Bartley

In this action to quiet title to real property, respondents Rex M. Bartley and John Beale, purchasers at a foreclosure sale, sought to terminate the equitable interest of appellants Jack J. Karas and Frank V. Tharp, vendees under an installment sale contract. Appellants challenge the judgment in respondents’ favor after a nonjury trial on the ground that the trial court erred by terminating their rights as defaulting vendees without affording them an opportunity to cure their default and reinstate the contract. We reverse.

Facts

Under the instalment contract, executed July 7, 1970, and never recorded, appellants agreed to buy a home at 305 Wheeler Avenue, San Francisco, for $15,000. The terms of payment called for a down payment of $1,500, with the balance and interest payable in 210 monthly instalments of approximately $160 each. Standard time of essence and forfeiture clauses governed the instalment payments.

The sellers under this contract, Frank and Arlene Mays, had previously encumbered the property with deeds of trust recorded in 1965 and 1969. The first deed of trust secured an original indebtedness of $14,000, while the second deed of trust secured an original…