Real Property

Distinguishing In re Pecan Groves of America (9th Cir. 1991) 951 F.2d 242, this decision holds that a creditor with a security interest in the debtor's real property has standing to quiet title to the property based on the fact that the homeowners association foreclosed on the property while the automatic stay was in effect on the debtor's bankruptcy.  Under… Read More

As in Branches Neighborhood Corp. v. CalAtlantic Group, Inc. (2018) 26 Cal.App.5th 743, the CC&Rs for a condominium tower required a majority vote of member owners in favor before the association could bring suit against the developer (which of course wrote the CC&Rs).  This decision holds that Civ. Code 5386, which renders such provisions null and void and which expressly… Read More

Plaintiff successfully sued defendant for violating a conservation easement on his property.  The trial court awarded plaintiff $2.9 million in attorney fees for five years of hard-fought litigation and a 19-day trial.  This decision affirms the award.  Plaintiff could recover fees for all hours spent by its attorneys though the first $500,000 in fees was paid for by its insurance. … Read More

Defendant initially violated HBOR by refusing to consider plaintiff's loan modification application because only his deceased wife was the borrower on the loan, but defendant cured its violation after suit was filed by canceling the pending foreclosure, accepting and review plaintiff's loan modification application, and offering him a trial payment plan intended to lead to a loan modification.  Thinking he… Read More

Borrower filed a quiet title action against the original beneficiary of her deed of trust, but didn't serve that beneficiary properly and did not nam or serve either later assignee of her deed of trust though both assignments had been recorded.  After obtaining judgment and before the original beneficiary obtained an order vacating the quiet title judgment, Tsasu lent the… Read More

Before 2011, one person owned both of two adjoining lots.  Tenants on one of the lots used portions of the adjoining lot for access, parking, and garbage removal, and as a garden.  After 2011, different lenders foreclosed on the two lots, separating their ownership.  Plaintiff bought one of the lots and sued to keep the tenants of the other lot… Read More

Following Lippitt v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC (C.D.Cal. 2020) 2020 U.S. Dist. Lexis 122881, this decision holds that Civ. Code 2954.8 does not apply to (or require payment of interest on) hazard insurance proceeds that a lender or loan servicer holds pending the borrower/insured's rebulding or repairing the premises that secures his loan.  Section 2954.8 “applies to common escrows maintained to… Read More

This decision affirms a judgment against the plaintiff holder of the first deed of trust on a Nevada dwelling that was foreclosed upon by the homeowners association for nonpayment of association dues.  The decision holds that the CC&R clause that expressly subordinated the association's lien for unpaid dues to the first deed of trust did not render the foreclosure sale… Read More

Assuming the conditions subsequent in a deed to SCST were subject to the Marketable Record Title Act, they remained enforceable by injunction (but not power of termination) as equitable servitudes.  (Civ. Code 885.060(c).)  The trial court erred in employing the forfeiture doctrine to convert one of the conditions subsequent (which required sale of the property to Claremont at a set… Read More

Under Family Code 1102(a), both spouses must sign a deed of trust that encumbers real estate held as community property.  If one spouse does not sign the deed of trust, that spouse can invalidate the deed of trust.  Here, the property was deeded to the spouses as joint tenants, but under Family Code 760 property acquired during marriage is presumed… 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 the rule announced in Muktarian v. Barmby (1965) 63 Cal.2d 558, the statute of limitations does not start to run on a quiet title action so long as the plaintiff remains in possession of the premises, even if plaintiff is aware of conflicting claims against the property, so long as the conflicting claims are not pressed against him.  In … Read More

When a married couple uses community funds to acquire property with joint tenancy title, the property is presumptively held as community property if acquired after January 1, 1975.  (See Fam. Code 760.)  The spouses hold joint tenancy interests in property acquired before 1975 as separate property.  For joint tenancy property acquired between January 1, 1975, and December 31, 1984, the… 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

Defendant entered into a 10-year lease with an automatic 10-year renewal before the prior owner of the building sold it to MES.  Even though defendant's lease was not recorded, MES took subject to the lease since it had actual knowledge of the lease before it bought the building.  (Civ. Code 1217.)  Since the lease was a conveyance expressly made effective… Read More

Before enactment of Civ. Code 1009(b) in 1972, an offer to dedicate private land to public use could be implied by law when the public used the land openly and continuously, as if the users believed the public had a right to do so, without objection by the landowner.  This decision affirms a decision denying a claim to quiet title… Read More

Plaintiff alleged that before he entered into a HELOC in 2005, the lender orally promised him that its maturity in ten years, the lender would refinance the loan or extend its term.  The lender didn't and foreclosed instead when the plaintiff didn't repay all amounts due at maturity of the loan.  Held:  (1) The statute of frauds barred plaintiff's breach… 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

Under Gov. Code 66498.1,  a local agency’s approval of a vesting tentative map confers upon a developer the right to proceed with development in substantial compliance with the ordinances, policies, and standards in effect at the time the vested tentative map is approved.  Here, the city approved the developer's vesting tentative map before its citizens passed an initiative measure that… Read More

Under Civ. Code 2924.15, HBOR's provisions apply only to owner-occupied properties.  But the section goes on to define "owner-occupied" as property that is the borrower's principal residence and security for a loan made for consumer purposes.  This decision reads the definition literally, holding that so long as the property is the borrower's principal residence, HBOR's provisions apply even if the… Read More