Which place’s debt rules apply—and who can help?

S_NE PASS-30 — Nebraska residential mortgage/trust-deed post-sale deficiency, valuation, personal liability, limitations, and election boundaries

Actual fresh public-primary verification date: October 26, 2026, Pacific / October 26, 2026 UTC Status: Focused secured-debt component for later coordinator review; not independent review.

This pass addresses personal recovery after a Nebraska residential mortgage or deed-of-trust sale. It separates:

• a deficiency action after a nonjudicial trustee sale under Neb. Rev. Stat. §76-1013;
• personal recovery after a judicial mortgage or trust-deed foreclosure;
• an independent suit on a note or guaranty;
• enforcement of an existing personal judgment;
• pursuit of remaining collateral;
• fair-market-value credits and anti-double-recovery rules;
• guaranty coverage and attempted advance waivers;
• bankruptcy and servicemember in-personam boundaries.

PASS-27, PASS-28, and PASS-29 remain unreviewed and are not treated as accepted premises. The material statutes and cases used here were freshly read for this pass.

This report does not complete possession or eviction, a full mortgage-servicing-remedies dossier, bankruptcy procedure, federal insured-loan recovery rules, tax or HOA enforcement, or commercial and agricultural secured-debt law.

I. Core determination

Nebraska has two materially different post-sale personal-recovery routes.

A. Nonjudicial trustee sale

When the lender exercises a deed of trust’s statutory power of sale, §76-1013 creates a special deficiency action that must be commenced within three calendar months after the trustee sale. The complaint must disclose the complete secured indebtedness, sale price, fair market value at the sale date, post-sale interest claimed, and sale expenses. The court must determine fair market value and apply two independent monetary ceilings. Nebraska Legislature+1

The exclusive-of-post-sale-interest deficiency is:

Plain text

Maximum base deficiency
    =
max(0,
    total secured indebtedness and allowable sale costs
    − greater of:
        trustee-sale price
        fair market value at sale)

That is Nebraska’s Pantano construction of the statute. A creditor gains no deficiency advantage by underbidding its own collateral. Justia Law

B. Judicial mortgage or deed-of-trust foreclosure

When the lender elects judicial foreclosure and a sheriff’s sale, §76-1013 does not apply. A later personal action is an independent written-contract action governed generally by §25-205’s five-year period, subject to actual accrual, acceleration, payment, guaranty, bankruptcy, and other defenses. Davey expressly distinguishes the judicial route from a trustee-sale deficiency. Nebraska.gov+1

C. Guaranties

A guaranty is not automatically inside—or outside—§76-1013.

• If the guaranty is a separate obligation not secured by the foreclosed deed of trust, Murante and Boxum apply the ordinary written-contract route rather than §76-1013.
• If the trust deed itself secures the guarantor’s obligation, American Exchange Bank v. Topp holds that §76-1013 applies to that secured guaranty. Nebraska.gov+2

D. Missed deficiency deadline versus no deficiency

Two outcomes that sound similar are legally different:

1. If a court applies §76-1013 and finds no deficiency because fair market value equals or exceeds the secured indebtedness, Pantano treats the underlying obligation as satisfied.
2. If the creditor merely misses §76-1013’s three-month personal-action deadline, Doty holds that the personal deficiency action is barred, but the underlying debt is not necessarily extinguished and remaining collateral may still be enforced. Justia Law+2

A sale-price shortfall alone therefore does not establish a collectible deficiency.

II. Route, person, obligation, and security matrix

Section 76-1013 reaches only the balance due on the obligation for which the sold trust deed was given as security. The instrument labels, secured-obligations clause, signatures, and account linkage therefore control. Nebraska Legislature+1

III. Section 76-1013: complete post-trustee-sale route

A. The triggering sale

The three-month period begins with the statutory trustee sale, not:

• a later resale by the beneficiary;
• recording of a later corrective deed used merely to restart the clock;
• a private postforeclosure sale to a third party;
• a later appraisal;
• delivery of a demand letter; or
• discovery of the deficiency.

In Bank of Papillion v. Nguyen, the bank was both trustee and beneficiary and purchased at the public auction. The Nebraska Supreme Court held that the initial trustee-sale transaction—not the bank’s later third-party resale—triggered §76-1013. A later corrective sale could not extend the limitations period. Justia Law+1

Where the sale itself is alleged to be void, the existence and date of a qualifying “sale under a trust deed” can become disputed. No universal rule is supplied here for every void-sale theory.

B. “Three months” means calendar months

Nebraska’s general definitions statute provides that “month” means calendar month. The period is not automatically 90 days. Nebraska’s computation statute excludes the triggering day and extends a last day that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or qualifying court closure to the next open day, unless a more specific rule controls. Nebraska Legislature+1

No actual filing date is calculated in this pass because the real trustee-sale date, time, filing date, court closure status, and claimed defect are unknown.

C. Filing commences the action; service is separate

A Nebraska civil action is commenced when the complaint is filed. A defendant ordinarily must then be served within 180 days. Failure to serve within §25-217’s period causes dismissal by operation of law without prejudice. Nebraska Legislature

Nebraska’s savings clause does not permit a new action where the first action failed because the plaintiff did not serve a defendant within §25-217’s period or because of other plaintiff inaction. Thus, a timely §76-1013 filing followed by service failure does not carry a guaranteed refiling right after the three-month period expires. Nebraska Legislature+1

Timing matrix

Davey describes §76-1013 as a statute of limitations. No reviewed authority classifies it as subject-matter jurisdictional. Nebraska.gov

D. Required complaint allegations

Section 76-1013 requires the complaint to set forth:

• the entire amount of indebtedness secured by the trust deed;
• the amount for which the property was sold;
• the property’s fair market value at the sale date;
• interest claimed on the indebtedness from the sale date;
• costs and expenses of exercising the power of sale; and
• costs and expenses of the sale. Nebraska Legislature

Those are not decorative allegations. They identify the variables needed for the statutory ceilings.

IV. Fair-market-value and sale-price ceilings

A. Defined variables

For the formulas below:

Plain text

T = entire secured indebtedness at the sale
    + statutorily includable costs and expenses
      of exercising the power of sale and conducting the sale
    excluding post-sale interest

S = trustee-sale price

V = fair market value at the date of trustee sale,
    as found by the court

I = post-sale interest lawfully recoverable
    under the controlling obligation and law

The figures must be proved. A payoff statement, internal ledger, tax assessment, appraisal, list price, or credit bid is evidence—not automatic adjudication.

B. The two statutory ceilings

Ceiling 1 — fair-market-value ceiling

The total judgment, including lawfully recoverable post-sale interest, may not exceed:

Plain text

max(0, T + I − V)

Ceiling 2 — sale-price ceiling

The judgment exclusive of post-sale interest may not exceed:

Plain text

max(0, T − S)

Combined base-deficiency rule

Before adding any independently lawful post-sale interest:

Plain text

Maximum base deficiency
    =
max(0, T − max(S, V))

Pantano states the operative rule as total indebtedness minus the greater of the sale price or fair market value. Justia Law

C. No deficiency and satisfaction

If:

Plain text

max(S, V) ≥ T

then:

Plain text

Maximum base deficiency = $0

When the court actually finds no deficiency under §76-1013, Pantano treats the underlying secured obligation as satisfied. That rule is different from a creditor simply failing to file a timely personal action. Justia Law

D. What belongs in “total indebtedness”

Potential components include:

• unpaid principal on the obligation actually secured by the sold deed;
• accrued pre-sale interest lawfully due;
• authorized protective advances;
• lawful costs of exercising the power of sale;
• lawful sale expenses;
• trustee fees actually incurred, within the instrument’s permitted amount.

Section 76-1011 separately requires trustee-sale proceeds to pay actual sale costs and actual trustee fees before the secured obligation. Nebraska Legislature

The following are not automatically included merely because a creditor lists them:

• an unrelated loan;
• an unsecured guaranty;
• an unadjudicated late fee;
• an unauthorized attorney fee;
• servicing charges unsupported by the instrument or law;
• an amount already paid;
• a released obligation;
• costs duplicated elsewhere;
• post-sale carrying or resale costs unrelated to the statutory trustee sale;
• a junior lien owned by someone else.

E. Trustee and attorney charges

Section 76-1013 expressly includes trustee fees within the court’s first ceiling. Section 76-1011 allows only trustee fees actually incurred, not merely the instrument’s maximum allowance. Nebraska Legislature+1

Section 76-1011.01’s attorney-fee rule concerns a bad-faith objection to distribution of trustee-sale proceeds in an interpleader, declaratory, or similar action. It is not a general attorney-fee enhancement for every deficiency action. Nebraska Legislature

F. Valuation date and proof

The valuation date is the date of the trustee sale.

In Topp, property tax assessments and the lender’s own earlier appraisals were admissible circumstantial evidence that created a genuine factual dispute over FMV. The Court did not hold that tax assessment equals FMV or that a two-year-old appraisal automatically controls. Conflicting reasonable inferences belong to the factfinder. Nebraska.gov+1

A credible valuation record can include:

• contemporaneous appraisal evidence;
• comparable sales;
• property condition;
• income and use;
• tax assessment as circumstantial evidence;
• prior appraisals;
• repair needs;
• environmental or title conditions;
• senior liens where relevant to the interest sold;
• arm’s-length offers;
• sale circumstances.

No single appraisal methodology is mandated by §76-1013.

V. Guaranties and advance waivers

A. Unsecured guaranty: Murante and Boxum

A guaranty is a separate contract. In Murante, the guarantor’s obligation was not secured by the trust deed. The Nebraska Supreme Court held that §76-1013 did not apply, and the guarantor remained subject to the guaranty’s terms less the trustee-sale credit. Nebraska.gov+1

Boxum likewise treated a guaranty that was separate from the obligation secured by the foreclosed deed as a written contract subject to §25-205 rather than §76-1013. Justia Law+1

B. Secured guaranty: Topp

Topp materially limits any broad reading that “guarantors are never protected.”

The Topps personally owned the trust properties and executed trust deeds defining them as the “Borrowers.” The deeds secured both the corporate note and “all indebtedness and obligations” of the Topps to the lender. Because that language secured the Topps’ guaranty obligations, §76-1013 applied to the deficiency action against them. Nebraska.gov

Secured-guaranty test

The relevant questions are:

1. Who executed the trust deed?
2. Who is defined as borrower, grantor, trustor, or obligor?
3. What obligations does the granting clause secure?
4. Does it expressly cover the guaranty or all obligations of that guarantor?
5. Is the deficiency action seeking the balance of that secured guaranty?
6. Was that deed the one exercised through power of sale?

A note and guaranty referring to the same business loan are not enough by themselves.

C. Advance waiver

The Topp guaranties purported to waive defenses based on the lender’s failure to obtain FMV. The majority held:

A waiver of §76-1013’s deficiency limitation is unenforceable where the trust deed secures the obligation, the power of sale is exercised, and a deficiency judgment is sought.

The Court reasoned that the statutory “shall not render judgment” language imposes a mandatory court limitation and that a lender wishing to avoid §76-1013 could elect judicial foreclosure instead. Nebraska.gov+2

Justice Papik dissented and would have enforced the waiver because §76-1013 does not contain express antiwaiver text. The dissent is not the holding. Nebraska.gov

Limits of Topp

Topp does not establish that:

• every guaranty is secured;
• every guaranty defense is nonwaivable;
• every release or settlement is invalid;
• a lender cannot waive its own rights;
• the parties cannot settle after default with adequate consideration;
• every limitations defense outside §76-1013 is nonwaivable;
• judicial foreclosure is governed by §76-1013.

VI. Judicial foreclosure and personal recovery

A. Section 76-1013 does not apply

Davey holds that a sheriff’s sale under a judicial foreclosure is not a “sale of property under a trust deed” accomplished through the trustee’s statutory power. A later personal action is governed by the general written-contract period in §25-205. Nebraska.gov+1

In Davey, the action filed within five years of the judicial sale was timely. That does not mean every judicial deficiency claim invariably accrues on the sale date. Accrual can depend on the note’s maturity, default, acceleration, guaranty language, and prior proceedings.

B. Separate action, not automatic decree amount

Nebraska treats a suit on the note as separate from the equitable foreclosure action. Section 25-2139 limits the foreclosure decree’s direct power, while Nebraska precedent recognizes a later action at law for the unsatisfied personal obligation. Nebraska Legislature+1

A judicial sale bid shortfall is not itself a personal judgment. The creditor still must establish:

• enforceable personal liability;
• the balance after all sale proceeds and credits;
• timely filing;
• no discharge or release;
• no applicable defense;
• lawful interest and charges;
• standing.

C. Parallel-action restriction

Once a mortgage-foreclosure complaint is filed, while it is pending and after decree, §25-2140 prohibits proceedings at law for the secured debt unless authorized by the court. The statute’s purpose is to avoid concurrent actions and two judgments for the same debt. Nebraska Legislature

This is not a permanent one-action immunity. Davey recognizes a separate action after judicial foreclosure is completed.

D. Other obligors and guarantors

If the mortgage debt is also secured by another person’s obligation, that person may be joined in the foreclosure action under §25-2141. Nebraska Legislature

Joinder is permissive, not automatic. The actual note, guaranty, service, jurisdiction, and requested relief control.

E. Prior personal judgment

If the creditor already obtained a money judgment on the secured debt, foreclosure cannot proceed unless execution was returned unsatisfied in whole or part and the debtor has no other property available to satisfy it except the mortgaged premises. Nebraska Legislature

This prevents the creditor from obtaining and enforcing overlapping recoveries without accounting for prior collection.

F. Proceeds and credits

Judicial-sale proceeds pay only the debt adjudged due and costs awarded. Any surplus is paid into court for the debtor or others entitled to it. A creditor purchaser cannot use unadjudicated coupons or charges to reduce surplus. Nebraska Legislature

G. General written-contract limitation and revival

Section 25-205 provides a general five-year period for written contracts. Section 25-216 can restart a contract limitations period following:

• a voluntary part payment of principal or interest;
• a written acknowledgment of existing liability; or
• a written promise to pay.

The payment or writing must satisfy the statutory and case-law predicates. Negotiation, an unsigned proposal, a regulator complaint, or a unilateral ledger entry is not enough. Nebraska Legislature+1

No controlling authority reviewed here applies §25-216 to revive §76-1013’s special three-month trustee-sale deficiency period. That application remains held.

VII. Multiple collateral, elections, and double-recovery limits

A. Remaining collateral after a missed deficiency action

Doty holds that missing §76-1013’s personal-action deadline does not make the underlying debt paid in full and does not prevent enforcement against remaining collateral securing the same obligation. The statute bars the personal deficiency action, not every collateral remedy. Nebraska.gov+1

B. Multiple deeds and obligations

Doty expressly declined to decide whether each deed of trust before it was a separate and distinct contract. Therefore, no universal rule is established that:

• every parcel creates a new three-month clock;
• every deed secures all obligations;
• a sale under one deed necessarily fixes FMV credits for another;
• a release of one deed releases another;
• every guaranty follows every deed.

The actual cross-collateralization and release clauses are required.

C. Credit sequence

To prevent double recovery, the accounting must include:

Plain text

Starting enforceable personal obligation
− payments and credits before sale
− greater of trustee-sale price or FMV where §76-1013 applies
− proceeds from later collateral
− insurance, condemnation, or other recoveries applicable to debt
− settlements, releases, or judgment payments
= possible remaining balance

The creditor cannot collect the same dollar twice. But a time-barred personal remedy does not necessarily erase a valid lien on unexhausted collateral.

D. Route election

A beneficiary can choose:

• nonjudicial power of sale, accepting §76-1013’s timing and FMV constraints; or
• judicial foreclosure, using the separate written-contract route.

Topp specifically noted that the lender could have elected judicial foreclosure if it wished to avoid §76-1013. The lender could not choose the faster trustee-sale route and contract around its mandatory deficiency limitations. Nebraska.gov+1

VIII. Defective sale, notice, and bona-fide purchaser boundaries

A. Sale defects do not all have the same consequence

Gilroy divides trustee-sale defects into:

• void defects;
• voidable defects; and
• inconsequential defects.

Void defects are rare and go to the fundamental power to sell. A voidable sale requires both a material defect and prejudice. Transfer to a protected bona-fide purchaser can cut off a voidable challenge. Justia Law+1

B. Deficiency implications

A procedural defect does not automatically:

• cancel the note;
• cancel an unsecured guaranty;
• eliminate every personal remedy;
• establish damages;
• make every trustee deed void;
• eliminate the need to plead §76-1013;
• create a refund.

Possible branches include:

No universal rule found here authorizes a deficiency after a sale has been declared void or starts a fresh three-month clock after every corrective act.

C. Proceeds objections

Section 76-1011.01’s fee-shifting rule applies to a bad-faith objection concerning proposed distribution of trustee-sale proceeds in an interpleader, declaratory, or similar action. It is not a general penalty for disputing the deficiency amount or FMV in good faith. Nebraska Legislature

IX. Homestead, spouse, ownership, and personal promise

A. Security enforceability and personal liability are separate

A person can:

• own the mortgaged property without signing the note;
• sign the note without owning all of the property;
• sign the mortgage solely to release a property interest;
• guarantee another borrower’s debt;
• acquire property subject to a mortgage without assuming personal liability.

Marriage, residence, title, or homestead status does not itself create a promise to pay.

B. Spousal execution and acknowledgment

Nebraska generally requires both spouses to execute and acknowledge a voluntary homestead mortgage or deed of trust, subject to statutory exceptions. Nebraska Legislature

A security defect can affect enforceability against the homestead without necessarily extinguishing a separately valid note or guaranty signed by a liable person.

C. Mutual of Omaha Bank v. Watson

The relevant case is Mutual of Omaha Bank v. Watson, not “Watson v. Midland Funding.”

In Watson:

• both spouses signed the primary deed of trust;
• the challenged issue included a defective or omitted acknowledgment, not complete absence of the spouse’s signature;
• the transaction involved purchase-money security;
• the Court treated title acquisition and the purchase-money deed as simultaneous;
• the purchase-money lien was not defeated by a later homestead claim. Nebraska.gov+1

The case does not establish automatic personal note liability for an unsigned spouse.

X. Necessary federal boundaries

A. Bankruptcy automatic stay

A bankruptcy petition generally stays commencement or continuation of an action against the debtor and enforcement of liens or claims against estate property, subject to exceptions and relief-from-stay orders. A post-sale deficiency action filed or continued during an operative stay can therefore require bankruptcy-court authority. USCode+1

B. Discharge: in personam versus in rem

A bankruptcy discharge:

• voids judgments to the extent they determine discharged personal liability;
• enjoins collection as the debtor’s personal liability;
• generally does not, by itself, eliminate a surviving mortgage lien.

Johnson v. Home State Bank explains that discharge extinguishes the in-personam mode of enforcement while leaving the in-rem mortgage claim intact. USCode+2

Thus:

Plain text

Discharged borrower:
    personal deficiency ordinarily barred,
    subject to dischargeability and valid reaffirmation issues

Surviving lien:
    can remain enforceable against collateral

Nondischarged guarantor or co-obligor:
    not automatically discharged by another debtor’s case

Section 524(e) provides that one debtor’s discharge generally does not affect another entity’s liability or property for the debt. USCode

C. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

For a pre-service mortgage or trust-deed obligation still owed by a servicemember:

• a court action filed during military service or within one year afterward can be stayed or the obligation adjusted when service materially affects the ability to comply;
• a foreclosure sale during that protected period is invalid absent a prior court order or valid statutory waiver;
• default-judgment and appearance protections can apply to a deficiency case.

The exact result depends on service dates, origination date, ownership, obligation, material effect, appearance, waiver, and court orders. USCode+2

D. Federal insured or guaranteed loans

No universal FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, SBA, or other federal anti-deficiency or reimbursement rule is applied here because no program facts exist.

The next evidence would include:

• the note and riders;
• FHA case number;
• VA loan guaranty;
• USDA/RHS documentation;
• GSE ownership or servicing records;
• federal claim or assignment terms;
• applicable agency handbook or regulation.

Regulation X does not itself create or calculate Nebraska’s deficiency amount.

XI. Master deficiency-action matrix

XII. Controlling-case matrix

The Nebraska HTML reproductions identified above contain the actual published opinions, but do not provide reliable zero-based PDF pagination. No full commercial citator or unpublished-order search was performed.

XIII. Bounded hypothetical workflows and statutory calculations

The figures below are teaching assumptions only. They are not actual debts, appraisals, bids, recoverable judgments, or legal advice.

Example 1 — trustee-sale bid below FMV

Assumptions

Plain text

T = $300,000
S = $180,000
V = $240,000
I = $0

Two ceilings:

Plain text

Sale-price ceiling:
T − S
= $300,000 − $180,000
= $120,000

FMV ceiling:
T − V
= $300,000 − $240,000
= $60,000

Combined result:

Plain text

Maximum base deficiency
= lesser of $120,000 and $60,000
= $60,000

The lender receives an FMV credit even though the bid was only $180,000. Nebraska Legislature+1

Example 2 — trustee-sale bid above FMV

Assumptions

Plain text

T = $300,000
S = $260,000
V = $240,000
I = $0

Plain text

Sale-price ceiling:
$300,000 − $260,000 = $40,000

FMV ceiling:
$300,000 − $240,000 = $60,000

Maximum base deficiency:
min($40,000, $60,000) = $40,000

The actual sale credit controls because it exceeds FMV.

Example 3 — FMV exceeds indebtedness: zero deficiency

Assumptions

Plain text

T = $300,000
S = $250,000
V = $320,000

Plain text

Sale-price ceiling:
$300,000 − $250,000 = $50,000

FMV ceiling:
$300,000 − $320,000 = −$20,000
Floor at zero                         $0

Maximum base deficiency              $0

If the court makes that finding, Pantano treats the secured obligation as satisfied. This is not the same as merely filing late. Justia Law

Example 4 — disputed sale costs alter both ceilings

Creditor’s claimed version

Plain text

Pre-sale secured debt                 $280,000
Claimed sale costs                     20,000
                                      --------
T                                     $300,000

S                                     $210,000
V                                     $250,000

Plain text

Sale-price ceiling:
$300,000 − $210,000 = $90,000

FMV ceiling:
$300,000 − $250,000 = $50,000

Maximum base deficiency              $50,000

Court allows only $10,000 of costs

Plain text

Revised T:
$280,000 + $10,000 = $290,000

Sale-price ceiling:
$290,000 − $210,000 = $80,000

FMV ceiling:
$290,000 − $250,000 = $40,000

Maximum base deficiency              $40,000

The unsupported $10,000 cannot enter the judgment merely because it appeared in a payoff statement.

Example 5 — post-sale interest remains independently conditional

Assumptions

Plain text

T = $300,000
S = $180,000
V = $240,000
Hypothetical lawfully allowable I = $3,000

Base deficiency:

Plain text

T − max(S,V)
= $300,000 − $240,000
= $60,000

Fair-value ceiling including interest:

Plain text

T + I − V
= $300,000 + $3,000 − $240,000
= $63,000

Sale-price ceiling exclusive of interest:

Plain text

T − S
= $120,000

Conditional maximum total:

Plain text

$60,000 base + no more than $3,000 independently lawful interest
= up to $63,000

The example does not establish the rate, interest base, accrual, or entitlement.

Example 6 — secured versus unsecured guaranty

Branch A: unsecured guaranty

• Corporation signs note.
• Corporation grants deed of trust.
• Individual signs separate guaranty.
• Deed secures only the corporation’s note.

Potential result:

Plain text

§76-1013 guaranty coverage             not established
Written-guaranty route                 potentially applicable
FMV credit under §76-1013              not automatic

This is the Murante/Boxum branch.

Branch B: secured guaranty

• Guarantor owns trust property.
• Guarantor executes deed.
• Deed states it secures all guarantor obligations, including guaranty.
• Power of sale is exercised.
• Lender seeks guaranty balance.

Potential result:

Plain text

§76-1013 applies
3-calendar-month action required
FMV finding required
Advance FMV waiver unenforceable under Topp

Example 7 — pre-signed waiver

Facts

The guaranty states:

Guarantor waives any defense based on lender’s failure to obtain fair market value.

Conditional result

If the sold trust deed secured that guaranty, Topp makes the waiver unenforceable within its holding.

If the guaranty was not secured, §76-1013 may not apply at all; the result then turns on ordinary guaranty law rather than enforcement of a §76-1013 waiver.

Example 8 — late or uncertain three-month clock

Define:

Plain text

S_date = legally operative trustee-sale date
F_date = complaint filing date

Necessary analysis:

Plain text

1. Identify S_date from actual trustee-sale and deed record.
2. Add 3 calendar months—not 90 days.
3. Apply Nebraska’s last-day weekend/holiday rule.
4. Determine whether F_date falls within that period.
5. Separately confirm service within §25-217.

Missing:

• initial auction validity;
• corrective sale effect;
• filing timestamp;
• court closure;
• service.

A later third-party resale does not automatically become S_date. Justia Law

Example 9 — judicial foreclosure followed by personal action

Hypothetical

Plain text

Adjudicated note balance before sale      $350,000
Net judicial-sale proceeds                -250,000
                                          --------
Arithmetic shortfall                      $100,000

That $100,000 is not automatically a personal judgment.

The creditor still must establish:

• written-contract liability;
• proper credits;
• timely §25-205 filing;
• accrual and acceleration;
• no bankruptcy discharge;
• no release;
• no unauthorized parallel action under §25-2140;
• valid interest and fees.

Section 76-1013’s FMV formula does not govern the judicial route. Nebraska.gov

Example 10 — multiple collateral and double-recovery guard

Assumptions

Plain text

Starting secured obligation               $400,000

First trustee sale:
greater of sale price or FMV              -150,000
                                          --------
Accounting balance                        $250,000

Later collateral recovery                 -100,000
                                          --------
Possible remaining balance                $150,000

If the creditor timely preserved personal liability, no personal judgment can exceed the properly credited $150,000 plus independently lawful later items.

If the §76-1013 personal action was missed, Doty permits pursuit of remaining collateral but not a personal deficiency action. Nebraska.gov

Example 11 — homestead owner versus note signer

Facts

• Spouse A owns and occupies the home.
• Spouse B signs the note.
• Only Spouse A signs the mortgage.
• Purchase-money status is unknown.

Possible branches:

Plain text

Lien enforceability against homestead     depends on §40-104,
                                          signatures, acknowledgments,
                                          and purchase-money exception

Spouse B personal liability               depends on note signature

Spouse A personal liability               not created merely by title or marriage

Watson does not resolve a no-signature case because both spouses had signed; its dispute concerned acknowledgment and purchase-money priority. Nebraska.gov+1

Example 12 — bankruptcy and servicemember status unknown

Facts

• Trustee sale occurred.
• Lender contemplates deficiency action.
• Borrower may have filed bankruptcy.
• Borrower may be on military service.
• Guarantor is a separate person.

Required branches:

Plain text

Active bankruptcy stay:
    deficiency action may be stayed

Discharge of borrower’s personal liability:
    in-personam deficiency may be enjoined
    lien may have survived in rem

Separate guarantor:
    borrower’s discharge does not automatically release guarantor

Covered SCRA obligation:
    court may stay or adjust action if military service materially affects compliance
    sale validity may depend on prior court order or waiver

No branch can be selected without federal case, discharge, service, origination, ownership, and waiver records. USCode+2

XIV. Public forms and instructions

The forms index confirms only the forms currently made publicly available through the Judicial Branch. Failure to locate a statewide deficiency form is not proof that no local, judge-specific, attorney-drafted, or commercial form exists. Nebraska Judicial Branch

No form was completed or submitted.

XV. Source register

| Source ID | Issuer, title, full literal URL, material pinpoint | Version/status/access/read bounds and limits | |---|---|---|---| | S_NE-P30-S001 | Nebraska Legislature, Neb. Rev. Stat. §76-1013. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=76-1013; complete operative body, especially first paragraph. | Current official HTML freshly read October 26, 2026 PT/UTC. Source traces to 1965. No future-effective text displayed. Nebraska Legislature | | S_NE-P30-S002 | Nebraska Legislature, definitions and computation: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=49-801 subsection (14); https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-2221; https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-217; https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-201.01. | Current official HTML freshly read. Calendar-month definition, last-day computation, filing commencement, service, and savings-clause limits. Nebraska Legislature+3 | | S_NE-P30-S003 | Nebraska Legislature, trustee-sale proceeds and disputed distribution: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=76-1011; https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=76-1011.01. | Current official HTML freshly read; complete operative sections. Nebraska Legislature+1 | | S_NE-P30-S004 | Nebraska Legislature, trustee-sale versus judicial limitation gateway, https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=76-1015; complete body. | Current official HTML freshly read. Concerns time to conduct sale/foreclosure, not §76-1013’s deficiency filing period. Nebraska Legislature | | S_NE-P30-S005 | Nebraska Supreme Court, American Exchange Bank v. Topp, 321 Neb. 409 (2026). https://www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/public/viewOpinion?docId=N00013220PUB; facts p.411/PDF2; security p.417/PDF8; waiver pp.419–420/PDF10–11; valuation p.423/PDF14; result p.424/PDF15; dissent begins p.424/PDF15. | Final published majority opinion filed May 15, 2026; 18-page official PDF freshly read and relevant pages visually inspected. No complete subsequent-treatment audit. Nebraska.gov+3 | | S_NE-P30-S006 | Nebraska Supreme Court, Mutual of Omaha Bank v. Murante, 285 Neb. 747 (2013). https://www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/public/viewCertified?docId=N00004214PUB; guaranty terms p.752/PDF5; unsecured-guaranty analysis pp.755–758/PDF8–11; conclusion approximately p.759/PDF12. | Final official 13-page PDF freshly read. Topp now limits broad readings of its guarantor discussion. Nebraska.gov+1 | | S_NE-P30-S007 | Nebraska Court of Appeals, Boxum v. Munce, 16 Neb. App. 731 (2008). https://law.justia.com/cases/nebraska/court-of-appeals/2008/a-07-522-9.html; material actual-opinion HTML lines 107–116. | Public reproduction of actual final opinion; PDF index N/A. Separate unsecured guaranty route. Justia Law+1 | | S_NE-P30-S008 | Nebraska Supreme Court, Pantano v. Maryland Plaza Partnership, 244 Neb. 499 (1993). https://law.justia.com/cases/nebraska/supreme-court/1993/805-2.html; material actual-opinion HTML lines 92–100. | Public reproduction of actual final opinion; reliable Nebraska printed page for the passage not exposed by this HTML, PDF index N/A. Justia Law+1 | | S_NE-P30-S009 | Nebraska Supreme Court, Bank of Papillion v. Nguyen, 252 Neb. 926 (1997). https://law.justia.com/cases/nebraska/supreme-court/1997/1152-3.html; material actual-opinion HTML lines 107–123. | Public reproduction of actual final opinion; PDF index N/A. Initial trustee-sale trigger and later-resale rejection. Justia Law+1 | | S_NE-P30-S010 | Nebraska Supreme Court, Doty v. West Gate Bank, 292 Neb. 787 (2016). https://www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/public/viewCertified?docId=N00009900PUB; printed pp.801–803/PDF indices 14–16. | Final official 17-page PDF freshly read. Personal remedy barred but remaining collateral survives; separate-contract issue not reached. Nebraska.gov+1 | | S_NE-P30-S011 | Nebraska Supreme Court, First National Bank of Omaha v. Davey, 285 Neb. 835 (2013). https://www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/public/viewCertified?docId=N00004221PUB; route p.839/PDF4; limitation p.842/PDF7; disposition p.847/PDF12. | Final official 13-page PDF freshly read; reversed and remanded. Nebraska.gov+2 | | S_NE-P30-S012 | Nebraska Legislature, written-contract limitation and revival: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-205; https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-216. | Current official HTML freshly read. No authority found applying §25-216 to revive §76-1013’s special period. Nebraska Legislature+1 | | S_NE-P30-S013 | Nebraska Legislature, judicial-route personal recovery and credits: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-2139; https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-2140; https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-2141; https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-2143; https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-2146. | Current official HTML freshly read. Full judicial-sale process not regenerated. Nebraska Legislature+4 | | S_NE-P30-S014 | Nebraska Legislature, two deed-of-trust routes, https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=76-1005. | Current official HTML freshly read. Nebraska Legislature | | S_NE-P30-S015 | Nebraska Supreme Court, Gilroy v. Ryberg, 266 Neb. 617 (2003). https://law.justia.com/cases/nebraska/supreme-court/2003/487-1.html; material actual-opinion HTML lines 107–125. | Public reproduction of actual final opinion; PDF index N/A. Void/voidable/inconsequential sale defects. Justia Law+1 | | S_NE-P30-S016 | Nebraska Supreme Court, Mutual of Omaha Bank v. Watson, 297 Neb. 479 (2017). https://www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/public/viewCertified?docId=N00010306PUB; facts p.481/PDF2; acknowledgment pp.489–490/PDF10–11; purchase-money pp.493–495/PDF14–16. Nebraska Legislature, §40-104: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=40-104. | Final official opinion and current statute freshly read. Signed-but-defective-acknowledgment and purchase-money case, not a no-signature case. Nebraska.gov+2 | | S_NE-P30-S017 | U.S. Code, 11 U.S.C. §§362 and 524. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t11/s362/; https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t11/s524/. | Official Code pages through Public Law 119-124, October 15, 2026; material stay, discharge, and other-entity provisions freshly read. USCode+2 | | S_NE-P30-S018 | U.S. Supreme Court, Johnson v. Home State Bank, 501 U.S. 78 (1991). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USREPORTS-501/pdf/USREPORTS-501-78.pdf; printed p.79/PDF1 and pp.82–84/PDF4–6. | Official U.S. Reports PDF freshly read; unanimous opinion. GovInfo+2 | | S_NE-P30-S019 | U.S. Code, SCRA: https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t50/s3953/; https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t50/s3932/; https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t50/s3931/. | Official Code pages through Public Law 119-124, October 15, 2026; material mortgage, stay, and default provisions freshly read. USCode+2 | | S_NE-P30-S020 | Nebraska Judicial Branch, Master Forms List. https://nebraskajudicial.gov/forms. | Current public index checked October 26, 2026. No statewide deficiency-specific form located in bounded search. Nebraska Judicial Branch | | S_NE-P30-S021 | Bounded official searches in Nebraska appellate repository, Nebraska statutes, official federal Code and court sources. | Search-only work October 26, 2026. No complete paid citator, private docket, county-form archive, agency-program audit, or unpublished-order search. |

XVI. Claim register

XVII. Granular coverage table

XVIII. Researcher self-check

Freshly read

This pass freshly read the material operative text of:

• Neb. Rev. Stat. §76-1013;
• §§49-801, 25-2221, 25-217, and 25-201.01;
• §§76-1011, 76-1011.01, and 76-1015;
• §§25-205 and 25-216;
• §§25-2139, 25-2140, 25-2141, 25-2143, and 25-2146;
• §§76-1005 and 40-104;
• 11 U.S.C. §§362 and 524;
• 50 U.S.C. §§3931, 3932, and 3953.

It also freshly read the material majority passages and outcomes of:

• American Exchange Bank v. Topp;
• Mutual of Omaha Bank v. Murante;
• Boxum v. Munce;
• Pantano v. Maryland Plaza Partnership;
• Bank of Papillion v. Nguyen;
• Doty v. West Gate Bank;
• First National Bank of Omaha v. Davey;
• Gilroy v. Ryberg;
• Mutual of Omaha Bank v. Watson;
• Johnson v. Home State Bank.

Numerical self-check

Plain text

Example 1:
$300,000 − $180,000 = $120,000
$300,000 − $240,000 =  $60,000
minimum = $60,000

Example 2:
$300,000 − $260,000 = $40,000
$300,000 − $240,000 = $60,000
minimum = $40,000

Example 3:
$300,000 − $250,000 =  $50,000
$300,000 − $320,000 = −$20,000 → $0
minimum = $0

Example 4:
$280,000 + $20,000 = $300,000
$300,000 − $210,000 = $90,000
$300,000 − $250,000 = $50,000

Revised:
$280,000 + $10,000 = $290,000
$290,000 − $210,000 = $80,000
$290,000 − $250,000 = $40,000

Example 5:
$300,000 − $240,000 = $60,000
$300,000 + $3,000 − $240,000 = $63,000

Example 10:
$400,000 − $150,000 = $250,000
$250,000 − $100,000 = $150,000

The calculations establish arithmetic under stated assumptions only. They do not establish debt, security coverage, valuation, costs, standing, liability, recoverable interest, or a timely action.

Precise remaining gaps

No controlling current authority was located in this bounded research that conclusively resolves:

• whether §25-216 can ever revive §76-1013’s special three-month period;
• every consequence of filing a §76-1013 complaint before the trustee sale;
• the deficiency effect of every sale later declared void;
• one mandatory FMV appraisal method;
• one universal post-sale interest base;
• one universal treatment of every attorney fee or resale expense;
• whether each deed in a multi-deed cross-collateralized transaction is a separate contract;
• every surety or collateral-impairment waiver after Topp;
• one statewide deficiency-specific pleading or valuation form;
• federal insured or guaranteed-loan deficiency rules absent an identified program.

These are bounded gaps, not findings that no unpublished, contractual, federal-program, or later authority exists.

Not performed

• No actual note, guaranty, mortgage, trust deed, assignment, title report, appraisal, tax assessment, loan ledger, payoff, trustee-sale record, sheriff-sale record, bankruptcy docket, military record, judgment, payment, collateral release, or deficiency complaint was accessed.
• No named borrower, creditor, guarantor, lender, servicer, trustee, property, title, county docket, or provider was searched.
• No filing, contact, notice, complaint, records request, purchase, account action, property transaction, browser control, local write, or publication occurred.
• No complete possession, eviction, servicing-remedies, FHA, VA, USDA, GSE, tax, HOA, agricultural, commercial, local, tribal, or foreign-country component was performed.
• No complete paid citator, unpublished-order search, private docket review, or county-form survey was performed.

Focused disposition: Nebraska’s nonjudicial deficiency remedy is a tightly bounded statutory action: file within three calendar months after the trustee sale, identify the secured debt and sale variables, obtain a court FMV finding, and satisfy both the FMV and sale-price ceilings. Guaranty coverage turns on whether the sold trust deed actually secured that guaranty. Judicial foreclosure follows a different written-contract route, but still requires a separate enforceable personal obligation and full credit for the sale and all other recoveries. Missing a personal deficiency deadline does not automatically erase surviving collateral, while a substantive finding of no deficiency under §76-1013 does satisfy the covered obligation.

END S_NE PASS-30.