Buying Notes and Deeds of Trusts: Bank Buys Worthless Note, Borrower Awarded Attorney Fees By: Julia M. Wei, Esq. Investors, collection agencies, scavenger funds and institutional lenders buy promissory notes all the time. If the note is secured by a deed of trust against real property, the buyer takes the risk of collection of the [...]
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By: Julia M. Wei, Esq. A series of cases have come down in the last few weeks that have some very serious ramifications for lenders. The most dramatic case is that of Lona v. Citibank, based on a property right here in my back yard. The fact pattern in Lona is that the bank foreclosed [...]
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By Julia M. Wei, Esq. In the recent case of Biancalana v. T.D. Service Company, California foreclosure bidder Biancalana came out the winner on appeal. In September of 2008, Biancalana bid at the trustee’s sale of a property on Winchester Dr. in Watsonville (Santa Cruz County). Lucky for him, the trustee (and possibly the loan [...]
In other parts of the country, and in bankruptcy court, borrowers have had some success with the argument that since MERS is a “nominee” and “nominee” is not defined in the loan documents, that it does not have standing to initiate foreclosure. That argument has been far less successful in California, in large part [...]
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The law in California on non-judicial foreclosures has been pretty firm for some time – the Trustee’s Sale is FINAL as to a bona fide purchaser for sale if the Trustee’s Deed is issued and recorded within 15 days of the sale. At least until one bankruptcy judge in California’s Central District disagreed. The Relation [...]
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It’s bad enough when people are dealing with their underwater properties, but to then have attorneys tell them to join these “mass action” lawsuits like it’s a silver bullet to stop the foreclosure sale is egregious. Apparently, the Attorney General thought so too and she sued them and the law firms have been placed into [...]
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By: Julia M. Wei, Esq. Whenever I speak on pre-foreclosure and foreclosure purchasing, I always warn that it is a high risk undertaking and that REOs are a far safer way of buying distressed property. The main reason is that even reasonable research cannot reveal hidden liens that will eat up the buyer’s equity. Here’s [...]
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by Julia M. Wei, Esq. Following in the footsteps of Garcia v. World Savings Bank, yet another case where the borrower retains the right to sue a bank for failing to keep its promises to her. Mrs. Aceves had a loan with U.S. Bank. She filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy about 2 years into her [...]
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Lenders dread hearing about cramdowns and lienstripping, but since many borrowers have been unable to obtain a loan modification, the next step could be a bankruptcy reorganization to restructure their debt. During the plan process, the debtor can propose a reduced interest rate and see if the lender will consent. Sometimes, a junior lender may [...]
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By: Julia M. Wei, Esq. Dear Readers – Happy New Year! This marks my 100th post. I am still frequently getting calls from borrowers who say they have read my blog and have questions about challenging a foreclosure. I am not totally convinced they read my blog because I often say that I work for [...]
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