Posts in Foreclosure.

On April 1, 2020, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal released its opinion in the case 78D Team, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., etc., 3D 19-1708 (Fla. 3d DCA April 1, 2020). In this appeal, Burr successfully defended an appeal that challenged a payments order under Florida Statute 701.10(2), which permits trial courts in Florida to enter an order requiring monthly mortgage payments be made in foreclosure actions that do not involve owner occupied residential real estate. If payments are not made following such an order, the trial court can order the eviction of the property’s ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

The Florida Supreme Court released an opinion in Glass v. Nationstar, SC17-1387 with widespread implications in contract litigation, and mortgage foreclosure litigation in particular, as it relates to attorney's fee entitlement. In Nationstar Mortgage LLC v. Glass, 219 So. 3d 896 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017) the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that where a borrower prevails on the issue of standing, the borrower cannot utilize the attorney's fee provisions of the note and mortgage to secure prevailing party attorney's fees. The rationale for this decision seemed simple, if the ...

On October 31, 2018, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal recently distinguished two of its prior opinions and held that a foreclosure plaintiff does not lose its standing as a holder of a negotiable instrument if it surrenders a promissory note to the clerk of court for purposes of obtaining a foreclosure judgment, and later re-files the action without retaking possession of the note from the clerk.

Two prior opinions from the Second District Court of Appeal, Partridge v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, 224 So. 3d 839 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) and Geweye v. Ventures Trust 2013-I-H-R, 189 So. 3d ...

For the third time in less than two years, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a chapter 7 debtor who does not reaffirm secured debt or redeem the property must surrender the property. In re Woide, No. 17-10776 (11th Cir. Apr. 5, 2018).

In Woide, the debtors filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, and on schedule A, listed their real property and stated "to be surrendered." The case was later converted from chapter 13 to 7, and the debtors did not file any statement of intention with respect to the property. After the close of the debtors' bankruptcy case, the secured creditor ...

Third party purchaser lacks standing to participate in foreclosure proceeding, absent assertion of intention to redeem the property.
After the Second District Court of Appeal issued a per curiam affirmance of the entry of final judgment of foreclosure in favor of the bank, Judge Sleet issued a specially concurring opinion in which he concluded that because the appellant was a third party purchaser of the property who was not obligated on the note and mortgage, it was "questionable" whether she had standing to challenge the bank's foreclosure proceeding in the first place. Pealer v ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal breathed life back into the lis pendens statute by reversing course in Ober v. Town of Lauderdale-By-the-Sea. On a motion for rehearing, the Court withdrew and replaced its August 24, 2016 opinion, which "eviscerated" the lis pendens statute by holding that liens placed on property between a final judgment of foreclosure and the judicial sale were not discharged by Florida Statute § 48.23. For an in-depth discussion of the Court's August 24, 2016 opinion, click here. Consistent with the real property and mortgage industry's understanding ...

In an order issued today, Judge Dalton of the Middle District of Florida held that in a non-bankruptcy context, allegations that collection of a mortgage debt is barred by the statute of limitations do not form a "plausible basis" for claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, or the Declaratory Judgment Act.

In Garrison v. Caliber Home Loans, Inc., Case No. 6:16-cv-978-Orl-37DCI (Order, Jan. 10, 2017), the plaintiff brought counts under five consumer protection laws, including the FDCPA and FCCPA, as well as for a ...

Posted in: FCCPA, FDCPA, Foreclosure

The Florida Supreme Court today affirmed Bartram v. U.S. Bank National Association in a virtually unanimous decision. The decision resolves a long standing controversy regarding the effect (if any) of a prior unsuccessful foreclosure action with regards to Florida's statute of limitations for mortgage foreclosure. The Court's opinion in case number SC14-1265, which was joined by all the justices with the exception of Justice Lewis (who concurred in result only and authored a short opinion of his own) and contains several important holdings. The vast majority of the opinion is ...

On October 4, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that chapter 7 debtors who file a statement of intention to surrender real property in bankruptcy cannot later contest a foreclosure action, and bankruptcy courts have broad power and authority to sanction violations. Failla v. CitiBank, N.A., case no. 15-15626 (11th Cir. October 4, 2016). The bankruptcy court in Failla reopened a chapter 7 bankruptcy case several years after entry of discharge and ordered the debtors to cease their defense of the bank's foreclosure action, threatening to vacate the discharge order for ...

In a recent opinion, the Second District Court of Appeal explained its approval of agency relationship to establish that a plaintiff is entitled to foreclose as "holder" of the original note under Florida Statute Section 673.3011(1). Phan v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co., Case No. 2D14-3364, 2016 WL 746400 (Fla. 2d DCA Feb. 26, 2016). Recounting the relevant facts of this case, Deutsche Bank initiated a foreclosure action against Ms. Ngoc Phan on April 28, 2009, alleging she failed to make the loan payments on her Pinellas County home since January 1, 2009. Ms. Phan denied the Bank's ...

Posted in: DCA, Florida, Foreclosure
It is not uncommon for a homeowner association ("HOA") to file a separate claim of lien foreclosure action against a resident even though the bank's mortgage foreclosure action remains pending. Therefore, a homeowner can potentially face two foreclosure actions against the property at the same time: one for unpaid assessments to the HOA and another for default under the note and mortgage. This trend is about to change. The Fourth District Court of Appeal recently issued another opinion reversing an HOA's final judgment of foreclosure for lack of jurisdiction. Relying on Florida's ...

In McFarland v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 14-2126 (4th Cir. Jan. 15, 2016), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals examined the argument that a loan was substantively unconscionable because it vastly exceeded the worth of the residential property by which it was secured. The case drew the attention of numerous amici for both the lender and the borrower. In short, during the height of the housing bubble, the borrower received a call from a mortgage broker that the value of his home had doubled in two years. The borrower refinanced his home to pay down other debt, but could not manage the larger ...

The brief era of confusion amongst Florida trial judges regarding the standard for judging compliance with conditions precedent in residential mortgage foreclosures is hopefully coming to a close. Despite a rash of written opinions from Florida trial judges adopting a strict compliance standard for contractual conditions precedent, Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal joined the Second and the Third District Court of Appeal in adopting a substantial compliance standard in Bank of New York Mellon, etc. v. Donna D. Johnson, 5D14-3626 (Fla. 5th DCA Jan. 29, 2016). The opinion ...

In Helton v. Bank of America, 5D14-2632 (Fla. 5th DCA Jan. 22, 2016), Florida's Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal echoed its opinion in Webster v. Chase Home Finance, LLC, 155 So. 3d 1219, 1220 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) that oral testimony unsubstantiated by corresponding business records, that required foreclosure notice was actually sent, is insufficient. In reversing on hearsay grounds, the Fifth DCA observed that the witness did not purport to testify from personal knowledge that the notice was sent but rather that the lenders business records reflected it was sent. However, those records ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

In a split two-one decision, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the decision reached below and held that Fla. Stat. 559.715's notice of assignment provision does not create a condition precedent to foreclosure. The case is Brindise v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 2D14-3316, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 653 (Fla. 2d DCA Jan. 20, 2015). The Second DCA further certified the following question to the Florida Supreme Court as a matter of great public importance: "IS THE PROVISION OF WRITTEN NOTICE OF ASSIGNMENT UNDER SECTION 559.715 A CONDITION PRECEDENT TO THE INSTITUTION OF A FORECLOSURE ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

For years, counsel for borrowers have successfully argued that the bank failed to meet conditions precedent required under Section 559.715 of Florida's Consumer Collection Practices Act ("FCCPA"). Procedurally, this argument has been raised in the borrower's answer to the mortgage foreclosure complaint. Rather than simply alleging it as a well-pled affirmative defense, the borrower generally denies that the lender complied with all conditions precedent required to bring a mortgage foreclosure action. The borrowers' strategy is to then move for summary judgment denying ...

In the case of Sill v. JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association, Michael Sill appealed a final judgment of foreclosure entered in favor of JPMorgan Chase Bank ("Chase"), in which he asserted three issues. 4D14-1014, 2016 WL 67256 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 6, 2016). Of note, is Mr. Sill's third contention arguing that Chase was required to send a new notice of default after it voluntarily dismissed the first suit and before it filed the second suit. The Fourth DCA affirmed on all issues, but it wrote an opinion to address the sole issue of whether a new notice of default was required to be sent by ...

As the foreclosure crisis dies down, lenders are seeing more creative tactics employed to stall foreclosures. One tactic is that during the pendency of the first lien holder's foreclosure, the borrower will convey title, or title will pass through a junior lien holder's foreclosure action, to an outfit that rents the property out for a profit. The longer the first lien holder's foreclosure takes, the more profitable this tactic becomes. Unsatisfied with simply waiting for the foreclosure or even subsidizing a borrower's foreclosure defense tactic, some of these outfits have taken ...
Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

With its recently-issued opinion in Elsman v. HSBC Bank USA as Trustee for MLMI 2006-AF1, slip op. 5D14-1753, 41 Fla. L. Weekly D57b, 2015 WL 9491875 (Dec. 31, 2015), the Fifth DCA has added to a growing body of case law regarding what is required to evidence a plaintiff's standing to foreclose a mortgage. In Elsman, the plaintiff asserted standing as holder of the promissory note at issue but failed to attach an endorsed copy of the promissory note at issue to its complaint or to present any alternate evidence of its status as holder. Because the plaintiff, HSBC Bank USA, as Trustee for MLMI ...

In OneWest Bank, FSB v. Gino Alessio, et al., 4D14-1444 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 6, 2014), the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a trial judge's order dismissing a foreclosure after the defendant improperly used a motion in limine to exclude the bank's sole witness and procured dismissal of the action. While the trial court's order was ostensibly a sanction for violating the pre-trial order's requirements regarding witness and exhibit lists, the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed because the trial court failed to consider the factors set forth in the Florida Supreme Court's ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

In Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company v. Dennis M. Conley, 4D14-2430 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 6, 2016), Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal clarified the methods by which a foreclosure plaintiff can seek to enforce a note indorsed to another party. Specifically, the court held that, "[w]here a bank is seeking to enforce a note which his specially indorsed to another, the bank is a nonholder in possession." The court went on to hold that in order to prove standing as a non-holder the plaintiff must provide proof of an effective transfer, purchase of the debt, or a valid assignment. In ...

In Bank of America, N.A. v. Kipps Colony II Condominium Association, Inc., the Second District Court of Appeal reversed a 2011 final judgment entered in favor of Kipps Colony II Condominium Association, Inc. ("Association"). See Nos. 2D14-858, 2D14-4436, 2015 WL 8321268 (Fla. 2d DCA Dec. 9, 2015). Though Bank of America had been defaulted in the Association's claim of lien foreclosure action, the appellate court found the trial court erred in denying Bank of America's Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b) motion. Judge Black delivered the opinion of the court finding that the ...

In Ensler v. Aurora Loan Servs., LLC, the Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida was faced with the issue of whether a prior mortgage loan servicer's documents could be introduced into evidence when the current servicer testified the prior servicer's records were "accurate" because "[t]hey're a reputable big company and we trust them and they trust us." At trial, Plaintiff sought to introduce the following documents into evidence (through the testimony of the current servicer): the breach letter, payment history, and power of attorney. All of these documents were authored ...

In Hicks v. Wells Fargo, 5D14-1748, Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal issued the first appellate opinion to pass on the proper method of pleading a re-filed foreclosure where a prior foreclosure effort was dismissed and certain defaults are now outside the five year statute of limitations for mortgage foreclosure. The facts of the case were as follows: a foreclosure complaint was filed in September 8, 2006 premised on the borrowers' alleged failure to make the June 1, 2006 payment. The complaint was voluntarily dismissed in 2008. A new notice of default was sent in 2011 ...

Standing is one of the top issues in foreclosure case law. So it comes as no surprise that the issue of standing is also a common focal point for discovery disputes in foreclosures. It has become common foreclosure defense practice to issue extremely broad discovery regarding the lender's standing. Often the defendant will request any documents relating to any assignment of the note and mortgage during the life of the loan. Many have maintained that when the lender's standing is predicated on having physical possession of the properly endorsed promissory note, and not collateral ...
Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure
The ownership of the promissory note by a subsidiary corporation of the Plaintiff cannot alone establish standing to foreclose. In HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Ryan Kahan, et al., the Court granted the borrowers' motion for involuntary dismissal or directed verdict due to (1) Plaintiff's failure to establish standing at the commencement of the action; and (2) Plaintiff's inability to establish a prima facie case of foreclosure due to its failure to provide any testimony as to Plaintiff's damages. On October 8, 2012, Plaintiff HSBC Bank USA, N.A. ("HSBC Bank") commenced this residential ...
Posted in: Foreclosure

With its decision up on re-hearing, Florida's Third District Court of Appeal may be rethinking its decision in Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Beauvais, No. 3D14-575, 2014 WL 7156961 (Fla. 3d DCA Dec. 17, 2014). In Beauvais, the court held that only a dismissal with prejudice will allow a cause of action for mortgage foreclosure to accrue after a failed foreclosure effort is dismissed. The effect of the decision was to render numerous foreclosures time-barred where a prior dismissal had been taken voluntarily, or otherwise without prejudice. The Third DCA acknowledged its ...

In Cooper v. Fay Servicing, LLC, 2015 WL 4470213 (S.D. Ohio July 17, 2015), the mortgagors sued the servicer of their real estate loan asserting claims for alleged violations of Regulation X relating to the loss mitigation process. Critical to this case was the timing of the loss mitigation process that resulted in the alleged Regulation X violations, the date of the foreclosure filing, and the date of the foreclosure sale. Specifically, the foreclosure proceeding was initiated on January 4, 2014, six days prior to the effective date of the CFPB's new Mortgage Rules, while the alleged ...

Posted in: CFPB, Foreclosure, Ohio

As Florida works through its foreclosure backlog, many of the cases remaining are those with complications, for example a lost promissory note. Such issues are not insurmountable, but do require an attention to detail. For example, in Boumarate v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., 5D14-1379, 40 Fla. L. Weekly D1899a (Fla. 5th DCA August 14, 2015), Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal provided guidance on the proof required by Florida's UCC provision for enforcing lost promissory notes. Specifically, Florida Statutes section 673.3091 provides that:

(1) A person not in possession of an ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

On July 29, 2015, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal held that substantial compliance, rather than strict compliance, is the legal standard for evaluating a foreclosing plaintiff's compliance with contractual conditions precedent to acceleration of mortgage debt (and in particular, the conditions identified in paragraph 22 of most standard residential first mortgages). Green Tree Servicing, Inc. v. Milam, 2015 WL 4549200, at 4-5, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 11324, at 9-11. The Milam decision built upon and clarified prior case law from Florida's Second and Fifth DCAs that ...

Foreclosure defense and bankruptcy often go hand in hand, but sometimes it seems like the left hand doesn't talk to the right. This has proven especially common with bankruptcy plans that propose to "surrender" real property encumbered by a mortgage. The term "surrender" is not defined in the bankruptcy code. As a result, lenders and borrowers often interpret the term differently. For example, most lenders interpret surrender to mean not defending a foreclosure. While this may seem like common sense, some borrowers have taken the view that surrender simply meant stay relief, and ...

The UCC was supposed to make enforcing negotiable instruments a simpler, more streamlined process. It has proven anything but in Florida. Continuing a trend that now stretches back years, mortgage lenders have had an increasingly tough time proving standing to the satisfaction of Florida's District Courts of Appeal in the last few months. Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal has long been the most vocal on the standing issue. See e.g. McLean v. JP Morgan Chase Bank Nat. Ass'n, 79 So. 3d 170 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). The last few months have been no different. One opinion of particular ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Georgia Court of Appeals recently issued competing orders about mortgage borrowers' standing to challenge security deed assignments. Though the Eleventh Circuit affirmed that borrowers cannot challenge their security deed assignments when making wrongful foreclosure claims, the Georgia Court of Appeals found that borrowers can challenge their assignments under Georgia's Quiet Title Act. This newly-clarified distinction will perhaps provoke borrowers to file quiet title actions to frustrate Georgia foreclosure efforts in the ...

The opinion of Florida's Third District Court of Appeal in Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Beauvais, No. 3D14-575, 2014 WL 7156961 (Fla. 3d DCA Dec. 17, 2014) has been a lightning rod for criticism from federal courts in Florida. The opinion, which holds that only a dismissal with prejudice will serve to reset the statute of limitations for mortgage foreclosure following a failed foreclosure attempt, has already been rejected by three separate opinions of United States District Courts in Florida. See LNB-017-13, LLC v. HSBC Bank USA, No. 1:14-CV-24800-UU, 2015 WL 1546150 (S.D ...

Florida's Third District Court of Appeal shocked many court watchers with its opinion in Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Beauvais, No. 3D14-575, 2014 WL 7156961 (Fla. 3d DCA Dec. 17, 2014) when it created a split of authority on Florida's statute of limitations for mortgage foreclosure. Before Beauvais, Florida's case law was consistent that a dismissal, be it with or without prejudice, permitted new non-time-barred causes of action for foreclosure to accrue based upon post-dismissal breaches of mortgage covenants. See Evergrene Partners, Inc. v. Citibank, N.A., 143 So. 3d ...

In Haynes v. McCalla Raymer, LLC, No. 14-14036, __ F. 3d __, 2015 WL 4188459 (11th Cir. July 13, 2015), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Northern District of Georgia's grant of summary judgment in favor of Bank of America, N.A. ("BANA") on the mortgagors' wrongful foreclosure claim. The court held that the mortgagors lacked standing to challenge any alleged deficiencies in the assignment of the security deed from MERS to BANA and that the borrowers' own default, rather than any alleged defect in the foreclosure notice, led to the foreclosure. With respect to the ...

The Alabama Legislature recently amended sections 6-5-248, 6-5-252, and 8-1-172 of the Alabama Code, which govern redemption in the State of Alabama. Prior to the amendments, the redemption period for all real property was one year from the date of the foreclosure sale. The amendments reduce the redemption period to 180 days for residential property on which a homestead exemption was claimed in the tax year during which the sale occurred. The amendments also require a mortgagee who forecloses residential property on which a homestead exemption was claimed in the tax year during ...

In David L. Ham, Jr. v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, 1D14-4024 (Fla. 1st DCA May 12, 2015), the First District Court of Appeals ("First DCA") reversed the trial court's Final Judgment of Foreclosure in favor of Nationstar for failing to furnish competent and substantial evidence overcoming Borrower's standing defense, and that the original Plaintiff possessed the original note, indorsed in blank, at the inception of the lawsuit. Here, 123 Loan, LLC ("123 Loan") originated the subject loan in 2004, and allegedly assigned the note to Aurora Loan Services, LLC ("Aurora") at some unknown ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

In Gorel v. Bank of New York Mellon, 5D13-3272 (Fla. 5th DCA May 8, 2015) Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal offered relief to increasingly popular arguments using minor defects in paragraph 22 notices of default as a defense to foreclosure. It has become popular among the foreclosure defense bar to point to minor variances between the language used in notices of default and the express language of paragraph 22, and assert that because the notices do not strictly conform word for word with paragraph 22, that foreclosure should be denied. These arguments have had some measure of ...

In Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co. v. Adriana Avila-Gonzalez, 2015 WL 2089094 (Fla. 3d DCA May 6, 2015), the Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court order that dismissed a foreclosure action with prejudice and cancelled the note and mortgage. Central to the Court's ruling was the determination that the Bank was negligent in asserting the note was lost, by pleadings and by affidavit, when the note was actually in the servicing agent's possession for the duration of the foreclosure action. Contrary to the trial court's ruling, the Court found the Bank's negligence did ...

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Melissa M. Donaldson, 3rd DCA May 6, 2015. Florida's Third District Court of Appeals reversed the involuntary dismissal of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.'s ("Wells Fargo") foreclosure action against borrower, Melissa Donaldson ("Donaldson"), ruling that it was an abuse of discretion to dismiss the action at trial because the record contradicted Wells Fargo's technical admissions. In September 2012, Wells Fargo filed a verified complaint for foreclosure, alleging that it was the holder of the note and mortgage, referencing an assignment of the note and ...

In Russell v. Aurora Loan Services, LLC, 40 Fla. L. Weekly D967a (Fla. 2d DCA Apr. 24, 2015), Florida's Second District Court of Appeal added to the emerging line of case law regarding the proof required to establish standing in mortgage foreclosure actions. There, the Second DCA held that substituted party-plaintiff, Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, failed to establish at trial that either Nationstar or the original plaintiff, Aurora Loan Services, LLC, had standing as the servicer acting on behalf of the real party in interest to foreclose against borrower William Russell. As a result ...

Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

Andrew D. Dunavant, Jr., and Mary Dunavant (the Dunavants) appealed the district court's partial denial of their motion for summary judgment and its grant of the defendant's motion for summary judgment. Dunavant v. Sirote & Permutt, P.C., 2015 WL 525536, 1 (11th Cir. Feb. 9, 2015) (per curiam). The Dunavants allege that the defendant, Sirote & Permutt, P.C. (Sirote), unlawfully published two notices of foreclosure sale for the Dunavants' property after a state court enjoined the foreclosure action. Id. On appeal, the Dunavants first argue that the district court incorrectly ...

In LNB-017-13, LLC v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., 14-cv-24800-UU, 2015 WL 1546150 (S.D. Fla. April 7, 2015), Judge Ursula Ungaro revisited the familiar topic of the statute of limitations for mortgage foreclosure and previously dismissed foreclosure actions. In two prior opinions on the subject, Judge Ungaro dismissed efforts to quiet title to mortgages where the borrowers had alleged the expiration of the statute of limitations as grounds for removing valid mortgage liens from title. See Lopez v. HSBC Bank, N.A., 1:14-cv-20798-UU, 2014 WL 3361755, at 1 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 28, 2014); Torres ...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held in Reinagel v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., No. 12-50569, 2013 WL 3480207 (5th Cir. July 11, 2013), that facially valid assignments can only be challenged for want of authority by the defrauded assignor. In Reinagel, the plaintiffs/borrowers alleged that the "robo-signed" assignments of their note and deed of trust were invalid and prohibited the defendant's foreclosure. First, the Fifth Circuit found the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the validity of the assignments of the note and deed of trust to Deutsche ...

This past Friday, Governor Scott signed the mortgage foreclosure bill, HB 87, which purports to expedite the backlog of Florida foreclosure actions. According to the bill analysis, Florida foreclosure actions average 853 days, more than double the national average of 414. Nonetheless, as a tradeoff, the bill introduces more onerous pleading requirements on foreclosure plaintiffs and reduces the statute of limitations for deficiency judgments. Note that the entirety of the bill applies immediately and retroactively, except for the newly introduced pleading requirements in ...
Posted in: Florida, Foreclosure

In You et al. v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. et al., No.S13Q0040(Ga. May 20, 2013), the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the holder of a security deed seeking to exercise a power of sale is not required to also hold the underlying promissory note. Further, the Court held that a party exercising its right to foreclose as a holder of the security deed does not need to identify the holder of the note in the statutorily-mandated notice to debtor. The borrowers in this case primarily argued that JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. did not have the right to exercise power of sale because it was not the holder of ...

In early 2010, the Florida Supreme Court amended Rule 1.110(b) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure to require that all residential foreclosure complaints be verified. The Rule requires a simple recitation:

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing, and the facts alleged therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110. Despite this straightforward language, foreclosure defendants regularly rely on this rule to seek dismissal of a foreclosure action on a variety of theories. Nonetheless,Florida Appellate ...

In Topchian v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Case No. 12-0910-CV-W-ODS, 2013 WL 1628525 (W.D. Mo. April 16, 2013), the Western District Court of Missouri granted Defendant, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.'s ("Defendant") motion to dismiss pro se Plaintiff, Samvel Tochian's ("Plaintiff"), Amended Complaint for the alleged failure to provide adequate opportunity to the federal Home Affordable Modification Program ("HAMP") and related claims. See generallyid. The District Court, citing various prior court holdings, held that there is not private right of action for loan ...

In Wells Fargo Bank v. Bohatka, et al., 38 Fla. L. Weekly D885a (Fla. 1st DCA April 22, 2013), the Florida First DCA reversed dismissal with prejudice of a residential foreclosure complaint. While the appellate court agreed that dismissal of the complaint was proper, it held that dismissal with prejudice was not. The trial court erred by going beyond the four corners of the complaint on the borrowers' motion to dismiss. In its foreclosure complaint, Wells Fargo alleged that it was the owner and holder of the subject promissory note and mortgage by virtue of an equitable transfer which ...

The Florida Fourth DCA opinion in Shahar v. Green Tree Servicing, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D563d (Fla. 4th DCA March 6, 2013) demonstrates the dangers of inadequately addressing each and every affirmative defense raised by a foreclosure defendant. In Shahar, the appellate court reversed the trial court's entry of summary judgment where the lender did not factually or legally refute the defendants' unclean hands defense. The defendants' Verified Amended Answer, Affirmative Defenses and Counterclaim included allegations that the lender had engaged in a variety of inequitable and ...

In Prevratil v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co., 38 Fla. L. Weekly D569 (Fla. 2d DCA March 8, 2013), the Florida Second District Court of Appeal continue the trend of Florida Appellate Court reversals of over-zealous trial court judges reading more into the requirement in Rule 1.110(b) that foreclosure complaints be verified. Previously, Florida's appellate courts have held that the verification of a foreclosure complaint need not comply with Fla. Stat. 92.525 (requiring attestation that facts "true" without qualification as to the signors knowledge and belief), see Trucap ...

A recent decision from the Southern District of Florida concerning new provisions in the Truth in Lending Act ("TILA") added by Dodd-Frank has the potential to shake up the already turbulent case law concerning Section 1641(f)(2) TILA. Section 1641(f)(2) prohibits a loan servicer from failing to disclose the address and telephone number of the owner or master servicer of a mortgage to the borrower upon request. Foreclosure defense counsel has seized upon the statute as a means to gain leverage in foreclosure actions by sending requests for information to loan servicers and quickly ...

As Burr & Forman has offices located in five southeastern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee), our attorneys have been actively involved in various forms of litigation involving Chinese drywall for the last several years. While standard Chinese drywall lawsuits have involved claims related to construction and products liability, a recent case handled by our financial services litigation attorneys involved the interplay between Chinese drywall and mortgage servicing. In Buckentin v. SunTrust Mortgage Corporation, No. 2:11-cv-00532-RDP, 2013 WL ...

Oratai Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services of Nebraska

United States Court of Appeals

First Circuit

February 15, 2013

Relevant Facts: In April 2006, Culhane refinanced a mortgage on her single family home and delivered a promissory note to Preferred Financial Group, Inc. d/b/a Preferred Mortgage Services (the "Lender" or "Preferred"). Culhane simultaneously executed a mortgage in favor of MERS as nominee for Preferred and Preferred's successors and assigns. After making the loan, Preferred transferred Culhane's note to Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas ("Deutsche" ...

In Pennell v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 12-60595 (5th Cir. 2013), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had the occasion to address what constitutes a negligent misrepresentation under Mississippi law when a borrower and bank are negotiating a loan modification in an attempt to avoid foreclosure. The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the defendant mortgage servicing company after their home had been sold at a non-judicial foreclosure sale. The plaintiffs asserted a variety of claims, including, inter alia, wrongful foreclosure, slander of title, intentional and negligent ...

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