The Arizona Supreme Court recently clarified that a judgment lien does, in fact, attach to the proceeds of the sale of a homestead property. See In re McLauchlan. In sum, if the sale of a home produces more than the homestead...more
Over the last few years, the Arizona Court of Appeals wrestled with the question of who should receive the excess proceeds from a foreclosure sale. We’ve blogged about some these past unreported decisions here and here. ...more
Preference actions have been vexing creditors for as long as the Bankruptcy Code has been around. Indeed, a creditor who receives a pre-petition transfer in violation of the preference statute may have to give the transferred...more
That pesky excess sale proceeds statute, A.R.S. § 33-727, is making waves again. We previously blogged about this statute... In the prior post, we explained that excess sale proceeds (i.e., a foreclosure sale price greater...more
The Arizona Court of Appeals recently held that any successful plaintiff in a forcible detainer action (i.e., an eviction action) may recover an award of its attorneys’ fees and costs incurred at trial under A.R.S. §...more
When a foreclosure sale generates more money than needed to pay off the lien, the excess proceeds usually go first to creditors in the order of their priority, and second to the owner after creditors are paid in full. So, in...more
7/16/2018
/ Anti-Deficiency Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Banking Sector ,
Borrowers ,
Creditors ,
Deed of Trust ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
Foreclosure ,
Homeowners ,
Homeowners Association (HOA) ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Property Liens ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Sheriffs Sale
Lenders routinely accelerate notes after a default occurs, calling the entire loan due immediately. Less regularly, a lender may change its mind and unilaterally revoke the acceleration. Rarely, however, does a lender fail to...more
7/3/2018
/ Acceleration ,
Affirmative Action ,
Appeals ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Deed of Trust ,
Foreclosure ,
Homeowners Association (HOA) ,
Liens ,
Loans ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Notice of Default ,
Promissory Notes ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
Revocation ,
Sheriffs Sale ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Trustee Sales
What law governs a deficiency action if the choice-of-law provisions in the note and deed of trust conflict? The Arizona Court of Appeals answered that very question in ZB, N.A. v. Hoeller, No. 1 CA-CV 16-0071 (Ct. App. April...more
5/3/2017
/ Appeals ,
Banks ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Commercial Mortgages ,
Conflicts of Laws ,
Deed of Trust ,
Deficiency Judgments ,
Foreclosure ,
Lenders ,
Promissory Notes ,
Reversal ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Trustee Sales
Ever wonder what happens if a person challenges the timeliness of a trustee’s sale after the sale already occurred? Waiver of the argument of course! And, in the case of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Waltner, the affirmance of...more
In Arizona, guarantors can now be held liable for deficiencies even where borrowers avoid liability due to Arizona’s anti-deficiency statute.
Arizona courts have been active in the last few years in addressing the law...more
When no statute specifically authorizes a court-appointed receiver to sell real property, what type of sale is it? The Supreme Court of Nevada recently addressed this question, holding that “a receiver sale of real property...more
In 2013, we blogged about the Arizona Court of Appeals’ determination that prospective contractual waivers of “fair market value” hearings are unenforceable as a matter of public policy. The link to our prior blog post is...more
Since a lender must have a valid debt and valid lien to conduct a trustee’s sale, a borrower that allows the foreclosure sale to occur impliedly agrees that the debt and lien are valid. In Madison v. Groseth and BT Capital,...more
5/29/2014
/ Appeals ,
Borrowers ,
Breach of Contract ,
Debt ,
Default ,
Deficiency Judgments ,
Delinquent Borrowers ,
Foreclosure ,
Lenders ,
Liens ,
Mortgages ,
Trustee Sales ,
Trustees
If a lender delays foreclosure allowing years of default interest to accrue such that a guarantor’s obligation increases from $6 million to $12 million, should the guarantor remain on the hook for the full $12 million? In...more
Sales in bankruptcy court under 11 U.S.C. § 363 (called “363 Sales”) are often used to sell property during a bankruptcy case. The 363 Sale process provides an efficient procedure to liquidate estate property and offers...more
As of January 1, 2014, California amended its anti-deficiency statute to stop mortgage lenders from “collecting” from homeowners on post-foreclosure debts. Although the amendments were designed to tackle a purely...more
Arizona anti-deficiency laws do not prohibit a non-purchase money lender from suing on its note after foreclosure by a senior lender. In Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Brewer, No. 1CA-CV 12-0383 (Ariz. Ct. App. May 21, 2013...more
In Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Riggio, No. 1CA-CV-12-0430 (Ariz. Ct. App. June 4, 2013), the Arizona Court of Appeals held: (i) that the “merger of rights” doctrine does not “merge” a lender’s first and second lien into a...more
In Parkway Bank & Trust Co. v. Zivkovic, 662 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 26 (Ct. App. 2013), the Arizona Court of Appeals held that provisions in loan documents purporting to waive the applicability of A.R.S. § 33-814(G) violate Arizona...more
In Independent Mortgage v. Alaburda, the Arizona Court of Appeals held that Arizona’s anti-deficiency statute, A.R.S. § 33-814(G), precluded a lender from suing its borrowers for a deficiency after foreclosing on the...more