What Does a Senior Lienholder Get When a Junior Lienholder Forecloses?
What does a senior lienholder get when a junior lienholder non-judicially forecloses on the property and the sale results in “surplus funds” that exceed the amount…
Notable Eminent Domain and Inverse Condemnation Cases from 2017 (and one from 2018)
Here are the cases that caught our attention from the universe of eminent domain and inverse condemnation during 2017 (and one case from January 2018). We…
Money and Dirt: Reviewing 2017
Here is a look back at some of the top real estate and secured lending developments from 2017 covered here at Money and Dirt: The 2016…
Attorney Fee Recovery by Contract and in Partition Actions
In California, parties to litigation normally pay their own attorney fees unless a contract or statute says otherwise. Parties often include attorney fee provisions in their…
Court Issues New Opinion on Regulatory Takings and “Klopping” Damages
Inverse condemnation is the flip-side of eminent domain. With eminent domain, a public agency files a lawsuit to condemn (takes ownership of) a particular property interest…
Title Insurance Covers That Foreclosure Problem, Right?
In the minds of many buyers of distressed properties at foreclosure sales, the existence of ANY title insurance policy relating to the property — even if…
When a Lender Forecloses on a Leasehold Interest….
Loans are often secured by the fee title to real property owned by the borrower. But loans can also be secured by the borrower’s leasehold interest…
A Void Default Judgment Is No Way To Establish Title
In a post from March of this year — Even a “Bona Fide Purchaser” Can’t Rely on a Void Judgment — we reviewed the recent decision…
Recording a Trustee’s Deed is Privileged Under CA Civil Code Section 47
California law is pretty clear that the recordation of a notice of default and notice of sale — two key documents that are a prerequisite to…
CA Supreme Court: Entity Ownership Change Can Trigger Documentary Transfer Tax
Many entities are formed for the sole purpose of buying and holding real estate. In this setup, legal title is held by the entity itself (not…