Baldwin

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff Judith L. Baldwin (Baldwin) borrowed $664,000 in a 40-year loan from Washington Mutual (WaMu). WaMu took out a deed of trust secured by Baldwin’s home in Valley Village, California, naming itself as beneficiary and California Reconveyance Company (CRC) as trustee. Beneficial ownership of the deed of trust later passed to defendant JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Chase), and then to Bank of America. Baldwin eventually fell behind in her mortgage payments, and CRC filed a notice of default, followed by four notices of trustee’s sale. Before a nonjudicial foreclosure sale took place, Baldwin quitclaimed 20 percent of her interest in the home to plaintiff Prince Song Cambilargiu (Cambilargiu). Cambilargiu then mailed Chase an untitled check purporting to pay off the entire balance of the mortgage, except that the check was drawn on Cambilargiu himself (not a bank) and was postdated 50 years. When Chase refused to accept the check in satisfaction of the loan or to reconvey the deed of trust to plaintiffs, they sued Chase, in pertinent part, for breach of contract, for violations of Civil Code sections 2924, subdivision (a)(1) and 2941, and to quiet…