California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Angell v. Superior Court, 73 Cal.App.4th 691, 86 Cal.Rptr.2d 657 (Cal. App. 1999):
Petitioners attempt to distinguish Little on grounds that no notice was given in that case, while here the notices were merely defective. We find this factor insignificant because the notice defects here were substantial, and therefore equivalent to no notice at all. "[T]he notice of default will be strictly construed and must correctly set forth the amounts required to cure the default." (Sweatt v. Foreclosure Co. (1985) 166 Cal.App.3d 273, 278, 212 Cal.Rptr. 350.)
The second case cited is Moeller v. Lien (1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 822, 30 Cal.Rptr.2d 777. In that case, a foreclosure sale was held, a sale to bona fide purchasers occurred, and a deed was delivered to them. There were no irregularities in the sale and, due to delivery of the deed, the sale was conclusively presumed to be valid under Civil Code section 2924. (Id., at pp. 827-829, 831, 30 Cal.Rptr.2d 777.) Mere inadequacy of price was not a basis for setting aside the sale. (Id., at p. 832, 30 Cal.Rptr.2d 777.)
The court said: "A properly conducted nonjudicial foreclosure sale constitutes a final adjudication of the rights of the borrower and lender. [Citation.]" (Moeller v. Lien, supra, 25 Cal.App.4th 822, 831, 30 Cal.Rptr.2d 777.) However, the conclusive presumption in favor of the bona fide purchaser (Civ.Code, 2924) does not take effect until delivery of a trustee's deed. "Although a nonjudicial foreclosure sale is generally complete upon acceptance of a bid by the trustee, the conclusive presumption does not apply until a trustee's deed is delivered. Thus, if there is a defect in the procedure which is discovered after the bid is accepted, but prior to delivery of the trustee's deed, the trustee may abort a sale to a bona fide purchaser, return the purchase price and restart the foreclosure process. [Citations.] [p] ... [A]n irregularity in the nonjudicial foreclosure sale coupled with a
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