California Court of Appeals, Second District, Fifth Division
[REHEARING GRANTED 12-2-14]
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles, No. EC058565 Donna F. Goldstein, Judge.
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[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
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COUNSEL
Kaladjian Law Office and Hrair Kaladjian for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Anderson, McPharlin & Conners, Jesse S. Hernandez and Vanessa H. Widener for Defendants and Respondents.
OPINION
MOSK, ACTING P. J.
INTRODUCTION
Plaintiff Helen Lin (Lin) appeals from a judgment entered on an order sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend in favor of defendant Mireya B. Coronado (Coronado). In her operative first amended complaint, Lin alleges she “pooled” her $150, 000 with $100, 000 provided by River Forest Financial LLC (River Forest) and Elevation Investments LLC (Elevation) “in partnership for the purchase” of a residential property (the property) at a foreclosure auction for the purchase price of $250, 000.
The original version of the trustee’s deed for the property specified that River Forest had a 75 percent interest in the property and Elevation had a 25 percent ownership interest, but Lin was named on that version of the deed as a grantee without any stated percentage interest in the property. Lin alleges that the trustee’s deed that was executed and recorded omitted Lin’s name, which had been included in the unrecorded, original trustee’s deed; River Forest subsequently quitclaimed the property to Elevation; and without Lin’s knowledge, Elevation then sold the property to Coronado. Lin claims that the alteration of the original deed renders it void, giving a transferee such as Coronado no interest in the property. As a result, Lin, in her cause of action against Coronado, seeks to quiet title to the property.
In affirming, we hold that the alteration of the deed to omit Lin’s name was not material because the original version of the deed showed she had no interest in the property. Thus, Coronado, as a purchaser, has title to the property.
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BACKGROUND
Lin filed a first amended complaint against Coronado, Elevation, and Cal-Western Reconveyance Corporation (Cal-Western).[1] The trial court sustained a demurrer without leave to amend as to the quiet title cause of action ...