The California Court of Appeal has denied UTA’s request for publication of the decision in the case of Torigian v. WT Capital Lender Services, despite several joinders in that request by other interested entities and no known objections. The Court had issued a favorable opinion in the case in which UTA had filed an amicus brief (by Robert Finlay, Esq., and Jonathan Fink, Esq., with Wright Finlay & Zak). Phillip Adleson, Esq., and Lisa Parrella, Esq. of Adleson, Hess & Kelly had filed an appeal on behalf of the defendant.
The case involved a trial court awarding over a hundred thousand dollars in attorney fees against a Trustee who recorded a Notice of Default when the borrowers had successfully contended the note had been paid in full. Because the trustee remained neutral in the litigation even after the borrower objected to its declaration of nonmonetary status, the court of appeal reversed finding the trustee was the prevailing party and should be awarded attorney’s fees.