Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This "misguided" person doesn't want to sign? Why not? And why doesn't this attorney know the answer to the question?

As I indicated in a previous answer, county court judges do have the power to order clerks, etc. to sign a party's name to various kinds of instruments in the course of litigation. This power is necessary to carry out judgments when a party refuses to do what is necessary. I think most judges would use this power sparingly, and only when all affected parties had been before the court and the judge was well-acquainted with the facts. Judges do sometimes exceed their authority; that's one reason why we have writs and a Court of Appeal. The facts you allude to do seem unusual, but as I said before, this step may have been necessary to correct a mistake or to rectify a fraud.

I think you are very confused and may have been part of a fraudulent land transfer. Joint tenancy is a form of ownership of the property. A Grant deed transfers the ownership of the property. A Deed of Trust is the giving of a security lien against the real property so that if the owner/borrower fails to pay back the loan on which the land is given as a security interest the lender can foreclose on the property and get back at least some of the amount lent. it is difficult to see how a person would be "misguided" into mistaking that they were putting a lien on the property when they were actually transferring title. There would have to be fraud involved. So it is not just a simple case of failing to read a document carefully, and should involve much more than a clerk allowing an attorney to sign a new document. If your attorney did not explain to you what was going on you need to see another attorney, unless the facts are very different from what little you provide us.

My big question is what happened to the Grant Dee?. If it was signed erroneously, and both the grantor and grantee agree, it should be destroyed, and not recorded. Then the parties can fill out the correct document, which you state was supposed to be a deed of trust.

If the grant deed was delivered and recorded, then you have another problem. You have a recorded instrument that is going to have to be either cancelled or declared an "equitable mortgage" by a court of law. Having an attorney sign something else for you is not going to help you at all.

I suggest you speak to a competent real estate attorney as soon as possible.