Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Promissory note vs a letter REGARDING the promissory note
I signed a promissory note for a personal loan with a client (deceased, no heirs) of my mom(trustee) for my home in 2003. I never received a copy of the note. The note itself (unsecured) says for value received but does not state that my home is collateral, nothing on the note identifies my home. my mom wrote me a letter ''RE: secured promissory note''. that does identify my home. I thought this WAS my note until 2006 when my sis got me a copy (note)that my mom refused to give me.
Mom defaulted on a loan to a 3rd party using my note as security interest. Long story short...I am pro per, in discovery phase. The 3rd party is asking ''Do I admit giving my mom security interest in my home in return for a loan from mom (who did not give me the money). How do I answer this?
Also, my mom got her 3rd party, private lender, loan before I got a copy of my note. The 3rd party is asking do we admit that we agreed to pay the holder of the note(3rd party)?
Yes, I am a gullible trusting idiot, ignorant at the time. My mom is a paralegal of trust& estates. She is alot smarter than I am and I trusted her. She waved the carrot, said sign here ''its safer for your kids''. In the past 3 yrs I found out how bad a seed my mom really is. Is 3rd pty holder
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Promissory note vs a letter REGARDING the promissory note
If you never signed a Deed of Trust, securing the Note, and no Deed of Trust was recorded against your house, then the Note is unsecured. The letter calling the Note a secured Note does not change the character of the Note.
Have you made any payments on the Note? If not, depending on the provisions re payment in the Note, the 4 year statute of limitations could have already run (time limit for them to sue you on the Note). The other party is being clever, because if you acknowledge the debt (as with the question re "do you agree to pay the holder of the note?"), the statute can be deemed revived.
If you never got the money, the Note can also be challenged for failure of consideration.
If your mother was the Trustee of your Trust, and your house is in the Trust, you have other avenues to pursue as well.
When answering discovery questions, you should object to give yourself some protection. You can object and provide no answer (but the other party may file a motion to compel your response) or object and provide an answer to the question as you understand it. If you don't understand the question, objection re "vague and ambiguous" as to time or a word/phrase etc. or "asks for a legal conclusion" may be appropriate.
Discovery can be a complex process, and your answers can have negative impact on you and your case. You should seek assistance of an attorney.
A seemingly innocent question can have dire consequences for you, as demonstrated above.
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