Van Vleck Realty v. Gaunt
California Court of Appeal
250 Cal. App. 2d 81 (1967)
Facts
Frank Gaunt (defendant) purchased real property from Sam Givenco and Chita Givenco (plaintiffs). Gaunt partially financed the transaction by borrowing portions of the purchase price from the Givencos. In exchange, the Givencos accepted two promissory notes from Gaunt, one secured by a deed of trust on the property and one that was unsecured. Gaunt defaulted on both notes. The Givencos settled the secured note by accepting title to the property back from Gaunt and returning the deed of trust and the note it secured. The Givencos filed a separate action to enforce the amount owed on the unsecured note. The trial court found that the note, although unsecured, was “part of the obligation” secured by the deed of trust. Accordingly, the trial court held that § 580b of the California Code of Civil Procedure, which precluded vendors of real property who extended purchase-money debt to buyers from seeking deficiency judgments upon exhaustion of security interests, barred the Givencos from recovering on the unsecured note. The Givencos appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Draper, J.)
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