Steele

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Pursuant to a 2002 settlement in a prior action, plaintiffs Susan and James Steele obtained contractual rights relating to certain real property in Alamo, including the right, under specified circumstances, to acquire the property or to receive a portion of the proceeds if the then-owners sold the property. In 2011, the property was sold in a nonjudicial foreclosure sale. Also in 2011, the Steeles filed the present action, alleging interference with their contractual rights by various parties, including: (1) Christopher (Chris) and Carrie Spina, owners of the property prior to the foreclosure; (2) Marin Capital Corporation (Marin), a lender that recorded a deed of trust against the property in 2002; (3) Alfred Spina, Chris Spina’s father, who also recorded a deed of trust against the property; (4) Dryden Capital, Inc. (Dryden), the loan servicer for the Marin loan; (5) Robert and Suzanne Hatch, successor beneficiaries of the Marin deed of trust, who purchased the property at the foreclosure sale; (6) Standard Trust Deed Service Company (Standard), the trustee that conducted the foreclosure sale; and (7) Robert Gibbs, a real estate agent who assisted…