Real Property Case Summary Updates

May 2020

By Monty McIntyre

California Case Summaries™ (https://cacasesummaries.com)

Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. is the publisher of California Case Summaries™ which provides short summaries, organized by legal topic, of every new published civil and family law case helping California lawyers easily keep up with the new case law in their practice areas. Monthly, quarterly and annual single-user and discounted multi-user subscriptions are available. Monty hasbeen a California civil trial lawyer since 1980, a member of ABOTA since 1995, and currently works as a full-time mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc. (ADR) in ADR’s offices in San Diego, Irvine, and Los Angeles.  

CALIFORNIA COURTS OF APPEAL

Real Property

Huang v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2020) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2020 WL 2059951: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order granting defendant’s summary judgment on the basis of the statute of limitations. Plaintiffs were aware, more than three years before they filed their action, of a recorded notice of trustee’s sale posted on the door of their property scheduling its sale to satisfy a delinquent loan secured by a deed of trust in favor of defendant beneficiary. After receiving the notice of sale, plaintiffs immediately provided it to their title insurer to resolve any dispute with defendant. The trustee’s sale did not take place as scheduled, and plaintiffs heard nothing substantive about the matter for several years thereafter. Meanwhile, plaintiffs continuously lived in and possessed the home. Under these circumstances, the Court of Appeal held the statute of limitations did not run, and the trial court improperly granted summary judgment for defendant. (C.A. 1st, April 29, 2020.) 

Moore v. Teed (2020) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2020 WL 1968237: The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for plaintiff, following a jury trial, awarding damages of $934,322, attorney fees of $2,114,434 and costs of $104,498 for plaintiff’s fraud claims against defendant related to the purchase and renovation of a house in San Francisco. Defendant conceded liability on appeal. Where a person has been defrauded by their fiduciary in a real property transaction, the measure of damages available under Civil Code sections 3333 and 1709 may include a benefit-of-the-bargain damages award. The trial court properly awarded plaintiff attorney fees under Business and Professions Code section 7160. (C.A. 1st, April 24, 2020.)

Ruiz v. County of San Diego (2020) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2020 WL 1270333: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s judgment, following a bench trial, awarding plaintiffs damages of $328,0233 and attorney fees and costs of $529,540.40 in an inverse condemnation action arising from a home flood caused by the failure of plaintiffs’ privately owned underground storm drain pipe which rusted out over 50 years of use. The Court of Appeal held the trial court’s finding that defendant implicitly accepted a drainage easement was not supported by substantial evidence. The undisputed evidence was that, although the natural watercourse on plaintiffs’ property served the valley, the pipe under plaintiffs’ property served their development interests alone. The trial court’s finding that the defendant acted unreasonably was also not supported by substantial evidence. There was no evidence showing that defendant had acted unreasonably with respect to its property.  (C.A. 4th, filed March 17, 2020, published April 7, 2020.)