Aplanalp

Plaintiffs and appellants, Thomas L. Aplanalp, Margie L. Aplanalp, Peter O. Pederson, and Betty L. Pederson, appeal from a judgment following the grant of a motion for summary judgment brought by defendants and respondents, Angelo Forte and Loretta Forte. In an earlier action, defendants obtained an order allowing equitable setoff of a money judgment defendants owed to plaintiffs against delinquent payments plaintiffs owed to defendants on a purchase money note and deed of trust. Defendants then conducted nonjudicial proceedings to foreclose on the note and deed of trust. Plaintiffs contend that the setoff and subsequent trustee’s sale violated the “one-action” and “collateral first” rules of Code of Civil Procedure section 726 and the antideficiency rules of sections 580b and 580d, and summary judgment was therefore improper.

Facts

In December 1981 plaintiffs purchased a mobilehome park (the property) from defendants for $618,000. Plaintiffs made a down payment of $100,000 and gave defendants a promissory note secured by a deed of trust on the property (the note) for the balance of the purchase price.

In November 1982, plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that before…