While many victims of the so-called “Nigerian e-mail scam” would be too embarrassed to trumpet that fact, others end up infamous for their victimhood like the appellant in a published opinion of the California Court of Appeal in Riverside. Also known as an advance-fee fraud, the Nigerian scam baits the victim with an advance sum [...]

Construction lenders beware of California Civil Code section 3137(c), which provides that a mechanic’s lien for “site improvements” has priority over a trust deed recorded before commencement of the site improvement work in certain circumstances.

That provision has several subparts, but one trap for the unsuspecting lender and title insurance company is this if the loan proceeds secured by the trust deed are solely or primarily to pay for the construction of the site improvements, then a mechanic’s lien for those site improvements would have priority over the prior-recorded trust deed. Period.