Kessler

The sole issue presented by this appeal concerns the validity of a foreclosure sale conducted by the trustee under the power of sale contained in a deed of trust. The judgment under review was rendered after a ruling which sustained defendants’ objection to the introduction of any evidence. Therefore, we are called upon to decide the purely legal question whether the complaint stated a cause of action, that is to say, whether the facts alleged afforded any legal ground upon which to hold the trustee’s sale invalid. Accordingly, the facts will be stated largely in the language of the complaint.

The deed of trust in question, which is conventional in form, was executed on January 19, 1950, by Mr. and Mrs. Eilers, plaintiff’s predecessors in interest, to secure their obligation to repay a loan made by defendant State Mutual Building and Loan Association. The parties to the instrument were: (1) the Eilers as borrowers and “trustors,” (2) defendant State Mutual as lender and “beneficiary,” and (3) defendant Title Insurance and Trust Company as “trustee.”

On April 27, 1953, appellant (plaintiff below) purchased the encumbered real property from the trustors and assumed the obligation…