## Facts

- Borrowers defaulted on a home mortgage, and the beneficiary directed the trustee to conduct a nonjudicial foreclosure under Washington’s Deeds of Trust Act (DTA).
- The trustee employed a third-party auction company to conduct trustee’s sales.
- On the sale date, the trustee communicated an intended opening bid of $159,421.20, but the auctioneer mistakenly announced and posted an opening bid of $59,421.20.
- William Udall, bidding for himself and two partners, bid $1 over the announced opening bid; no other bids were made, and the auctioneer closed the sale.
- Udall tendered the full purchase price at the sale and received a receipt; consistent with the trustee’s practice, the trustee’s deed was to be executed and delivered later.
- After discovering the pricing mistake, the trustee refused to deliver the deed, attempted to refund the purchase price, and sought to restart foreclosure.
- Udall rejected the refund and sued to quiet title and compel delivery of the trustee’s deed.
- The trial court granted summary judgment quieting title in Udall; the intermediate appellate court reversed; the state supreme court granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether a nonjudicial foreclosure sale under the DTA is complete upon acceptance of the high bid and the purchaser’s payment, even if the trustee’s deed has not yet been delivered.
2. Whether a trustee may refuse to deliver the deed and rescind the sale based solely on the trustee’s unilateral mistake in the opening bid, absent a statutory procedural irregularity that voids the sale.

## Decision

- The state supreme court reversed the intermediate appellate court and reinstated summary judgment for Udall.
- The court held the sale was completed when the auctioneer accepted Udall’s bid and Udall paid the purchase price.
- The court held the trustee was required to execute and deliver the trustee’s deed and could not undo the sale based only on its own bidding/announcement error.
- The court quieted title in Udall and required delivery of the deed.

## Legal Principles

- Under RCW 61.24.050, following a properly conducted trustee’s sale, the trustee has a mandatory duty to execute and deliver a trustee’s deed to the purchaser, absent a procedural irregularity that voids the sale.
- A trustee’s sale is consummated at the auction upon acceptance of the highest bid and payment; subsequent deed delivery is a ministerial step that follows completion of the sale.
- A unilateral mistake in the opening bid or internal communications is not, by itself, a statutory “procedural irregularity” voiding the sale where statutory notice and sale procedures were satisfied.
- A trustee’s internal policies and private arrangements with an auctioneer cannot override statutory obligations owed to third-party purchasers; purchasers may rely on the auctioneer’s apparent authority at the sale.
- The risk of pricing errors in conducting trustee’s sales falls on the trustee/beneficiary rather than an innocent purchaser who relied on the announced terms and timely paid.

## Conclusion

The court held that a nonjudicial foreclosure sale under Washington’s Deeds of Trust Act is complete upon bid acceptance and full payment, requiring the trustee to deliver the trustee’s deed unless a statutory procedural defect voids the sale; a trustee’s unilateral bidding mistake does not permit rescission.


Udall v. T.D. Escrow Servs., Inc., 159 Wash. 2d 903, 154 P.3d 882 (Wash. 2007)