Schmidli

Plaintiffs brought this quiet title action to extinguish a lien of a deed of trust held by defendants against their property. Plaintiffs claim defendants’ lien expired under a 10-year statute of limitations triggered by defendant’s recording of a notice of default. Defendants claim their notice of default did not trigger the 10-year statute, and their lien remains viable under a 60-year statute of limitations.

Two appellate decisions addressed this issue and reached different results. Slintak v. Buckeye Retirement Co., L.L.C., Ltd. (2006) 139 Cal.App.4th 575 [ 43 Cal.Rptr.3d 131 ] (Slintak) concluded a notice of default triggered the 10-year statute. Ung v. Koehler (2005) 135 Cal.App.4th 186 [ 37 Cal.Rptr.3d 311 ] (Ung) determined a notice of default did not trigger the 10-year statute where the notice was recorded after the 10-year period had expired, and the 60-year statute applied.

The trial court here relied upon Slintak and granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs. Although the notice of default in this case was recorded before the 10-year period expired, we conclude Ung is the better reasoned authority applicable here, and we reverse the…