Secured Trans LaSalle Bank, N.A. v. Cypress Creek 1, L

Secured transactions are relatively commonplace and generally well understood, however certain scenarios can emerge that challenge legal minds and legal precedents to offer an appropriate solution. Article 9 of the Uniformed Commercial Code governs this type of transaction, in which the lender obtains a security interest in certain goods or property owned by the borrower and becomes owner (or part owner) of this collateral should the borrower default on the loan payments, but this law is not necessarily enough to adequately determine the outcome in every situation (Cornell, 2012). A recent case in Illinois illustrates the complexities that can occur when more than one party has a security interest in a property, and there isn't enough value in the property to satisfy all claimants. In such situations as these, more common in the recent years of economic turmoil and the accompanying downturn in the housing market and construction industries,...

v. Cypress Creek 1, LP are relatively straightforward: LaSalle Bank extended a mortgage to property developer Cypress Creek of just over eight million dollars for the purchase of land and the construction of residences on that land (Glazov et al., 2011; WestLaw, 2011). Cypress Creek hired contractors for the development of the land and the construction of residences before coming to a point of financial insolvency and abandoning the project, with payments on the mortgage still due to LaSalle Bank and money for construction still owed to at least two contracting companies (Glazov et al., 2011; WestLaw, 2011). The property itself was not worth the remaining balance on the mortgage (Glazov et al., 2011).
Due to the default status of Cypress Creek, the developer, LaSalle Bank naturally moved to acquire the property it held a mortgage on, foreclosing on the property, however the contractors had established…