Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: trust deed

Anybody can sue anybody for anything. However, you have some obvious defenses and motions to raise. Get an attorney and do so, and he may be able to get you out of this without spending a fortune. Feel free to contact me if serious about doing so.

Re: trust deed

As Mr. Nelson points out, the clerks at the courthouse won't look at a lawsuit to decide whether it has any merit when they accept it for filing. They just stamp papers and collect filing fees. Maybe they'll check to make sure the plaintiff has signed the complaint and that the cover sheet looks to be all filled out.

Consequently, we have three kinds of lawsuits: those that lack merit altogether; those that may have some merit but which the plaintiff will probably lose; and those that have substantial merit and the plaintiff oughta win unless his lawyer screws up.

In your situation, my guess is that the claims against you in the suit will have something to do with your making fraudulent representation about the borrower, and/or that you acted as a loan broker without a license.

I know nothing about what you told the lender friend about the borrower friend, so I can't advise on whether there was a negligent or even an intentional misrepresentation here, but unless you have witnesses and/or everything was handled in writing, you may be somewhat vulnerable here and it could boil down to what a judge or jury believes. Telling X that Y is a good credit risk could get you into some hot water unless what you said was true, even if any mistake you made was negligent rather than intentional. Obviously, an intentional misrepresentation would be much worse in terms of potential liability than a negligent misrep.

The other area of exposure (needing a loan broker or real estate license) arises if you received, or expected to receive, compensation such as a commission for arranging this loan. If you neither expected compensation nor negotiated the terms, you're probably OK on this front.

If you are served with a complaint and summons, be sure to get a proper response on file within the allotted time.

Re: trust deed

Normally, unless you sign an agreement, you cannot be liable. We would have to review the lawsuit and all of your documentation in order to assist you further. Please contact us if you have any other questions.

Re: trust deed

I agree with the prior two answers, however, your potential exposure doesn't end with the analysis Mr. Whipple provided. In addition, you have negotiated a loan that violates the predatory lending laws in the State of California, and it sounds like you may have done so without even holding a license. Regardless of your involvement, you are going to have to defend or settle this thing because you put the two of them together, and if I am reading your post correctly, you discussed the terms of the loan. The interest rate, and potentially the up-front $2,000 violate the predatory lending laws. You need to retain an attorney very quickly.

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