Court Opinion

ID: 9952645
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-20 15:01:43.845999+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:43:14.338818
License: Public Domain

Appellate Case: 23-2048     Document: 010111018948      Date Filed: 03/20/2024    Page: 1
                                                                                 FILED
                                                                     United States Court of Appeals
                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                        Tenth Circuit

                              FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT                         March 20, 2024
                          _________________________________
                                                                         Christopher M. Wolpert
                                                                             Clerk of Court
  MTGLQ INVESTORS, LP,

        Plaintiff - Appellee,

  v.                                                         No. 23-2048
                                                  (D.C. No. 1:17-CV-00487-KG-LF)
  MONICA WELLINGTON,                                          (D. N.M.)

        Defendant - Appellant.
                       _________________________________

                              ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
                          _________________________________

 Before HARTZ, PHILLIPS, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges.
                   _________________________________

       This is the fifth appeal Appellant Monica Wellington has filed in as many

 years in this foreclosure action. Because our prior decisions describe the relevant

 facts, we do not repeat the background in detail. See MTGLQ Invs., LP v. Wellington

 (Wellington I), 856 F. App’x 146 (10th Cir. 2021) (affirming judgment of foreclosure

 and approval of foreclosure sale); MTGLQ Invs., LP v. Wellington (Wellington II),

 No. 22-2070, 2022 WL 17660784 (10th Cir. Dec. 14, 2022) (affirming denial of

       *
         After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
 unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of
 this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore
 ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding
 precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral
 estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with
 Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
Appellate Case: 23-2048    Document: 010111018948        Date Filed: 03/20/2024    Page: 2

 motions to vacate approval of foreclosure sale and to recuse district judge); see also

 MTGLQ Invs., LP v. Wellington, 854 F. App’x 295 (10th Cir. 2021) (affirming award

 of attorneys’ fees); MTGLQ Invs., LP v. Wellington, No. 19-2162, 2019 WL 8331671

 (10th Cir. Nov. 25, 2019) (dismissing pre-judgment appeal as premature).

       Ms. Wellington obtained a mortgage to purchase a property in New Mexico in

 2007, then stopped making payments in 2011. Appellee MTGLQ Investors, LP

 (MTGLQ) filed this foreclosure action in 2017.1 After the district court entered a

 judgment of foreclosure in December 2019, Ms. Wellington appealed, arguing,

 among other issues, that MTGLQ lacked standing to foreclose. We affirmed, holding

 “MTGLQ had the right to foreclose the mortgage.” Wellington I, 856 F. App’x at

 162. Following remand, a special master held a foreclosure sale in May 2022, at

 which MTGLQ purchased the property. The district court approved the sale.

 Ms. Wellington then sought to vacate the sale and to disqualify the district court

 judge. The district court denied those motions, and we again affirmed. See

 Wellington II, 2022 WL 17660784, at *1, *3.

       On February 8, 2023, MTGLQ filed a motion for a writ of assistance in the

 district court on grounds Ms. Wellington and her brother had refused to vacate the

 property. The district court granted the writ, directing the United States Marshal to

 evict Ms. Wellington. Ms. Wellington moved to vacate the writ, and the district

       1
       MTGLQ filed the underlying action in state court, and Ms. Wellington
 removed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332 & 1441.
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 court denied her motion, on February 13, 2023. Ms. Wellington did not file a notice

 of appeal from the grant of the writ or the denial of her motion to vacate it.

       However, on March 22, 2023, Ms. Wellington filed the motion for relief from

 judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(5) and (6) that underlies

 this appeal. She attached a 1099-A tax form received from Rushmore Loan

 Management Services, LLC (“Rushmore”), which is “the company servicing the loan

 for MTGLQ.” See Wellington I, 856 F. App’x at 152. She argued the form shows

 that Rushmore, not MTGLQ, was in fact the lender and took ownership of the

 property, and that MTGLQ has disclaimed any interest in the property. She asked to

 have “the portion of the [district] Court’s judgment declaring MTGLQ having any

 rights to possession” vacated, R. vol. 6, at 171, and that MTGLQ’s “title deed . . . be

 cancelled,” id. at 172.

       The district court denied Ms. Wellington’s Rule 60(b) motion the day after it

 was filed, finding it frivolous, and describing it as “advanc[ing] her long-maintained

 argument that MTGLQ was not the owner of the mortgage.” Id. at 178. The district

 court observed that Ms. Wellington’s “theory that MTGLQ is not the proper

 mortgage owner . . . has been argued and adjudicated repeatedly by both this Court

 and the Tenth Circuit.” Id. at 178. It concluded that “Rushmore[’s] . . . tax

 documents and MTGLQ’s internal accounting practices do not bear on the validity of

 [the] Judgment of Foreclosure . . . Order Approving the Sale . . . or Writ of

 Assistance.” Id. The district court emphasized that notwithstanding

 Ms. Wellington’s “multiple attempts to undo the Judgment and foreclosure,” “Final

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 Judgment has been entered,” and that—other than proceedings related to the writ of

 assistance—“the case is closed.” Id. at 179.

       Ms. Wellington again appealed.2 Because she appeals from the denial of a

 Rule 60(b) motion, we address only the denial of that motion, not the district court’s

 underlying decisions. See Servants of Paraclete v. Does, 204 F.3d 1005, 1009 (10th

 Cir. 2000). Relief under Rule 60(b) is “extraordinary and may only be granted in

 exceptional circumstances.” Id. We review the district court’s denial of such relief

 for abuse of discretion. See id.

       We see no abuse of discretion here. Ms. Wellington argues the impact of the

 1099 form issued by Rushmore is “obvious.” Aplt. Opening Br. at 4.3 We disagree.

 Like the district court, we do not see how the post-foreclosure tax reporting alters

 either the validity of the district court’s judgment or our prior holding that MTGLQ

 had the right to foreclose. Ms. Wellington also emphasizes the “non-discharge of the

 debt claim,” arguing MTGLQ impermissibly maintains a debt claim against her even

 after the property was sold. See Aplt. Opening Br. at 4–5. The single tax form on

       2
          Ms. Wellington sought a stay of any further proceedings in the district court
 pending the outcome of this appeal, which this court denied. Thereafter, the district
 court entered an amended writ of assistance, which was then executed on June 28,
 2023. See Executed Amended Writ of Assistance, ECF No. 298, MTGLQ Invs., LP v.
 Wellington, No. 1:17-cv-00487-KG-LF (D.N.M. June 28, 2023). The district court
 filings subsequent to Ms. Wellington’s notice of appeal are not in the record on
 appeal, but we take judicial notice of them. See United States v. Leal, 921 F.3d 951,
 963 n.10 (10th Cir. 2019) (taking judicial notice of docket information from another
 court); Fed. R. Evid. 201(b)(2).
        3
          Because Ms. Wellington proceeds pro se, we “liberally construe” her filings,
 “but we will not act as [her] advocate.” James v. Wadas, 724 F.3d 1312, 1315
 (10th Cir. 2013).
                                            4
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 which she based her Rule 60(b) motion does not establish as much. Furthermore, her

 only argument for invalidating the judgment on this basis is the potential for inequity

 if she were to face collection on the mortgage even after the property has been sold.

 But she has not shown either that MTGLQ treats the debt as a continuing obligation

 or that it seeks to collect. The district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding

 the 1099-A form has no effect on the validity of the court’s judgment.4

       Ms. Wellington also now attacks the validity of the writ of assistance. Aplt.

 Opening Br. at 7–9. But this appeal is limited to the district court’s denial of her

 Rule 60(b) motion. See Servants of Paraclete, 204 F.3d at 1009. Ms. Wellington

 neither timely appealed from the writ, nor raised her present argument challenging it

 in her Rule 60(b) motion. We therefore do not further address her new argument on

 appeal. See GeoMetWatch Corp. v. Behunin, 38 F.4th 1183, 1206–07 (10th Cir.

 2022) (stating issues raised as a “fleeting contention” or “in a perfunctory and

       4
          Ms. Wellington also filed a Rule 28(j) letter on February 15, 2024, attaching
 a Tax Form 1098 for calendar year 2023, which she evidently received after this
 appeal was filed. She states this shows that a new company acquired the mortgage on
 October 31, 2023. This is yet another variation on her argument that MTGLQ is not
 the proper mortgage owner in this case.
         “We generally limit our review on appeal to the record that was before the
 district court,” and therefore will not consider newly presented facts or documents on
 appeal. See Regan-Touhy v. Walgreen Co., 526 F.3d 641, 648 (10th Cir. 2008). In
 any event, we do not see how the alleged transfer of the mortgage long after the
 foreclosure sale was completed and approved, and after the district court had entered
 final judgment, would change the validity of the district court’s actions.
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 underdeveloped manner” at the district court are not preserved for appeal (internal

 quotation marks omitted)).5

       In sum, we agree with the district court that Ms. Wellington’s argument for

 Rule 60(b) relief was duplicative of her previous arguments challenging MTGLQ’s

 right to foreclose, which both the district court and this court have already rejected.

 The speculative inferences she draws from post-foreclosure tax reporting do not alter

 the validity of the district court’s judgment. Accordingly, having reviewed the

 briefing on appeal, the relevant portions of the record, and applicable law, we see no

 abuse of discretion and affirm for substantially the same reasons stated by the district

 court. See R. vol. 6, at 178–79.

                                             Entered for the Court

                                             Gregory A. Phillips
                                             Circuit Judge

       5
          Ms. Wellington acknowledges her challenge to the writ of assistance is newly
 raised on appeal, but argues we should address it nevertheless, as a challenge to the
 district court’s jurisdiction. See Aplt. Opening Br. at 7 n.7. We do not see any
 colorable challenge to the district court’s subject matter jurisdiction—which
 Ms. Wellington herself invoked when she removed to federal court.
                                             6