Sweatt

This case involves Civil Code section 2924c as it read in 1982 and 1983. That section is a part of the statutory scheme providing for nonjudicial foreclosure of deeds of trust and mortgages. Specifically this appeal seeks an interpretation of the clause fixing the amount of the trustee’s fee payable by a debtor in order to cure his default, and an answer to the question whether the statutory fees payable in nonjudicial foreclosures still apply when the parties to the deed of trust invoke judicial assistance because of a dispute between them. What follows is also relevant to the current wording of the section.

On November 25, 1981, appellant The Foreclosure Co. as trustee recorded a notice of default reciting arrearages of $2,800.98 due under the secured promissory note executed by respondents Sweatt. By letter of January 15, 1982, The Foreclosure Co. itemized its claim including a trustee’s fee of $262.78. On February 24, 1982, the Sweatts commenced an action in the trial court to enjoin the foreclosure proceedings, contending inter alia that certain installment payments had been made but not credited and others credited against principal rather than interest. The…