Defendant argues that Plaintiff does not have standing to sue for slander of title because “the Property was sold before the SAC was filed” and “Plaintiff did not have any interest in the property at the time the liens in question were recorded.” (Demurrer, p. -21, citing Plauch Decl., Exs. A-I; SAC, ¶ 26.)

· “[I]n or around , Plaintiff’s predecessor-in-interest, Anchor Loans, LP, agreed to loan $614, (the ‘Anchor Loan’) to Smart Solar, a company owned and controlled by Maldonado.” (SAC, ¶ 16.)

· “The Anchor Loan was evidenced by a promissory note (the ‘Note’) and was intended to be used by Smart Solar to purchase the Property.” (Ibid.)

· “The Anchor Loan was secured by a Deed of Trust recorded against the Property in the Official Records of Los Angeles County as Document No. 2016-0490116 on (the ‘Deed of Trust’).” (Ibid.)

· “The Deed of Trust was assigned to Plaintiff by way of an Assignment of Deed of Trust recorded in the official Records of Los Angeles County as Document No. 2017-0970838 on .” (Ibid.)

In opposition, Plaintiff argues that it has standing because it “is the successor-in-interest to Anchor Loans LP, the owner of the Note and Anchor DOT and therefore stands in its shoes for purposes of the standing analysis

· “When Anchor Loans LP made the Loan to Smart Solar it was, as intended, secured by a first priority deed of trust against the Property. The Property was worth $768,000 (the purchase price) and the loan to value was , $614,400 in debt and $153,600 in equity. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, immediately after purchasing the Property Maldonado and Smart Solar applied with Ygrene Energy Fund, one of the largest PACE lenders in the country, for PACE financing. 2016-0578567 on . 49% per annum.” (Id. at ¶ 26.)

On or about , Smart Solar entered into a loan agreement with Ygrene and secured a loan in the amount of $116, from Ygrene (the “Ygrene Loan”), which was secured by a special installment loans Fishers tax lien against the Property recorded in the Official Records of Los Angeles County as Document No

Plaintiff sufficiently pleads that is has an interest in the property, its predecessor-in-interest, Anchor Loans LP, made the loan to Smart Solar and was secured by a first priority deed of trust by the property. (SAC, ¶¶ 16, 26.) Accordingly, Plaintiff has standing to pursue a slander of title claim.

As codified in Civil Code section 47, subdivision (b), the litigation privilege applies to “any communication (1) made in judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings; (2) by litigants or other participants authorized by law; (3) to achieve the objects of the litigation; and (4) that have some connection or logical relation to the action.” (Silberg v. Anderson (1990) 50 Cal. 3d 205, 212.)

It is now well settled that “ ‘communications preparatory to or in anticipation of the bringing of an action or other official proceeding are within the protection of the litigation privilege of Civil Code section 47, subdivision (b).’ ” (Brigg v. v. Eden Council for Hope Opportunity (1999) 19 Cal. 4th 1106, 1115.) Further, courts have “extended the privilege to ‘any publication . . . that is required [citation] or permitted [citation] by law in the course of a judicial proceeding to achieve the objects of the litigation, even though the publication is made outside the courtroom and no function of the court or its officers is invoked.’ ” (Olszewski v. Scripps Health (2003) 30 Cal.4th 798, 830-831, citing Albertson v. Raboff (1956) 46 Cal.2d 375, 380-381.)