State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Land Title Co.

MEMORANDUM *

Bongo II, Inc. (“Bongo II”) seeks to set aside a foreclosure sale in order to recover *115 its interest in the Northern Lights Inn in Anchorage, Alaska.

Bongo II used the hotel as security for a $5 million loan it obtained from commercial mortgage lender GMAC in November, 1997. In May, 2002, six months after Bongo II stopped making payments on the loan, GMAC declared Bongo II in default. Bongo II immediately declared bankruptcy. GMAC obtained relief from the automatic stay with respect to its interest in the hotel, and filed the present action seeking appointment of a receiver. GMAC ultimately forced the sale of the Northern Lights Inn through a non-judicial foreclosure, and obtained title to the property at the sale with a $4.1 million credit offset bid.

On GMAC’s motion for summary judgment, the district court found that the sale was valid and lawful. We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, see Buono v. Norton, 371 F.3d 543, 545 (9th Cir.2004), and affirm.

The Alaska Supreme Court has noted that with respect to a non-judicial foreclosure, “[n]o Alaska statutes or cases specify a procedure by which the trustee must conduct a foreclosure…