Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Can Lender file a deficiency after the trustee sale?
I got notice of default with a trustee number. My loan is a refinance loan cash out,
no second loan. If lender choose not to have a court action to foreclose
the house (judicial foreclosure), can they still go after me for deficiency after the trustee sale?
2 Answers from Attorneys
No. Once the trustee's sale goes through, a judicial foreclosure and deficiency action would violate the one form of action rule.
Not in the normal sense; an election to foreclose by trustee sale cuts off the foreclosing lender's right (if any existed) to seek a deficiency judgment. However, it is possible, but not very likely, that a lender might attack on a collateral issue such as loan-application fraud or malicious waste of the collateral.