GILBERT DREYFUSS et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. UNION BANK OF CALIFORNIA, Defendant and Respondent., 24 Cal. 4th 400

Summary

Plaintiff borrowers defaulted on a loan secured by separate deeds of trust on three parcels of real property. Defendant bank conducted a nonjudicial foreclosure of one property and then proceeded with serial foreclosure sales of the remaining properties; prior to each successive sale, it did not seek a judicial determination of fair market value of the property sold or purport to credit such amount to the debt. The court granted review to determine whether defendant thereby violated the antideficiency provisions of Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §§ 580a, 580d. There was no violation. Section 580a did not limit defendant's right to proceed against multiple items of collateral. Nor did the sales fall under § section 580d's restriction against deficiency judgments. As a creditor, defendant had the right to exhaust all of the real property pledged to secure an obligation. Specifically, defendant could proceed seriatim in foreclosing against multiple items of collateral without commencing a judicial ...