Foreclosures Litigation and Counseling

Mr. Markham has significant experience litigating substantial foreclosure matters, such as judicial foreclosures and challenges to improper trustee sales. His article on foreclosure law became famous during the prolonged crisis in the housing and mortgage markets from which the country is finally emerging. He composed the article in 2000 after litigating a major foreclosure dispute in Northern California. From 2007 onward, he began to receive calls almost daily from lenders, borrowers, and others who had questions about the foreclosure laws of California. During the long “foreclosure crisis,” which ran from 2007 until 2012 or so, he was interviewed extensively on foreclosure matters by major news media, and he made appearances on the San Diego affiliate of NBC to answer and debate issues of foreclosure law. The New York Times, which interviewed and quoted him twice on foreclosure law, characterized him as an “expert” on this topic. He also served as a lecturer on foreclosure law during this period, giving MCLE classes on the subject to other attorneys.

Mr. Markham accepts only substantial foreclosure disputes or novel questions of foreclosure law, but we may be able to refer less significant matters to other qualified practitioners.

WE DEFEATED JPMORGAN CHASE BANK’S LIEN AND FORECLOSURE ACTION

The world’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., sued Mr. Markham’s clients in 2016, seeking to perfect an equitable lien and enforce it by a nonjudicial foreclosure. After a particularly arduous litigation, Mr. Markham prevailed for his clients on summary judgment in 2017, winning on all claims and defeating the lender’s efforts to seize and sell a highly valuable residential property in San Diego, California. Mr. Markham also recovered his attorney’s fees and costs of suit from the lender, which subsequently abandoned its appeal, so that the outcome of this case has become final and non-appealable. Case Name: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.  v. Cho (S.D. Cty. Sup. Ct., Case No. 37-2016-00045054-CU-OR-CTL).