Ah, the hassle of living in a golf course community.
I really appreciate what the Court of Appeal (as well as the trial court) did here. Buyers purchase a golf course in Murietta (the California Oaks Golf Course) subject to an agreement with the homeowner's association of the various homes that surround the golf course to keep the place in good shape. Buyers, however, fail to do so; the grass gets brown, trees die, a lake dries up, etc. So the HOA sues Buyers.
The HOA wins, and the trial court enters an injunction that compels Buyers to bring the course back up to snuff. They fail to do so. So the HOA moves to foreclose.
The HOA wants a "credit bid" so it can buy the property. But Buyers say they aren't entitled to one, or that, if they are, it should only be for $3000. The trial court disagrees, and grants the HOA a credit bid of $2,000,000+. Alongside an order that if the HOA (or anyone else) buys the property, they're still subject to the requirement to keep the course in good shape. Whereas Buyers say that if, instead, they purchase the property at foreclosure, the requirement that the course be properly maintained should be gone.
The Court of Appeal almost entirely agrees with the HOA, and rightfully so. The Court of Appeal reduces the HOA's credit amount by $244,000 to $2.5 million (again, correctly), but otherwise agrees with the HOA and grants them costs and fees on appeal.
All of which will, hopefully, lead to a result that's the best possible under the circumstances: the HOA will buy the course with its credit bid, get a real management company to run the place, and the area will be at least as green and pretty as it can be for a desert community in which I can personally attest it gets SUPER hot (sometimes over 100 degrees) in the summer.
Happiness to the maximum extent possible. (Except for the Buyers, of course.)
