Plein v. Lackey

Alpen Group purchased real estate from Sunset Investments via a $75,000 promissory note individually signed by co-owner Lee Cameron (later a defendant) along with the note's other individual owner-signers, including Paul Plein (plaintiff), and secured by a deed of trust; after Alpen ran out of money mid-construction and trade creditors sued (resulting in a $45,000 judgment for Plein against Alpen), Cameron personally paid off the note to Sunset, received the note and deed of trust assigned to himself, and began nonjudicial foreclosure against Alpen through attorney Chester Lackey (also a defendant). Plein and the trade creditors sued Lackey and Cameron, seeking to void the deed of trust on the theory the underlying debt had already been paid; the trial court granted Cameron summary judgment, the court of appeals reversed, and Cameron appealed to the Washington Supreme Court.