Washington’s Supreme Court Rules HELOCs Cannot Be Foreclosed Nonjudicially 

July 30, 2026

In a matter of apparent first impression, the Washington Supreme Court has ruled that a HELOC agreement is not a negotiable instrument and that a party seeking nonjudicial foreclosure under Washington’s Deed of Trust Act must be the holder of a negotiable instrument. Read on as Ryan C. Squire, an attorney with the law firm Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, provides analysis of the case. Squire was recently elected a Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA). 

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