Friery

Thomas P. and Linda Friery (Friery), junior lienholders on certain real property in Sutter County, appeal from a summary judgment granted in favor of the senior lienholder Sutter Buttes Savings Bank (Sutter Buttes or the bank) on her cross-complaint. In granting the bank’s motion for summary judgment, the trial court rejected Friery’s claim that Sutter Buttes so impaired her security by modifying the terms of its senior promissory note such that the Friery lien should be judicially elevated to a superior position in priority.

Friery’s theory of relief is premised on the case of Gluskin v. Atlantic Savings & Loan Assn. (1973) 32 Cal.App.3d 307 [ 108 Cal.Rptr. 318 ], which created a duty on the part of senior lenders toward subordinating sellers not to substantially impair their security without the latter’s consent.

We decline to extend Gluskin to the situation presented here, which involves a garden variety junior lienholder who has not subordinated, bears no special relationship to the senior and possesses no extraordinary facts in her favor which would warrant the imposition of such a duty. We therefore affirm the judgment.

Background

The commercial property which…