Court Opinion

ID: 9765454
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:03:12.552211+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:10.069561
License: Public Domain

DEL SOLE, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
The Sams Corporation, t/d/b/a Bishop Electric Company, confessed judgment against the Appellants, Nick and Emma Garin in May, 1984. Bishop Electric had performed electrical work for the Appellants’ business; payment was secured by a mortgage and a mortgage note. When the Appellant failed to pay, Bishop Electric took two actions: first, it instituted a foreclosure action on the mortgage and then proceeded to confess judgment on the mortgage note.
The Garins filed a Petition to Open and/or Strike the confessed judgment. The trial court issued a Rule on the Appellee, who then filed a timely answer. The Appellant’s Petition in paragraphs three and four states as follows:
3. At GD83-21249 the plaintiff had filed an action in mortgage foreclosure against the defendant.
4. Defendant has defended this action in mortgage foreclosure, with an Answer, Counterclaim and New Matter.
The Appellee admits both paragraphs in its answer to the Petition. Deposition testimony was also taken in which the Appellant Nick Garin testified that he had a defense to the foreclosure action.
*111While I agree with the Majority that the Appellants’ Petition fails to set forth the specific facts of their defense, I would find that the Appellants have introduced their defense into the record by referring to the foreclosure action docket number. The trial court found that the Appellants had raised a defense sufficient to issue a Rule, but did not examine the record at GD83-21249 to determine the merit of that defense. I would vacate the trial court Order and remand the case to the trial court to consider the defense raised by the Appellants in the record of the foreclosure action. After so doing, the trial court may properly decide whether the Appellants’ defense has merit sufficient to grant their Petition to Open.