The one action rule is a rule of law that forces a lender to bring only one court action or proceeding against a borrower in a foreclosure. For example, in California, Code of Civil Procedure § 726 has been construed to mean that in the event of default, a secured creditor must, in a single action, first exhaust all its security as a condition of obtaining a monetary deficiency judgment against the debtor personally. If the secured creditor does not resort to all its security before obtaining a money judgment on the underlying debt, the secured creditor may be deemed to have made an "election of remedies" and to have waived the balance of its security.
