Szczotka

Defendants appeal from a judgment declaring void and usurious a $60,000 note owned by them, as well as a second trust deed securing such obligation on certain motel property belonging to plaintiffs. The judgment also permanently enjoined defendants from seeking the remedy of foreclosure otherwise available to them.

The subject litigation had its genesis in a three-cornered deal occurring in 1959. The pretrial order properly notes that the “case is somewhat complicated.” In October or November of that year, the defendants employed one LaSatier, a real estate broker, to exchange their equity in an apartment building for a note and second trust deed. Mr. Idelson testified that “to be considered as a trade for tax purposes, it would have to show a three-way deal”—LaSatier would be a principal, as would Idelson and the party who eventually bought the Idelsons ’ equity. The subject $60,000 note was brought by LaSatier to Mr. Idelson’s attention; bearing date of November 11, 1959, it was issued by F. C. Foster & Co. in favor of Oxwood Properties, Inc. An escrow at Wilshire Escrow Company was opened at the end of November for the purchase of this note. The escrow instructions fixed the…