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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
- Tort Claims Against an Alter Ego May Be Considered an Action “On a Contract” for the Purposes of an Attorneys’ Fees Award under California Civil Code section 1717
- The Show Must Go On: Shuttered Venues Operators Grant Provides Lifeline for Live Music and Theater Venues
- 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
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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Lenders Should Contract for the Right to Recover Lost Goodwill Proceeds when Commercial Property is taken in Eminent Domain
Business Goodwill Generally
In California, the “goodwill” of a business “consists of the benefits that accrue to a business as a result of its location, reputation for dependability, skill or quality, and any other circumstances resulting in probable retention of old or acquisition of new patronage.” Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 1263.510(b). Put another way: “Goodwill is the amount by which a business’s overall value exceeds the value of its constituent assets, often due to a recognizable brand name, a sterling reputation, or an ideal location. Regardless of the cause, however, goodwill almost always translates into a business’s profitability.” People ex rel.… Read More »
Author:
acarucci
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Tagged commercial real estate, condemnation, eminent domain, just compensation, lien, real estate, real estate litigation
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Transfer of Property Title to a Holding Company Did Not Divest Landowner of Owner-Occupant Status Under A.R.S. § 33-1002(B)
Recently, in Marco Crane & Rigging Co. v. Masaryk, 703 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 29 (Dec. 30, 2014), the Arizona Court of Appeals established that a subcontractor on a residential project has no lien rights against an owner-occupant, even though the homeowner transferred the property’s title to a holding company (an Arizona limited liability company) after the subcontractor commenced work.
In other words, the lien protections afforded to owner-occupants are determined, at the latest, when a contractor records its lien. After the contractor commences work and records its lien, the homeowner’s actions in negating owner-occupant status do not divest the homeowner of statutory protections against lienholders. … Read More »
Author:
Rick Erickson
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Tagged A.R.S. § 33-1002, construction, contractor, foreclosure, general contractor, holding company, homebuilder, homebuilding, homeowner, landowner, lien, lien law, Limited Liability Company, Marco Crane & Rigging Co. v. Masaryk, mechanic's lien, owner-occupant, residential construction, subcontractor
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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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Arizona Supreme Court to Contractor: Sorry But Equitable Subrogation of a Bank’s Later Deed of Trust Trumps Earlier Mechanics’ Lien Rights
By Rick Erickson
http://www.swlaw.com/attorneys/rick_erickson
The smoke has finally cleared in a hard and long-fought battle between a bank and contractor both claiming priority to foreclose millions of dollars on a Phoenix condominium project. The project, well-known as Summit at Copper Square in central Phoenix (“Summit”), went broke in 2007. The foreclosure case began in 2008, and the construction and real estate industries have been keeping a close eye on the outcome. In the end, the Arizona Supreme Court weighed in for its “first opportunity to address the interplay between equitable subrogation and the priority granted to mechanics’ liens by [Arizona Revised Statutes] § 33-992(A).”
The Arizona Supreme Court issued its decision in The Weitz Company L.L.C.… Read More »
Author:
Rick Erickson
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Tagged contractor, equitable, foreclosure, lien, loan, mechanics, security, subrogation
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