Tomorrow morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinions in People v. Johnson and Coker v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.
Johnson, which was argued on the November calendar, is an automatic appeal from a November 2009 judgment of death.
Coker was argued just last month. It raises these questions: (1) Do the anti-deficiency protections in Code of Civil Procedure section 580b apply to a borrower who engages in a “short sale” of real property when the lender approved the sale and reconveyed its deed of trust to facilitate the sale on the condition that the borrower remain liable for any outstanding balance on the loan following the sale? (2) Does a borrower’s request that the creditor release its security interest in real property to facilitate a short sale result in a waiver of the protection of the “security first” rule set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 726?
Both opinions can be viewed tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.
