Fait

*289 Opinion

The owner of a parcel of real property with a building on it demolishes the building to make way for new development. Unfortunately, the owner is unable to complete the development and ends up defaulting on a purchase money promissory note secured by a deed of trust on the property. The holder of the note and deed of trust exercises the power of sale under the deed of trust and buys the property back at a foreclosure sale for less than the amount due under the note. The noteholder then sues the former owner and others for waste and impairment of security based on then-demolition of the building, seeking as damages the loss of value in the property that resulted from the destruction of the building. Is such an action barred by the antideficiency statutes (Code Civ. Proc., 1 §§ 580b, 580d) under the reasoning of Cornelison v. Kornbluth (1975) 15 Cal.3d 590 [ 125 Cal.Rptr. 557 , 542 P.2d 981 ]?

The answer to that question is “no.” While the Supreme Court in Cornelison limited actions for waste following a foreclosure sale under a deed of trust securing a purchase money note to “bad faith” waste, the court defined “bad faith” waste as any waste that is not committed as…