Opinion ID: 3149118
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: The relevant facts are, for all intents and purposes, undisputed. On November 4, 1977, the decedent and Charlotte T. Albeitsam took title as joint tenants with rights of survivorship to residential property at 11 Sundance Street, Warwick, Rhode Island (the Property). Following Albeitsam's death, the decedent entered into a reverse mortgage with Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp. The mortgage instrument provided in pertinent part - 3 - that the full amount of the debt would become due and payable upon the death of the borrower.1 On September 25, 2009, Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp. assigned the mortgage to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) as a nominee of Financial Freedom Acquisition.2 The decedent died intestate on December 8, 2009. Her son and daughter applied for letters of administration and, pursuant to statute, the estate was duly advertised and notice was given to creditors. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-11-5.1. Neither Financial Freedom nor MERS filed a claim in the probate proceedings. See id. § 33-11-5. The estate was duly administered and closed, and the Warwick Probate Court granted the decedent's interest in the Property to the plaintiffs. In late 2010, the plaintiffs received a notice of foreclosure. That notice was published in accordance with statute. See id. § 34-27-4. Foreclosure proceedings went forward, MERS reassigned the mortgage to Financial Freedom, and Financial 1 As an alternative to full payment, the borrower may elect to sell the property for the lesser of the mortgage balance or 95% of the property's appraised value. This alternative was never elected, so we do not discuss it further. 2 Another company bearing the Financial Freedom appellation, Financial Freedom Senior Servicing Corp., was one of the firms that from time to time serviced the mortgage. For ease in exposition, we do not hereafter distinguish among the companies that bear the Financial Freedom name, but instead refer to them collectively as Financial Freedom. - 4 - Freedom recorded the foreclosure deed granting the Property to it in November of 2011. Dismayed by this turn of events, the plaintiffs invoked diversity jurisdiction, see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), and repaired to the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Their suit sought to contest both the validity of the serial mortgage assignments and the foreclosure itself. During pretrial discovery, Brinah Court dropped out of the case. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a). After the close of discovery, Financial Freedom moved for summary judgment. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The district court, ruling ore tenus, granted summary judgment over Steven Summers' objection. This timely appeal followed.3