Miani v. Barance CA1/5

Filed 10/16/15 Miani v. Barance CA1/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

YOLANDA MIANI et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, A142581 v. LABIB MAJID BARANCE et al., (San Francisco City and County Super. Ct. No. CGC 10 497904) Defendants and Respondents.

Mi Casa Capital Corporation (Mi Casa)1 introduced Yolanda Miani to Labib Majid Barance. Miani loaned Barance $129,375, secured by a third deed of trust, junior to $2.4 million in senior loans. Barance sought refinancing for the senior loans, and Mi Casa suggested that Miani subordinate her loan to the new loans, which totaled $2.65 million. She refused. Mi Casa then induced Miani to sign documents representing that they were necessary to permit her to be paid in full. Miani was unaware that the documents effected a subordination of her loan. Thereafter, one of the senior refinancers foreclosed on Barance’s property and Miani’s security lien was extinguished. After a bench trial, the court found Mi Casa had committed an unfair business practice and ordered it to pay Miani the origination and processing fee it earned in the refinancing. Miani appeals, arguing the court should have reinstated her security interest

1 Mi Casa also does business as UniBank Capital Corporation. We refer to both entities as Mi Casa.

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in the property, and declared it first in priority.2 We hold the trial court did not abuse its discretion in fashioning an equitable remedy and affirm. I. BACKGROUND The following evidence from the trial record supports the trial court’s posttrial findings. In January 2006, Barance bought a building on Treat Avenue in San Francisco (Property) and opened an automotive repair business. To finance the purchase, he obtained a $2.15 million loan from Owens Mortgage Investment Fund (Owens) and $250,000 from Steve and Jeannine Kurtela, the prior building owners. The loans were secured by first and second deeds of trust respectively. Mi Casa is a residential mortgage broker. Around the time of the Owens and Kurtela loans, Christopher O’Dell, a Mi Casa loan officer, helped Miani purchase a home. O’Dell told Miani about an investment opportunity with Barance and helped her take out a line of credit against the equity in her new home so she could loan money to Barance. In July 2006, Miani loaned Barance $129,375 at 13 percent interest with full payment due in October 2006. Barance executed a promissory note for the loan as well as a deed of trust (July DOT), which Miani understood was in third position after the Owens and Kurtela liens. Miani received two loan payment checks from Barance’s auto repair business that were rejected for insufficient funds, and she received no payment at all in October 2006. She contacted Barance about the missed payment, and he said he had no money to pay her.