notice of Pending Action, is a document which may be recorded which provides notice of a lawsuit that has to do with title to real property. It cannot properly be recorded until after the lawsuit has been filed. The owner of the property can file a…
California real estate purchase and sale contracts often incur in conjunction with a written lease, such as in the case of a lease- option or both a lease and a contract entered together that reference each other. The lease-option includes a purchase contract that with instructions in the option as…
In California, equitable indemnity applies when there are two wrongdoers (‘tortfeasors’) who are both jointly and severally liable for harm to someone. They are entitled to have their liability split between them based on their comparable fault. Joint and several liability can apply to acts that are concurrent or successive…
Indemnity provisions usually refer to third-party claims. This means a claim by a person other than the two parties to the indemnity. If I sell you a box of widgets and indemnify you for all claims resulting from the use of the widgets, the idea is that if a third…
The City of Sacramento recently passed ordinances that allow and regulate “short-term rentals”, which are of the type advertised non-Airbnb, VRBO, and similar sites. This is welcome news, as this type of rental has been in a state of limbo under the law of most communities. Usually, it fits in…
The California civil code provides that, in a breach of a real estate purchase and sale contract, the breaching party may be liable for consequential damages. An appellate court determined that this may include lost profits in certain cases. Where lost profits are recoverable as consequential damages, “Not only must…