Facts

Defendant, Three Twenty Co., owned a three-story commercial building in Oakland, California. Three Twenty sold the building to developer WK&K Associates and Three Twenty received a down payment and carried back a purchase loan secured by a deed of trust. The building consisted of three floors and WK&K began selling units in the building. WK&K defaulted on its loan to Three Twenty and Three Twenty had to foreclose against the unsold units in the building. In 2004, plaintiffs Wing King, Chong Fan, Yan Yan Cheung and Yik Chi Chiu purchased the third floor units and commenced developing the fourth floor. Plaintiffs learned of Three Twenty's interest in the 4th floor rights and sued for quiet title. Three Twenty cross-complained. The bench trial was bifurcated. One bifurcated issue was dealing with ownership of the real property and the other part was to determine the amount, if any, of damages to be awarded to cross-complainant, Three Twenty, if the court ruled in favor of Three Twenty.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs contended that plaintiffs were entitled to clear title to the fourth floor of the subject property.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Three Twenty denied allegations and counterclaimed alleging that it was the owner of the fourth floor, which had been damaged by plaintiffs' use of the space.

Settlement Discussions

Plaintiff demanded $300,000. Defendant offered $50,000.

Damages

The plaintiffs sought quiet title of the commercial property and Three Twenty sought the value of development rights of the fourth floor.

Result

The judge ruled for defendant Three Twenty and awarded them $160,000 which represented the value of the fourth-floor development rights determined by the court.