Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: 1st deed of trust purchase

I found a "Loan Purchase and Sale Agreement" in the Forms supplement to Miller & Starr's multi-volume treatise on California real-property law. It runs about 7-1/2 printed pages in length in the book, although upon skimming it I think at least half of the verbiage could be cut out in a plain-vanilla transaction. If you insist upon doing your own legal work, which I don't recommend, you could find it in your county law library; it's section 3:57 of Miller & Starr's California Real Estate Forms. The form itself is followed by six or seven pages of explanation on how to use it, what the various clauses accomplish, etc. which you should also read.

Three other points: (1) remember that you are purchase in the NOTE; the deed of trust is "just" the security for the note. (2) make sure the note is negotiable - most are; (3) be sure to notify the trustor (borrower) if the payments are to go to someone else (this usually but not always happens when a note is sold).

Make sure you get physical delivery to you of both the original note and the deed of trust. You may want to record a notice of the transfer and/or a request for notice of default so you would get notices of default on seconds, etc.

Finally, make sure you understand the documents, the trustor, and the collateral.