The Fourth District Court of Appeal recently reversed the entry of final summary judgment in the bank’s favor because of procedural deficiencies.
Regions Bank had filed a foreclosure lawsuit against homeowners Michael and Elaine Seale. The homeowners had filed several defenses to the foreclosure lawsuit. The defenses included the allegation that the Bank lacked standing, that the Bank was not authorized to bring the action on behalf of the owner of the note, and that the bank failed to provide required default, acceleration, and opportunity to cure.
Nonetheless, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the bank, and the homeowner appealed.
By entering summary judgment in favor of the Bank the Fourth District Court of Appeal found that the trial court erred, because the Homeowners affirmative defenses were not factually refuted nor were they found to be legally insufficient.
In so ruling, the appellate court noted that a wealth of case law makes it clear that in the mortgage foreclosure cases, summary judgment is precluded if affirmative defenses are not factually refuted or shown to be legally insufficient.
In this particular case, legally sufficient defenses were erroneously struck, because nothing in the record refuted the claims made by the Homeowners.
The case has been reversed and remanded because the Bank did not provide the required notice of default and acceleration.
This is another illustration of how the banks are often in a rush to get to judgment. If you are facing a foreclosure, you have options available to you. One of them is a defense to your case. If you are in doubt regarding your rights, don’t hesitate to contact us today to discuss further.