Art. 2378.Enforcement of Mortgage Or Privilege Superior to that of Seizing Creditor

Article 2374 already told the purchaser that a superior security interest or mortgage is not paid off through the sheriff; instead, the purchaser pays the sheriff only the part of the price exceeding that superior amount, leaving the encumbrance attached to the property. That arrangement depends on the purchaser eventually satisfying the superior obligation. Article 2378 addresses what happens when that does not occur.

If the purchaser fails to pay the superior security interest or mortgage, the holder of that superior claim is not left waiting on a purchaser who never comes through. Article 2378 lets the superior creditor enforce the security interest or mortgage under the executory process articles, or under any other law that applies to enforcing that type of claim. Executory process is a streamlined Louisiana foreclosure procedure available for certain mortgages and security interests, allowing enforcement without a full ordinary lawsuit on the underlying debt.

In effect, the superior creditor's position does not weaken just because the property changed hands at the sheriff's sale. The purchaser took the property subject to that superior claim, and the superior creditor can pursue the property in the purchaser's hands the same way it could have pursued it while the judgment debtor still owned it.