Plaza Home Mortgage v. North American Title Co.
In April 2010, we reversed the judgment in favor of escrow holder and settlement agent North American Title Company, Inc. (North American) and remanded with instructions for the trier of fact to determine whether North American breached the closing instructions contract between it and wholesale residential mortgage lender Plaza Home Mortgage, Inc. (Plaza), after North American distributed $53,853 to the attorney in fact of the buyer of real property that was neither authorized by the closing instructions nor disclosed to Plaza before North American made the distribution. (See Plaza Home Mortgage, Inc. v. North American Title Co., Inc. (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 130.) On remand, the court sitting as trier of fact found North American breached the closing instructions contract with Plaza and awarded Plaza $313,205.56 plus interest.
In this proceeding, North American challenges Plaza's entitlement to, and award of, damages. North American contends the award of all the funds North American was holding when it received the last-minute escrow instruction from the seller was premised on a finding that is unsupported by the record, namely that had North American advised Plaza of the amended instruction, Plaza could have unwound the loan transaction and recouped the funds in North American's possession/account. North American alternatively contends that, as a matter of law, Plaza's damages should be limited to $53,853—the amount unlawfully distributed by North American to the buyer's attorney in fact. We disagree with both contentions and affirm the judgment entered in favor of Plaza.
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