The District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District, recently ruled that a specific denial that a mortgagee complied with HUD’s pre-foreclosure regulations that were incorporated into the mortgage was a denial of a condition precedent to foreclosure that shifted the burden to the mortgagee to prove compliance.
Posts published in “Foreclosure”
The District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, recently rejected a borrower’s objection to a foreclosure sale under the theory the mortgagee failed to provide him with an “estoppel letter,” which would have allowed him to exercise his right of redemption. A copy of the opinion is available at: Link to Opinion. A foreclosure judgement was entered and the property was sold via public sale. Ten days later, the borrower objected to the sale of the property. The objection was denied and a certificate of title was issued to the mortgagee. The borrower appealed, arguing that the trial court…
The Third District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida recently affirmed a final judgment awarding attorney’s fees to the borrowers in a mortgage foreclosure action, even though the borrowers failed to raise any request for attorney’s fees in their answer and affirmative defenses to the foreclosure complaint. In so ruling, the Court held that the mortgagee was on notice that the borrowers were seeking to recover their attorney’s fees and failed to timely object to the borrowers’ failure to plead entitlement. A copy of the opinion is available at: Link to Opinion. The mortgagee filed a mortgage foreclosure…
The District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida, Fourth District, recently reversed a trial court’s ruling in favor of mortgage loan borrowers based on the mortgagee’s failure to satisfy a condition precedent in paragraph 22 of the mortgage in accepting partial payments after default, holding that the mortgagee substantially complied with the requirements of the mortgage. In so ruling, the Court held that the mortgagee was not obligated to send new acceleration notices after each partial payment was received, as the borrowers never cured the default by paying the total amount needed to cure the default and reinstate…
The District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, recently reversed an order denying a claim for a post-foreclosure sale deficiency judgment, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by excluding from evidence an expert’s testimony and report as to fair market value because the report was dated six days after the foreclosure sale. A copy of the opinion is available at: Link to Opinion. A final judgment of foreclosure in the amount of $2.4 million was entered against the borrower company and its principal. A third party purchased the property at a foreclosure sale for $100. The third…
The Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, recently held that a mortgagee’s affidavits detailing the due and diligent inquiry it undertook to attempt to personally serve a borrower were sufficient to allow service by publication in a mortgage foreclosure action.
The District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, recently confirmed that a substituted plaintiff would have to demonstrate its standing to enforce a note and mortgage at the time of trial, and the original plaintiff’s standing at the time the foreclosure complaint was filed. In so ruling, the Court rejected the argument a substituted mortgagee must also prove its standing at the time of a court-ordered substitution. A copy of the opinion is available at: Link to Opinion. A mortgagee filed a foreclosure action asserting two counts: an action to reestablish the note which was allegedly lost or destroyed,…
The Supreme Court of Florida today issued its long-awaited ruling in Bartram v. U.S. Bank, involving when Florida’s five-year mortgage foreclosure statute of limitations is triggered. The Court held that: “[W]ith each subsequent default, the statute of limitations runs from the date of each new default providing the mortgagee the right, but not the obligation, to accelerate all sums then due under the note and mortgage.” A mortgagee is “not precluded by the statute of limitations from filing a subsequent foreclosure action based on payment defaults occurring subsequent to the dismissal of the first foreclosure action, as long as the…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that the trustee of a California deed of trust securing a real estate loan was not a “debt collector” under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, because the trustee was not attempting to collect money from the borrower. In so ruling, the Court held that “actions taken to facilitate a non-judicial foreclosure, such as sending the notice of default and notice of sale, are not attempts to collect ‘debt’ as that term is defined by the FDCPA.” The Court also vacated the dismissal of the borrower’s federal Truth…
The District Court of Appeal for the First District, State of Florida recently ordered the dismissal of a foreclosure action because it held that the trial court's jurisdiction expired prior to the entry of the judgment of foreclosure in the case.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently confirmed that a law firm and its employees, who pursued foreclosure on behalf of creditors, were acting as “debt collectors” under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when they pursued foreclosure proceedings against a borrower. In so ruling, the Court also confirmed that a servicer that does not also own the mortgage loan does not have a duty to provide notice of the sale and assignment of a loan to itself under the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) merely because it accepts the assignment of the deed…
The District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida, Second District, recently reversed a final judgment of foreclosure in favor of the trustee of a mortgage-backed securities trust, holding that the mortgagee failed to prove that it had standing when the complaint was filed because there was no evidence that the loan was included in the trust. A copy of the opinion in Powers v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is available at: Link to Opinion. A mortgagee sued to foreclose a mortgage as trustee under a pooling and servicing agreement, alleging that it was the holder of the note, a…