Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Yes, indeed; cosignors do not have the same antideficiency protection as do borrowers, and you could be held accountable for every penny that's unpaid.....further, your story about the loan officer mistaking you for a purchaser makes very little sense, given that there are so many papers a buyer and a borrower must sign to close escrow, it takes a lot more than a loan officer's misunderstanding to get the buyer and the guarantor mixed up. I think you need to give us more facts or call me directly for some free research into what went wrong here. A wierd set of circumstances indeed!

I agree with Whipple, except about the cosigner not having antideficiency protection. A guarantor's liability is the same as the primary obligor. When a lender "forecloses" through a trustee's sale (the proper name for a non-court foreclosure) the lender is faced with the "one form of action" rule, which precludes then suing on the debt.

The one action rule of Code of Civil Procedure section 726, does not apply to nonjudicial foreclosure sales. Rather the foreclosing lender is barred under Code of Civil Procedure section 580d from obtaining a deficiency judgment against you. This statute does not apply however, if you get sued for fraud, which is not barred by Code of Civil Procedure section 580d or section 726.