Bank of New York Mellon v. Bach, S.

159 A.3d 16, 2017 Pa. Super. 85, 2017 WL 1162460, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 207
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 29, 2017
DocketBank of New York Mellon v. Bach, S. No. 1556 EDA 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 159 A.3d 16 (Bank of New York Mellon v. Bach, S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bank of New York Mellon v. Bach, S., 159 A.3d 16, 2017 Pa. Super. 85, 2017 WL 1162460, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 207 (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION BY

DUBOW, J.:

Appellants, Steven E. Bach and Barbara A. Bach, appeal pro se from the June 28, 2016 Judgment entered in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas granting an in rem Judgment in mortgage foreclosure. After careful review, we affirm.

We summarize the relevant portion of the factual and procedural history as follows. On September 28, 2004, Appellants purchased a home located at 10 Roberts Road, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. To finance the purchase, Appellants obtained a loan from Financial Mortgage Corp. in the amount of $479,200.00. Appellants executed a note, secured by a mortgage on the property at 10 Roberts Road.

On December 1, 2008, Appellants defaulted on their obligations under the mortgage and the note by failing to make their required monthly payment. Appellants have not made a single payment in the more than eight years since they defaulted on their obligation. Nevertheless, they remained living in the residence at 10 Roberts Road.

On July 2, 2014, Appellee filed a Complaint in foreclosure against Appellants. In the Complaint, Appellee listed two prior assignments of the mortgage: (i) from the original Mortgagee, Financial Mortgage Corp., to First Horizon Home Loan Corp. (“First Horizon”); and (ii) from First Horizon to Appellee.

Appellants filed Preliminary Objections, which the trial court overruled. Appellants subsequently filed an Answer to the Complaint, denying “the validity of the assignments, the authority of the parties that executed the assignments and the standing of the parties to the assignments to exe *19 cute same.” Answer, filed 10/3/14, at 1 (unpaginated).

The trial court held a non-jury trial on February 1, 2016. The parties entered 15 joint stipulations into the record. Exhibit J-l. Appellee introduced, inter alia, the original note, signed by Appellants and properly endorsed in blank. See Exhibit P-10; Trial Court Opinion, filed 7/25/16, at 10 (“[t]he original note in this case is endorsed in blank and in [Appellee’s] possession at trial.”).

At trial, Appellants did not challenge the validity of the mortgage or their default in payment. Instead, Appellants attempted to challenge the assignment of the mortgage to Appellee and Appellee’s standing to bring the foreclosure action. In addition, Appellants alleged, for the first time, that there existed an additional “assignment,” conducted prior to the assignment from First Horizon to Appellee, and that this assignment rendered the assignment to Appellee invalid.

The court entered a verdict in favor of Appellee. 1 Appellants filed a timely Motion for Posh-Trial Relief arguing, for the first time, that Appellee failed to include all prior assignments in the Complaint, and that this omission constituted a failure to comply with Pa.R.C.P. No. 1147. In an Order filed May 4, 2016, the trial court denied the Motion. On June 28, 2016, the trial court entered an in rem Judgment in favor of Appellee.

Appellants timely appealed. Both Appellants and the trial court complied with P&R.A.P. 1925.

Appellants raise two issues, each broken down into three sub arguments. See Appellants’ Brief at 7-8. For ease of disposition, we summarize Appellants’ arguments as follows. Appellants aver that, prior to the assignment from First Horizon to Ap-pellee, an “assignment” had been made from First Horizon to First Horizon Asset Securities, Inc. (“Prior Transaction”). All parties conceded that Appellee did not list this Prior Transaction in the Complaint. Appellants argue that this Prior Transaction rendered the assignment to Appellee invalid, and divested Appellee of standing to bring a complaint in foreclosure. Id. at 19-26. Appellants also aver that the failure to include the Prior Transaction in the Complaint constitutes a failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Id. at 12-15.

This Court’s scope and standard of review well-settled:

Our appellate role in cases arising from non-jury trial verdicts is to determine whether the findings of the trial court are supported by competent evidence and whether the trial court committed error in any application of the law. The findings of fact of the trial judge must be given the same weight and effect on appeal as the verdict of a jury. We consider the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict winner. We will reverse the trial court only if its findings of fact are not supported by competent evidence in the record or if its findings are premised on an error of law. However, where the issue concerns a question of law, our scope of review is plenary.
The trial court’s conclusions of law on appeal originating from a non-jury trial are not binding on an appellate court because it is the appellate court’s duty to determine if the trial court correctly applied the law to the facts of the case.

Stephan v. Waldron Elec. Heating and Cooling LLC, 100 A.3d 660, 664-65 (Pa. *20 Super. 2014) (citation and quotation omitted).

Appellee’s Standing to Bring a Complaint in Foreclosure

First, Appellants, aver that Appel-lee lacks standing to enforce the terms of the' mortgage and note, 2 Appellants’ arguments lack merit because Appellee held the original note endorsed in blank.

This Court has repeatedly made it clear that “a note secured by a mortgage is a negotiable instrument, as that term is defined by the [Pennsylvania Uniform Commercial Code (“PUCC”).]” Gerber v. Piergrossi, 142 A.3d 854, 862 (Pa. Super. 2016). Because a borrower faces no risk of double liability under the PUCC, “the chain of possession by which a party comes to hold [a] note is immaterial to its enforceability by the party.” Id. (citation and quotation omitted). Where a note is endorsed in blank, meaning it does not specify that it is payable only to an identified person, the instrument is “payable to bearer and may be negotiated by transfer of possession alone until specially indorsed.” JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Murray, 63 A.3d 1258, 1266 (Pa. Super. 2013) (citation and quotation omitted).'

In the instant case, as noted above, Ap-pellee presented to the trial court and submitted into evidence the original note, endorsed in blank. Appellants do not challenge the authenticity of the note. Thus, the trial court correctly concluded that Appellee had standing to enforce the note through the instant foreclosure action.

Alleged Defect in the Complaint

We turn next to Appellants’ averment that they are entitled to relief because Appellee failed to include the Pri- or Transaction in the Complaint, in contravention of Pa.R,C.P. 1147(a). As discussed, supra,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
159 A.3d 16, 2017 Pa. Super. 85, 2017 WL 1162460, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bank-of-new-york-mellon-v-bach-s-pasuperct-2017.