Cortez

BACKGROUND

Since a demurrer tests only the sufficiency of a complaint to state a cause of action or defense, the operative facts must be found within its four corners, subject to two exceptions: The court may consider facts of which it properly takes judicial notice, and it may consider other factual assertions by the pleader insofar as they may reflect upon his or her ability to amend the pleading to cure any defects found in it. We are here concerned with the second amended complaint, in which plaintiff alleged that in 1999, she and her late husband purchased a property, which has been her principal residence ever since, on Calpella Drive in San Jose. In or around August 2003, plaintiff and her husband orally agreed with their daughter, defendant Anna Serrano, that they would convey the property to her to facilitate refinancing. Plaintiff would continue to live in the house and would “pay the mortgage payments, taxes, and other costs associated with maintenance.” Serrano agreed to quitclaim her title back to plaintiff “when the refinancing was accomplished.” Plaintiff alleges that the lender in the anticipated refinancing, People’s Choice Home Loan Inc. (People’s Choice),1…