Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: who dropped the ball

Why on earth didn't you consult a lawyer to stop the foreclosure before now????!!!! Stopping a foreclosure would have been easy and cheap, at least before the fact. Run walk or crawl to a bankruptcy lawyer and see if maybe there is something that can be done for you -- but I am not optimistic.

Re: who dropped the ball

Whether the refinance lender had an obligation to fund the loan is doubtful. So-called approvals and commitments made by lenders are full of conditions, including ones the borrower may have no control over, such as a satisfactory title report, market conditions, etc.

My advice at this point would be to have a lawyer examine anything you were given by the proposed lender that your think showed a commitment to lend. I'll bet there isn't any. "Approval" often means nothing more than "so far, so good" and/or "we're willing to take the next steps with you." You have to read every word of approvals and commitment letters.

Banks win 99% of suits over the failure-to-loan issue, but that's not 100%. There is some faint hope that you had an enforceable commitment, the breach of which gives you a cause of action for resulting damages.

There is also a possibility of a fraudulent collusion between the foreclosing lender and someone (?) to string you along so the foreclosing lender could get the property without a last-minute redemption. This is a very remote possibility, but I guess worth mentioning.