Lien Priority

To enforce a judgment by sale of the judgment debtor's dwelling, the creditor must, among other things, obtain a court order directing the sheriff to sell the property.  The application to obtain that court order must state the amount of all liens and encumbrances on the property that are senior to the judgment lien.  This decision holds that the application… Read More

A judgment lien on the judgment debtor's property expires when the underlying judgment expires, 10 years after entry unless renewed.  Here, the judgment creditor with a first priority to proceeds of a partition action brought by creditors to satisfy the liens on the judgment debtor's property failed to renew its judgment, allowing it to expire in the midst of the… Read More

As this decision explains, Civil Code 2911 provides that a lien is extinguished when the statute of limitations has run on the principal obligation that the lien secures.  This statute has limited application to deeds of trust.  While the lien of a deed of trust that is enforceable by judicial action (i.e., a judicial foreclosure action under CCP 725a) expires… Read More

Under Nev. Rev. Stat. 116.3116, a homeowner's association is allowed a superpriority lien for certain HOA dues and maintenance expenses.  This decision holds that the statute does not offend the US Constitution's Takings Clause since no governmental entity takes the value of liens subordinated to the HOA's superpriority lien.  It also holds that the statutory notice of foreclosure sent by… Read More

Plaintiffs bought some real property from Guillermo Guerrero.  LBS had recorded an abstract of judgment against the same person but under the name Wilbert G. Guerrero.  This decision holds that plaintiffs, who had no actual knowledge of LBS' judgment lien also had no constructive knowledge of the lien since a regular search of the grantor-grantee indices for the name under… Read More

A judgment lien perfected before the judgment debtor’s death may be enforced at any time within 10 years after entry of judgment; the one-year-from-death limitations period applies only claims against the decedent on which judgment has not been entered. Read More

Nevada statute giving super-priority lien to homeowners’ associations for non-payment of dues is pre-empted by federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act, so HOA liens cannot trump Freddie Mac’s secured interest.   Read More

A declaratory relief claim based on equitable subrogation in a priority dispute between two home equity lines of credit is not governed by a three-year limitations period and so was wrongly dismissed.  Read More