Rochambeau

BACKGROUND

In December 2005, plaintiff Rodrique Rochambeau obtained a $359,650 loan from First Magnus Financial Corporation (First Magnus) secured by a deed of trust that named Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) as beneficiary and sole nominee for the lender, its successors, and assigns. In 2006, Wells Fargo became the servicer of Rochambeau’s loan. By the end of 2008, Rochambeau was behind in his payments by $24,348.29, and NDex West, LLC (NDex), “as agent for Beneficiary,” recorded a notice of default in

1 December of that year, despite not being formally substituted as trustee under the deed of trust until January 2009. Also in January 2009, MERS, as nominee for First Magnus, assigned the deed of trust to HSBC, as “TRUSTEE FOR DBALT 2006-AFI.” According to plaintiffs, the recordation of the deed of trust was irregular because it was done over three years after the mortgage pool trust, DBALT 2006-AFI, allegedly closed in March of 2006. In June 2011, the property was sold through a foreclosure sale. The balance then due on Rochambeau’s loan was $452,880.08. Two months after the sale, Cambilargiu, on behalf of Rochambeau, sent Wells Fargo a “draft” in the…