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About This Blog
Welcome to the Snell & Wilmer real estate litigation blog. Check back here often for useful news and information about current topics involving real estate litigation. We hope that you will find the blog both timely and helpful, and we invite you to join the discussion by posting comments about the articles and contacting the authors with your thoughts about the posts.
Real Estate Litigation Group Members and Blog Contributors
- Bob Henry
- Kevin Parker
- Matt Fischer
- Adam Lang
- Cory Braddock
- Benjamin Reeves
- Erica Stutman
- Patrick Paul
- Rick Erickson
- Ginny Olmstead
- Neal McConomy
- Michael E. Lindsay
- Bob L. Olson
- Nathan G. Kanute
- Sean M. Sherlock
- Lyndsey Torp
- Anthony Carucci
- Luke Mecklenburg
- Jon Frank
- Kevin Walton
- Lauren Munsell
- Lauren Podgorski
- Addy Colton
- John Sarager
- Ian Douglas
- David Rao
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Recent Posts
- More Help For Arizona’s Restaurant & Hospitality Industry On the Way
- Married Couple’s Acquisition of Title as Joint Tenants Does Not Rebut the Presumption of Community Property
- Woodbridge II and the Nuanced Meaning of “Adverse Use” in Hostile Property Rights Cases in Colorado
- Statute of Limitations Bars Lender’s Subsequent Action to Quiet Title Against Junior Lienholder Mistakenly Omitted from Initial Judicial Foreclosure Action
- A Landlord’s Guide to the Center for Disease Control’s Eviction Moratorium
Topics
- Anti-deficiency Statute
- Bankruptcy
- Commercial Real Estate Industry
- Construction and Development
- Environmental
- Evictions
- Foreclosures
- Guaranty Contracts
- Judgment Liens
- Medical Marijuana
- Real Estate and Bankruptcy
- Real Estate Appraiser Litigation
- Real Estate Broker Litigation
- Real Estate Purchase/Sale Transaction Litigation
- Real Estate Receivers
- Statutes Affecting Real Estate
- Title Insurance
- Uncategorized
- Zoning
Statute of Limitations Bars Lender’s Subsequent Action to Quiet Title Against Junior Lienholder Mistakenly Omitted from Initial Judicial Foreclosure Action
By: Lyndsey Torp
A recently issued opinion by the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District tells a cautionary tale regarding a lender’s failure to name a junior lienholder in its initial judicial foreclosure action.
In Cathleen Robin v. Al Crowell, — Cal.Rptr.3d —-, 2020 WL 5951506, plaintiffs sued defendant, a junior lienholder, for quiet title, having failed to name him in the initial judicial foreclosure action. Defendant raised the statute of limitations defense, but the trial court found in favor of plaintiffs. The court of appeal reversed, holding that the 60-year statute of limitations which the trial court applied only applied to a nonjudicial trustee’s sale, and the trial court could not exercise the trustee’s power of sale after the expiration of the statute of limitations on a judicial action to foreclose.… Read More »
Author:
Lyndsey Torp
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Tagged Deed of Trust, foreclosure, judicial foreclosure, lender, lien, lienholder, nonjudicial foreclosure, statute of limitation
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California Judicial Council Votes to Rescind Prohibitions on Eviction and Foreclosure Proceedings
By: David Rao and Lyndsey Torp
The California Judicial Council’s emergency rules staying evictions and judicial foreclosures are coming to an end.
On March 27, 2020, the Governor of California issued executive order N-38-20, giving the Judicial Council emergency authority to act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 6, 2020, the Judicial Council of California voted to approve temporary emergency rules of court. Rule 1 prohibited the issuance of a summons, or the entering of a default, in an eviction action for both residential and commercial properties except as necessary to protect public health and safety. Rule 1 also continued all pending unlawful detainer trials for at least 60 days, with no new trials being set until at least 60 days after a request was filed.… Read More »
Author:
Lyndsey Torp
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Tagged #evictions, emergency rules, foreclosures, Judicial Council, moratorium
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That’s Common Knowledge! Failure to Designate an Expert Witness in a Professional Negligence Case is Not Fatal Where “Common Knowledge” Exception Applies
By: Lyndsey Torp
In reversing summary judgment for defendants, the California Fourth District Court of Appeal recently held that homeowners suing their real estate broker for negligence did not need an expert witness to establish the elements of their causes of action. Ryan v. Real Estate of the Pacific, Inc. (2019) 32 Cal. App. 5th 637. Typically, expert witnesses are required to establish the standard of care in professional negligence cases. But in Ryan, the court of appeal held that the “common knowledge” exception applied despite this general rule, because the conduct required by the particular circumstance of the case was within the common knowledge of a layman.… Read More »
Author:
Lyndsey Torp
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Tagged brokers, common knowledge, experts, professional negligence, real estate litigation, summary judgment
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Orchestrating Bias: Arbitrator’s Undisclosed Membership in Philharmonic Group with Pauly Shore’s Attorney Not Grounds to Reverse Award in Real Estate Dispute
The California court of appeal recently issued an unpublished decision in Knispel v. Shore, 2017 WL 2492535, affirming a judgment confirming an arbitration award in a real estate dispute involving Pauly Shore. The court of appeal held that the arbitrator’s failure to disclose her membership in the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic Group with the attorney representing Pauly was not grounds to overturn the judgment.
The underlying arbitration involved a dispute between Michael Scott Shore, on the one hand, and his brother, Pauly, among others, on the other hand, regarding certain residential property located on Sunset Boulevard near The Comedy Store in West Hollywood (owned and operated by their mother, Mitzi Shore).… Read More »
Author:
Lyndsey Torp
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Tagged arbitration, arbitrator, bias, disclosure, real estate
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What Do I Do With This Stuff? Dealing With Abandoned Property After Foreclosure
By: Lyndsey Torp
You’ve successfully foreclosed on a commercial building in California, and, thankfully, the borrower moved out after foreclosure or after a period of tenancy. But the borrower left behind all sorts of property – furniture, filing cabinets, records, and other assorted property. While you may be tempted to just toss it all in the dumpster, doing so may subject you to liability. There are several statutes that you should consider when determining how to handle the abandoned property.
Statutory Options for a Landlord
A landlord-tenant relationship may arise following foreclosure if, for example, the owner of the property accepts rent from the former owner.… Read More »
Author:
Lyndsey Torp
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Tagged abandon, abandoned property, foreclosure, lost property, personal property, records
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Applying New California Rules to Your Real Estate Litigation Practice
By: Lyndsey Torp
Several new California procedural rules went into effect on January 1, 2016. While we are several months into the new year, litigators may need a reminder of these new rules. The list below summarizes several of the notable new rules.
- Pleading Stage
- New California Code of Procedure section 430.41(a)(2) mandates that the parties meet and confer at least five days before filing a demurrer (California’s motion to dismiss). If the parties fail to meet and confer, the demurring party may submit a declaration to the court explaining why the meet and confer did not happen, and the demurring party is granted an automatic 30-day extension.
Author:
Lyndsey Torp
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Tagged 2016 California Code of Civil Procedure, 2016 California rule changes
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General Contractor’s Prospective Waiver Of Its Lien Rights Is Enforceable In California
By: Lyndsey Torp
http://www.swlaw.com/attorneys/lyndsey_torp
In another decision favoring lenders (See http://www.swlaw.com/blog/real-estate-litigation/2014/08/29/arizona-supreme-court-to-contractor-sorry-but-equitable-subrogation-of-a-banks-later-deed-of-trust-trumps-earlier-mechanics-lien-rights/), the California Court of Appeal, in an opinion published in September 2014, entitled Moorefield Construction, Inc. v. Intervest Mortgage Investment Company, et al., D065464, held an original contractor can contractually waive or impair its own lien rights, even before it gets paid or performs work, as long as it does not waive or impair the lien rights of its subcontractors. In Moorefield, the court of appeal reversed a trial court’s decision awarding a general contractor $2.2 million on its mechanic’s lien. In doing so, the court of appeal upheld a subordination agreement that the general contractor, Moorefield Construction, Inc., signed with the lender, Intervest Mortgage, “subordinating” the general contractor’s mechanic’s lien claim to the lender’s deed of trust, which was security for the construction loan.… Read More »
Author:
Lyndsey Torp
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Tagged contractor, deed, foreclosure, lien, loan, mechanics, owner, subordination, waiver
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