Plaintiff had placed the only bid at the nonjudicial foreclosure auction and auctioneer announced property sold to Plaintiff. Plaintiff made cashier's check payment. Two days later Plaintiff was informed the sale was void. Plaintiff brought quiet title action against Trustee to receive title of property sold in nonjudicial foreclosure sale. California Supreme Court held: Trustee has discretion to void the sale prior to issuing deed, because the wrong opening bid had been communicated to auctioneer, and this amount was less than 10% of the actual amount of debt.

In this recent decision, Case number S198638, the California Supreme Court held that the California‘s medical marijuana statutes do not preempt a local ordinance ban on facilities that distribute medical marijuana.

Defendant applied for business license with the City of Monterey, California, but did not disclose the business would be dispensing medical marijuana. City ordinance prohibited dispensing medical marijuana, so city tried to close the business as a public nuisance. Court of Appeal held: Operating a marijuana dispensary under the pre-moratorium City Code constituted a public nuisance per se.

Plaintiff claimed she is in the "business of adverse possession." Plaintiff recorded a fake quitclaim deed with the County Records, in which plaintiff changed the tax billing address to his own address and commenced paying the taxes. Plaintiff also placed no trespassing signs on the property. The court found that changing the address to an address where owners could not reach was deceitful, and hence, could be used as an affirmative defense to the quiet title action.

The Ellis Act, Cal. Gov. Code § 7060 et. seq., authorizes landlords to remove their residential units from the rental market. The city and appellants entered a settlement agreement which purported to waive appellants' rights to Ellis Act. Second District Court of Appeal (185 Cal.App.4th 771) held: Appellants' rights under Ellis Act could not be waived by contract. Appellants were not barred by estoppel.

Short sales in Florida occur when a homeowner who can no longer afford to pay for their mortgage may avoid foreclosure and get out of the debt with minimal financial damage by he selling the property for less than the mortgage amount. Since the lender must accept less than what they are owed in order for a short sale to be approved, it is the lender’s decision whether or not to accept the short sale offer proposed by the homeowner.

These last few years have had many homeowners default on their mortgage. If you are one of them, you should look into the various options you may have available to you to resolve this matter. If you are employed with income coming in monthly indefinitely you may be eligible for a Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

The record $25 Billion Dollar National Mortgage Settlement Agreement signed earlier this year involved 5 big lenders. According to recent reports, the Federal Reserve is now adding another 8 to the list.

The State of Florida has the third highest foreclosure rate in the United States after Nevada and Arizona. Florida's legislature appropriated $9.6 million this year to hire semi-retired judges and case managers to preside and assist in foreclosure hearings

In mid-April, Bank of America announced the roll out of a new and more efficient short sale process. Bank of America claims that this new shorter and quicker process will allow for decisions on short sales within twenty (20) days.