Lang

Do principles of equity and fairness permit the redemption of property purchased by a judgment creditor at an invalid execution sale, though the statutory scheme characterizes execution sales as “absolute”? The answer is yes. Equitable redemption is available to those whose fundamental rights have been trampled. Citizens may not be dispossessed of their property by a “creditor” executing on a judgment that is void ab initio for lack of personal jurisdiction. Deploying a void judgment to seize the property of someone who was never served with the lawsuit violates the constitutional guarantee that no person shall be deprived of property without due process of law.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Feuding former neighbors Erik E. Lang and Warren W. Roché are before this court in propria persona, in the latest installment of their lengthy dispute. In 1977, respondent Roché sold property in Topanga Canyon to appellant Lang and they became next-door neighbors. Mutual animosity and litigation ensued.

In 1995, Roché brought a defamation suit against “Eric Lang.” Roché and his attorney represented to the trial court that “Eric Lang” was nowhere to be *258 found, although (1)…