Source: http://www.certifiedforensicloanauditors.com/articles/06.17/recent-case-decision-summaries.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 17:31:34+00:00

Document:
Foreclosure/Standing: final judgment of foreclosure reversed for failure to prove standing at the inception of lawsuit – Verizzo v The Bank of NY Mellon, Case No. 2D15-2508 (Fla. 2d DCA June 21, 2017).
3d DCA June 21, 2017) (involuntary dismissal reversed).
Foreclosure: "[w]ithout evidence showing that a modified credit agreement exists [between a foreclosing bank and a borrower, a] modified mortgage is insufficient to establish the increased amount [the foreclosing bank] claims it is owed" – Chuchian v. Situs Investments, LLC, Case No. 5D15-2125 (Fla. 5th DCA June 2, 2017) (reversed and remanded).
Foreclosure/Attorneys&apos; Fees: mortgage foreclosure plaintiffs seeking attorney&apos;s fees must support their claim with competent, substantial evidence of the number of hours worked and evidence that those hours and hourly rate are reasonable – Henderson v. Onewest Bank FSB, No. 1D16-2670 (Fla. 1st DCA April 18, 2017) (reversed and remanded in part).
Foreclosure/Standing: plaintiff failed to provide evidence that indorsee had intent to transfer any interest to plaintiff when note was transferred into trust – Shaffer v. Deutsche Bank National Trust, as Indenture Trustee for American Home Mortgage Investment Trust 2006-1, Mortgage Backed Notes, Series 2006-1, No. 2D14-4205 (Fla. 2d DCA April 19, 2017) (reversed and remanded).
Foreclosure/Lack of Prosecution: "close enough" is not "good enough" where plaintiff&apos;s good cause showing was filed 4 days before hearing, as opposed to minimum 5 day requirement under rule 1.420(e) – Held v. U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee for C-BASS 2007-CB7 Trust, Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2006-CB7, et al., No. 4D15-499 (Fla. 4th DCA April 19, 2017) (reversed and remanded).
Foreclosure/Standing: plaintiff, as nonholder in possession, failed to prove series of transactions through which it acquired note starting with first holder of note – Powell v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. as Trustee for Structured Asset Mortgage Investments II, Inc., GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Trust 2006-AR2, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-AR2, No. 4D15-3013 (Fla. 4th DCA April 19, 2017) (reversed and remanded).
Foreclosure/Appeal: order granting summary judgment for borrowers and dismissing case without prejudice to lender&apos;s filing a new foreclosure action was final appealable order – Bank of New York Mellon v. Swain, No. 5D16-139 (Fla. 5th DCA April 21, 2017) (dismissed).
Foreclosure/Vacating Judgment: estate failed to either allege or prove any basis under Rule 1.540 to vacate final judgment of foreclosure to which it had consented - The Bank of N.Y. Mellon v. Estate of Peterson, No. 2D16-2405 (Fla. 2d DCA Jan. 18, 2017) (reversing and remanding for reinstatement of final judgment).
Deficiency/Subject Matter Jurisdiction: approving the 3d DCA&apos;s opinion that an assignee of a foreclosure judgment can maintain a separate action for deficiency under Florida Statutes, Section 702.06, even when foreclosure court retains jurisdiction to adjudicate deficiency in foreclosure action – Dyck-O&apos;Neal, Inc. v Konstantino, Case No. 2D15-4064 (Fla. 2d DCA Dec. 9, 2016) (reversed and remanded; certifying conflict with Higgins v. Dyck-O’Neal, Inc., 41 Fla. L. Weekly D1376 (Fla. 1st DCA June 9, 2016), certified)).
Default: Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.500 precludes entry of default when defendant has served response to complaint, even if response was not filed within the time granted by the trial court – Sansbury v Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Case No. 5D15-1956 (Fla. 5th DCA Dec. 9, 2016) (reversed and remanded).
Foreclosure/Standing: attaching a copy of the note to the complaint and presenting the original note in the same condition at trial creates an inference that the plaintiff was in actual possession of the note at the time the complaint was filed, which, absent evidence to the contrary, is sufficient to establish standing – The Bank of NY Mellon v Milford, et al., Case No. 4D15-4813 (Fla. 4th DCA Dec. 7, 2016).
Foreclosure/Intervenor: intervenor cannot inject an unpled, waived defense of a defaulted party for the court&apos;s adjudication – Ventures Trust 2013-I-H-R, as successor in interest to JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association. v. Asset Acquisitions and Holdings Trust, No. 2D15-1923 (Fla. 2d DCA October 28, 2016) (reversed and remanded).
Foreclosure/Default Notice/Summary Judgment Evidence: defendants&apos; summary judgment and dismissal of complaint reversed where defendants&apos; affidavits were insufficient on their face to establish entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, where affidavits did not address whether plaintiff fulfilled the notice requirement by sending the notice via first class mail – JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. v. Ostrander, No. 2D15-3935 (Fla. 2d DCA October 28, 2016) (reversed and remanded).
Foreclosure/Standing: plaintiff failed to establish it had standing to foreclose, where only proof of standing was a screen shot of a computer-generated document referred to as a Loan Transfer History – Miller v. Bank of America, N.A., et al, No. 5D15-780 (Fla. 5th DCA October 28, 2016) (reversed and remanded).
Sanctions/Dismissal With Prejudice: trial court erred by dismissing foreclosure action with prejudice as sanction for plaintiff&apos;s failure to timely file certification of authority prior to mediation, as required by Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.720, where rule provides less severe and more appropriate sanctions – HR Block Bank v. Perry, Case No. 2D15-1351, 1624 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2016).
Ejectment: plaintiff proved prima facia case to eject defendant from real property because plaintiff had possession of original deed from grantor, and trial court erred by dismissing claim for plaintiff&apos;s failure to present evidence that grantor was competent at time she signed deed because burden to prove defense fell on defendant – Marcinkewicz v. Quattrocchi, Case No. 3D15-1068 (Fla. 3d DCA Sept. 7, 2016) (affirmed in par, reversed in part and remanded).
Post-Judgment Interest: 2011 amendment to section 55.03, Fla. Stat., which changed judgment interest rate from a fixed rate established on date of judgment to a variable rate that adjusts January of each year, does not apply to judgments entered prior to effective date of amendment – Townsend v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Case No. SC15-722 (Fla. June 9, 2016) (reversed and remanded).
Deficiency Judgment: if creditor requests a deficiency judgment in a foreclosure action and court reserves jurisdiction to grant or deny a deficiency, creditor is bared from filing separate action at law to recover on promissory note – Higgins v. Dyck-O&apos;Neal, Inc., Case No. 1D15-4784 (Fla. 1st DCA June 9, 2016) (reversed).
Loan Modification: borrower that signed and returned loan modification agreement to lender by mail, and made first three payments due thereunder, which were accepted by lender, was sufficient to support finding of an enforceable agreement, despite evidence that lender had no record of having received signed loan modification – Nowlin v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC, Case No. 2D15-331 (2d DCA June 10, 2016) (reversed and remanded).
Attorneys&apos; Fees: defendant that denied signing note and mortgage could not recover attorneys&apos; fees upon dismissal of action by lender because only parties could claim rights under the loan documents – Florida Community Bank, N.A., etc. v Red Road Residential, LLC, etc., Case No. 3D15-2039 (Fla. 3d DCA June 8, 2016) (reversed).
Standing: substituted plaintiff must prove standing to foreclose by evidence that original plaintiff had standing – Fallon Rahima Jallali v. Christiana Trust, Case No. 4D14-2369 (Fla. 4th DCA June 8, 2016)(reversed and remanded).
Standing: loan servicer did not prove standing to foreclose mortgage due to lack of evidence that note secured by mortgage was an asset of prior entity at time it merged into servicer – Vogel v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Case No. 4D15-132 (Fla. 4th DCA June 8, 2016).
Standing: if original note presented into evidence is in same condition as copy attached to complaint, court may infer plaintiff had actual possession of original at time of filing and has standing to maintain lawsuit absent evidence to contrary – Meilleur v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Case No. 4D15-117 (June 8, 2016).
Homestead: Florida&apos;s homestead exemption (protection from creditors) applies to that portion of funds derived from sale of homestead property that (i) seller intends to reinvest in a new homestead within reasonable time, (ii) has not commingled with other funds, and (iii) have been held separate and apart and solely for purpose of acquiring new homestead – JBK Associates, Inc. etc. v. Sill Bros., Inc., et al., No. SC15-977 (Fla. April 28, 2016).
Foreclosure: lender not precluded from collecting on defaulted note because prior foreclosure action accelerating payment on default has been dismissed; also, pursuant to 95.281(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2013), mortgage lien terminates 5 years after date of maturity shown on face of mortgage – Balaguer v. Chase Home Financial, LLC, No. 3D14-2801 (Fla. 3d DCA April 27, 2016) (dismissal affirmed).
Dismissal: trial court has neither authority under rule 1.540 nor inherent authority to grant relief from a voluntary dismissal where fraud on the court is alleged but no affirmative relief has been granted to dismissing party – U.S. Bank National Association, etc. v. Gladys Rivera, et al., No. 3D15-1415 (Fla. 3d DCA April 27, 2016) (quashing orders).
Foreclosure: final judgment reversed and remanded for further proceedings because included interest, attorneys&apos; fees and other expenses unsupported by competent substantial evidence – Hovannesian v. Pennymac Corp., et al., No. 4D14-3088 (Fla. 4th DCA April 27, 2016).
Abandonment of Relief: trial court had inherent authority to declare post-judgment motion for fees and costs abandoned when motion not set for hearing for 18 months and trial court did not err in denying motion for rehearing – Grosso v. HSBC Bank USA, NA, No. 4D14-3971; Ramos v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., Trustee, No. 4D14-3981; Berenson v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., Case No. 4D14-3985 (Fla. 4th DCA April 27, 2016).
Standing: trial court could not take judicial notice of common known fact of affiliation between servicer and lender where no timely and sufficient request for judicial notice under section 90.203, Fla. Stat. – Reynolds v. Nationstar Loan Services, LLC, No. 4D14-4045 (Fla. 4th DCA April 27, 2016).
Foreclosure: trial court erred in entering judgment in favor of lender for past due amounts and foreclosure where lender failed to comply with notice requirements in mortgage; instead, case should have been dismissed – Miller v. The Bank of NY Mellon, et al., No. 4D15-36 (Fla. 4th DCA April 27, 2016).
Default/Amended Pleading: lender that added lost note count after it obtained a default against homeowners, but did not serve homeowners with amended complaint, not entitled to judgment on lost note and required reversal of foreclosure judgment – Kitchens v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, No. 4D15-617 (Fla. 4th DCA April 27, 2016).

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