[Board3voting] amicus Brief Recommendation - Skanska v. Howell TIME SENSITIVE!

Wed Mar 19 13:53:28 PDT 2025

TO: WLTA Board

FROM: Ashley Callahan, Judiciary Committee Chair

Please read the email from Ashley Callahan (below) regarding the request for
an amicus brief, and contact Ashley ASAP if questions. If there are no
responses to Ashley or responses to this email by the end of the workday
tomorrow (Thursday) she will let the requesting attorneys know that the
Board has decided not to provide an amicus brief.

George

George Peters, WTP

Executive Director

Washington Land Title Association

 <https://washingtonlandtitle.com> https://washingtonlandtitle.com 

Mail: PO Box 328, Lynnwood, WA 98046

Delivery: 6817 208th St SW, #328, Lynnwood, WA 98036

206-437-5869 (Mobile)

206-260-4731 (Fax)

 <mailto:execdirector at wltaonline.org> execdirector at washingtonlandtitle.com

This is a confidential communication intended solely for the named
recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy it and call
George Peters at 206-437-5869 immediately. Thank you.

From: Callahan, Ashley <ACallahan at ortc.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2025 1:18 PM
To: George <execdirector at washingtonlandtitle.com>
Subject: Amicus Brief Recommendation - Skanska v. Howell

Hi George - will you send the email below from the judicial committee to the
Board?   Thank you!

Hello WLTA Board,

Attorneys for 1200 Howell Street LLC ("Howell") renewed their request for an
amicus brief in light of the recent Court of Appeal decision dated January
22, 2025.  Recall we discussed this decision at the February 24, 2025 board
meeting.  Howell's concern is with the court's judgment and decree of
foreclosure allowing Skanska's mechanic's lien to be foreclosed against the
entire property.  The foreclosure decree's legal description was the
pre-condominium legal description for land known as "Parcel A" and "Parcel
B."   Howell contends that this judgment and decree of foreclosure is bad
because it allows the sheriff to knock on every condo unit door to foreclose
the Skanska lien, even though Howell bonded off the lien for many of the
condo units (so it could sell them free and clear).  The title insurers,
says Howell, will have to pay to enjoin the sheriff's activity because the
insurers have issued "clean" policies for the sold condos in reliance on the
bond.  

The Court of Appeal decision recognizes that, pursuant to RCW  60.04.161, a
lien cannot be foreclosed against title to real property if a bond exists.
The court stated "[t]he sale of the condominium units and the conversion of
proportional liens to lien release bonds is not fatal to Skanska's ability
to foreclose on the proportional liens and bonds.  We hold that the trial
court did not err by granting foreclosure of Skanska's lien."   

The judicial committee recognizes that the judgment and foreclosure decree
against Parcels A and B makes no sense and seems disconnected from the Court
of Appeal decision which recognizes that foreclosure against the bond, not
the title, is required for a proportional amount of the units.  But, as a
practical matter, Howell paid the Skanska lien and there will not be a
sheriff knocking at the door.  It is my understanding that no claim exists
contrary to what Howell's attorneys predict.  

The Court of Appeal's decision does not run afoul of RCW 60.04.161 and the
judgment and decree of foreclosure is moot.  The judicial committee
therefore does not recommend supporting an amicus brief.   

If you object to the Judicial Committee's recommendation, or have any
questions about the recommendation, please email Ashley Callahan
(acallahan at ortc.com <mailto:acallahan at ortc.com> ) no later than 5 p.m.
Thursday, March 20, 2025.  If you agree, there is no need to respond.  

Ashley B. Callahan

Senior Regional Counsel | Western Title Division

Direct Line: 425.835.7404

T: 425.776.1970 | F: 425.776.5710 | TF: 800.877.6850

 <mailto:acallahan at ortc.com> acallahan at ortc.com

Old Republic Title | Old Republic Insurance Group

19020 33rd Ave. W. | Suite #360 | Lynnwood, WA 98036

 <http://www.ortc.com/> ortc.com

The information contained in this message is proprietary and/or
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please: (i) delete the
message and all copies; (ii) do not disclose, distribute or use the message
in any manner; and (iii) notify the sender immediately. In addition, please
be aware that any message addressed to our domain is subject to archiving
and review by persons other than the intended recipient. Thank you.

If you received this email as a commercial message and would like to opt out
of future commercial messages, please let us know and we will remove you
from our distribution list.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.washingtonlandtitle.com/pipermail/board3voting/attachments/20250319/95d28859/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 6078 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.washingtonlandtitle.com/pipermail/board3voting/attachments/20250319/95d28859/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 68742 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.washingtonlandtitle.com/pipermail/board3voting/attachments/20250319/95d28859/attachment-0003.jpg>