Is a beneficiary of a trust deed able to enforce a lien against the trustee of a property through judicial action?

Judicial enforcement of a lien and nonjudicial enforcement though a power of sale are conceptually separate. A trust deed provides a beneficiary with two means of enforcement. First, under Code of Civil Procedure section 725a, a beneficiary under a deed of trust has "the right to bring suit to foreclose ... in the manner and subject to the provisions, rights and remedies relating to the foreclosure of a mortgage." When exercising this right, the beneficiary is enforcing a lien with "the same legal effect as a traditional mortgage." ( Ung v. Koehler (2005) 135 Cal.App.4th 186, 192, 37 Cal.Rptr.3d 311 ( Ung ).)

Second, if a deed of trust includes a power of sale, a beneficiary may exercise that power pursuant to the governing statutes apart from the judicial process. ( Ung, supra, 135 Cal.App.4th at p. 192, 37 Cal.Rptr.3d 311.) In exercising that power, the beneficiary is not enforcing a lien through judicial action but is invoking the beneficiary's authority to demand that the trustee of the property sell the property for the beneficiary's benefit. ( Id. at p. 195, 37 Cal.Rptr.3d 311 ; see Grant v. Burr (1880) 54 Cal. 298, 301 ( Burr ).)

[58 Cal.App.5th 1042]