Maria Corral v. Norwest Mortgagae Inc.
Published: Jul. 29, 2000 | Result Date: Mar. 6, 2000 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: SCV54815 Bench Decision – $0
Judge
Court
San Bernardino Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
According to the defendant: The plaintiff/cross-defendant was Maria Corral, the owner of Maria's Laces, a swapmeet gift shop. The defendant/cross-complainant was Norwest Mortgage Inc., a mortgage lending corporation. The plaintiff sued defendant, the successor-in-interest by assignment to a promissory note secured by a deed of trust for a single family residence located in Fontana. The defendant had previously foreclosed on the property in a non-judicial foreclosure sale after plaintiff defaulted on her mortgage payments. The plaintiff sought the cancellation of a grant deed that allegedly transferred the Fontana property from her to her minor grandson, the cancellation of the deed of trust encumbering the subject property, the cancellation of a trustee's deed upon sale that vested title to the Fontana property in Norwest and injunctive relief. The plaintiff alleged that her grandson was a minor at the time the grant deed and deed of trust were executed and that signatures on the instruments were forged by Mario Ramon Vasquez, a real estate broker whom plaintiff employed to assist in the refinancing of the Fontana property. The plaintiff testified that Vasquez had told her that in order to lower the montly payments on the Fontana property, she would have to transfer title to the property to one of her relatives, in essence effectuating a "short sale." The plaintiff further testified that she, in fact, did transfer title to the subject property to one of her relatives in order to facilitiate the new loan, providing Vasquez with tax returns of her family members and also providing Vasquez with the Social Security number of her minor grandson. However, plaintiff continued to assert that the signatures on the instruments were foged and thus void an initio. The defendant asserted the defense of ratification, estoppel and unclean hands to plaintiff's claim of forgery. The plaintiff affirmatively admitted that she directly received and retained the sum of $22,322 from the loan proceeds representing the net loan proceeds. She further admitted that pre-existing first and second trust deed lenders on the Fontana property were fully paid off from the loan proceeds in excess of $60,000. Finally, the plaintiff made 10 mortgage payments to defendant after the loan transaction funded, never communicating to defendant that she was not willing to pay the new higher montly payment. Defendant cross-complained against plaintiff for fraud theories, declaratory relief and for equitable mortgage in the event the court determined that the deed of trust and trustee's deed upon sale were invalid, unenforceable and subject to cancellation.
Damages
Complaint: Cancellation of grant deed transferring Fontana property from plaintiff to her minor grandson; cancellation of deed of trust encumbering subject property; cancellation of trustee's deed upon sale vesting title to Fontana property in defendant; injunctive relief stopping unlawful detainer action filed by defendant against plaintiff's grandson. Cross-complaint: Declaratory judgment in defendant's favor, declaring defendant to be the vested title owner of the Fontana property or, in the alternative, a declaration that the Fontana property was subject to an equitable mortgage in favor of defendant; compensatory and punitive damages in various fraud theories alleged in cross-complaint.
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