REITs Get Respect from the Market — a New Sector Home
Beginning in September 2016, publicly traded equity REITs (real estate investment trusts) and other listed real estate companies will get a new home in the S&P…
Court of Appeal Addresses “Prejudice” Element of Wrongful Foreclosure
If a property owner loses their property through a foreclosure sale initiated by someone who did not validly own the debt, has the property owner automatically…
The Simplest Way to Defeat Claims Alleging an Invalid Assignment of a Deed of Trust: Judicially Noticeable Documents
Recently, much judicial ink has been deployed writing opinions addressing borrower challenges to foreclosure based on allegations that the deed of trust was not validly assigned…
Another Case Addressing a Potential Trap for Real Estate Investors: Dedication of Private Property to the Public
In a prior post, Implied Dedication of Private Property to the Public: the Law is Unsettled, we saw that California courts have struggled with the interpretation…
When is a Wrongful Foreclosure Case a “SLAPP”?
California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16) arms a defendant with an early method to challenge a lawsuit known as a “SLAPP” — a…
Court of Appeal Rules on “Standing to Challenge Foreclosure” Issues Left Unaddressed by Yvanova
A recent post, California Supreme Court: Borrowers Have Standing to Allege Wrongful Foreclosure Based on Void Assignment of Note, summarized the February 2016 opinion in Yvanova v.…
U.S. Supreme Court: REITS Have Citizenship of their Members
Many entities that get sued with any regularity prefer being defendants in federal court, rather than state court. The reasons for this preference are varied, but essentially…
California Supreme Court Dismisses Review of McDonald Case (Addressing Deficiency Recovery in Multi-Borrower Context)
As noted in my prior post, Money and Dirt: Reviewing 2015; Previewing 2016, one of the expected developments for 2016 was the California Supreme Court’s decision…
California Supreme Court: Borrowers Have Standing to Allege Wrongful Foreclosure Based on Void Assignment of Note
For the past few years, California appellate courts have been split on the question of whether a borrower has standing to challenge a foreclosure based on…
“Dual Tracking” Can Be Unfair Competition
Unfair competition claims are often seen as “tag-along” claims without a lot of independent value. A recent California Court of Appeal decision (Fourth District, Division Three…