Ha

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Minhtam C. Ha and her husband sold their residence to Dzung Pham. Pham obtained an $840,000 loan from a lender in order to complete the purchase. The loan was secured by a deed of trust on the property. Pham later sold the property back to plaintiff and her husband. Although Pham promised to plaintiff and her husband that he would “ ‘clear[ the] property of any/all liens,’ ” he did not, and he also apparently defaulted on the loan. (Italics omitted.) A notice of default and election to sell under the deed of trust was recorded. Defendant Bank of New York Mellon bought the property at a trustee’s sale for $949,450, when the amount of the unpaid debt at that point was more than $1.3 million. Defendant thereafter sought to evict plaintiff and her family from the property. In a subsequent quiet title action against defendant, plaintiff and her husband sought a judgment establishing that they were the owners of the property and entitled to remain in possession. The couple alleged that the original lender and others committed fraud in connection with the loan to Pham. Defendant demurred to the operative fourth amended complaint, and the trial court sustained…