April 2016

VOLUME 11 | NUMBER 4 | APRIL 2016

	IN THIS ISSUE
Introductory Remarks		>
Coming Event		>
Recent Cases		>

The Real Property Section Newsletter is published monthly by the Real Property Law Section. Editor: Teresa Y. Hillery Vice President and Trial Counsel Fidelity National Law Group Teresa.Hillery@fnf.com
Real Property Executive Committee: SECTION OFFICERS Chair Brant Dveirin First Vice Chair Susan J. Booth Second Vice Chair Caroline Dreyfus Treasurer Claire Hervey Collins Secretary Eric Altoon Barristers Liaison Kelsey Thayer Section Administrator Fatima Jones
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS Nedra E. Austin Michael J. Bayard Martha C. Bringas Elizabeth Spedding Calciano Norman Chernin William G. Coskran Robert T. Flick Peter A. Gelles Daniel L. Goodkin Marcia Z. Gordon Owen P. Gross Byron Hayes, Jr Marybeth Heydt Lore A. Hilburg Teresa Y. Hillery Laurence L. Hummer Gordon Hunt Bryan C. Jackson Robert D. Jaffe Donna E. Kirkner Michael S. Klein Mark L. Lamken Trudi J. Lesser Gregg J. Loubier Kyle B. Marks Victor I. Marmon Jerold L. Miles O'Malley M. Miller Donald C. Nanney Gytis L. Nefas Beth Peterson Nadav Ravid D. Eric Remensperger James D. Richman Misty Marie Sanford Floyd Sayer Margaret J. Schock Ronald I. Silverman Linda E. Spiegel Sarah V J Spyksma Theresa C. Tate Kelsey M. Thayer Timothy M. Truax Richard S. Volpert Ira J. Waldman Brandon Dominic Ward Alan Wayte Pamela L. Westhoff Norma J. Williams Grace Winters Andrew (Andy) J. Yamamoto Paula Reddish K. Zinnemann

SUBSECTION CHAIRS Construction Law Donna Kirkner Finance Committee Owen Gross General Property Beth Peterson Land Use Planning & Environmental Law Brandon Ward Title Insurance Lore A. Hilburg

Introductory Remarks

Last month, Christopher Deal, Esq., of the law firm of Songstad Randall Coffee & Humphrey, gave a terrific seminar on Closing Protection Letters ("CPL") to a packed audience at the LACBA offices. CPL is a subject that gets very little attention, but can have incredible consequences both good and bad for the recipients and issuers of the letters. Recent changes to the letters have attempted to codify the issuer's intent which is to give protections that are not already provided by a title insurance policy and to make it clear that the letters can only be issued in conjunction with the issuance of such a policy. If you represent lenders, you should have been there, but I imagine you can still get a copy of the materials or the seminar through the LACBA. Many thanks to Christopher Deal for an outstanding seminar.

LACBA Real Property Section will have its 2016 Installation & Awards Dinner on Wednesday, June 8, 2016, at 6 p.m. We will enjoy a fabulous evening at the InterContinental Los Angeles located at 2151 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA. SAVE THE DATE!

	Coming Event

The Ethical Ramifications of the Duty to Defend and the Tripartite Relationship 05/17/2016 12:30 PM This program will examine an insurer's duty to defend, the tripartite relationship formed when an insurer retains counsel to represent its insured, and the duties of retained counsel. >read more

	Recent Cases

-- Assignments – Homeowner lacked standing to challenge the foreclosure of her home based on an alleged defect in the assignment of the deed of trust (DOT). Homeowner claimed the assignment of the DOT to her home by MERS to Structured Asset Mortgage Investment II Trust 2007-AR7 Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates 2007-AR7 (2007-AR7 trust) was invalid because the assignment occurred after the closing date for the 2007-AR7 trust, and that the signature on the instrument was forged or robo-signed. The assignment of a deed to a securitized trust made after the trust's closing date is not void, but merely voidable by the beneficiary. Saterbak v. JPMorgan Chase - filed March 16, 2016, Fourth District, Div. One Cite as 2016 S.O.S. 1429 Full text click here > --Conveyances-- Trust language "I transfer to my Trustee the property listed in Schedule A, attached to this agreement," was sufficient to convey to the trust a property listed in the schedule. The trustor was not required to execute a separate deed in order to effectuate such conveyance. The court further concluded that, "because at the time the trust was created, [a prior trust] was a revocable inter vivos trust, and [the trustor] was the sole trustee who owned no interest in the property as an individual, his signature on the later trust was sufficient "to convey good title" to the property from the [prior trust] to the [later trust]. Carne v. Worthington - filed April 13, 2016, Fourth District, Div. One Cite as 2016 S.O.S. 1877 Full text click here > -- Independent Appraisers -- Substantial evidence supported a city council's determination that a property appraiser was "independent" even though he was paid by the property owner to do the appraisal. The appraiser testified that the property owner did not direct his work or dictate the outcome of his appraisal, and his fee was not based on the outcome of his appraisal. Absent an express provision to the contrary, a city ordinance requiring an "independent" property appraisal could not be construed as requiring a potentially complex method for selecting an appraiser, rather than simply any qualified "independent" appraiser. San Diegans for Open Government v. City of San Diego - filed March 2, 2016, publication ordered March 16, 2016, Fourth District, Div. One Cite as 2016 S.O.S. 1373 Full text click here >

You are subscribed to %%list.name%% as %%emailaddr%% .

You are receiving this message because you are a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) or one of its sections, have registered to receive correspondence through LACBA's website, or are a member of the legal profession. If you wish to be excluded from any future correspondence, please see instructions below or mail us at 1055 West 7th Street, Suite 2700, Los Angeles, CA 90017-2557.

To unsubscribe from this mailing list, click the following url, %%url.unsub%% or copy and paste the following url into your browser %%url.unsub%%