Bank of New York Mellon v. Savanella

Connecticut Appellate Court·Decided September 1, 2026·No. AC49141·Published

Opinion

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THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, TRUSTEE v. PATRICIA L. SAVANELLA ET AL.

(AC 49141)

Alvord, Suarez and Seeley, Js.

Syllabus

The defendants, P and J, appealed from the trial court’s judgment denying their motion to open the entry of default against them for failure to plead and to set aside the judgment of foreclosure by sale for the plaintiff. They claimed, inter alia, that the court abused its discretion in denying their motion to open because the motion for default was served on J’s deceased attorney and it was never served on J. Held:

This court declined to review the defendants’ claim that the court abused its discretion in denying their motion to open, as the claim was deemed to be abandoned.

This court declined to review the defendants’ claim that the trial court abused its discretion in denying them equitable relief given their allegations regarding their illnesses and their belief that the loan servicer for the plaintiff had represented that there was a hardship forbearance in place, as the claim was inadequately briefed.

Submitted on briefs June 17—officially released September 1, 2026

Procedural History

Action to foreclose a mortgage on certain real property owned by the defendant James D. Savanella, and for other relief, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Litchfield, where Deutsche Bank National Trust Company as Trustee of the Indymac Residential Asset-Backed Trust, Series 2004-LH1, was cited in as an additional defendant; thereafter, the named defendant et al. were defaulted for failure to plead and the defendant Robert J. Partridge et al. were defaulted for failure to appear; subsequently, the action was withdrawn as to the defendant Todd R. Ouellette et al.; thereafter, the Department of Revenue Services et al. were cited in as additional party defendants; subsequently, the defendant Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Services, et al. were defaulted for failure to appear; thereafter, the court, Roraback, J., rendered a judgment of foreclosure by sale; subsequently, the court, Roraback, J., denied the motion of the named defendant et al. to open the judgment of default and to set aside the judgment of foreclosure by sale, from which the named defendant et al. appealed to this court. Affirmed.

John A. Farnsworth and Robert L. Rispoli filed a brief for the appellants (named defendant et al.).

Victoria L. Forcella filed a brief for the appellee (plaintiff ).

Opinion

ALVORD, J. In this foreclosure action, the defendants Patricia L. Savanella (Patricia) and James D. Savanella (James)1 appeal from the judgment of the trial court denying their motion to open the entry of default against them for failure to plead and to set aside the judgment of foreclosure by sale. On appeal, the defendants claim that the court abused its discretion in denying their motion to open because the motion for default was served on James’ deceased attorney and it was never served on James. The defendants also claim that the court abused its discretion in denying them equitable relief given their allegations regarding their illnesses and the representations by the loan servicer for the plaintiff, The Bank of New York Mellon, formerly known as The Bank of New York as Trustee for the Certificateholders of the CWABS, Inc., Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2005-AB4, that there was a hardship forbearance in place. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The following facts, as found in the record, and procedural history are relevant to our disposition of this 1 The following are also defendants in this foreclosure action: University Physicians; University of Connecticut Health Center—John Dempsey Hospital; Charlotte Hungerford Hospital; Satellite Agency Network Group, Inc.; Robert J. Partridge; Vincent P. Vizzo; Tidy Services, LLC; Deutsche Bank National Trust Company as Trustee of the Indymac Residential Asset-Backed Trust, Series 2004-LH1; United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Services; and the Department of Revenue Services. These defendants did not participate in the trial court proceedings relevant to this appeal and are not involved in this appeal. All references to the defendants hereinafter in this opinion refer to Patricia and James only.

appeal. The defendants have been married for more than forty years. On May 19, 2005, they executed a mortgage in favor of the plaintiff’s predecessor in interest, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as Nominee for Wilmington Finance, a Division of AIG Federal Savings Bank, with respect to their property located at 179 Wildcat Hill Road in Harwinton to secure a note in the amount of $333,000. In 2010, Patricia assigned her interest in the property to James via a quitclaim deed. In 2012, the mortgage was assigned to the plaintiff. The plaintiff commenced the present foreclosure action by service of process on March 26, 2019, and alleged in its complaint that the defendants had not made a payment on the note since September 1, 2018. Patricia filed an appearance form listing and signed by herself and James as self-represented parties on April 23, 2019. Shortly thereafter, on May 8, 2019, the Law Offices of Ellery E. Plotkin, LLC, entered appearances on behalf of both defendants. The appearance form filed by Attorney Plotkin on behalf of Patricia indicated that his appearance was in addition to her appearance already on file; the form filed on behalf of James contained no such indication.

On December 20, 2022, the plaintiff filed a motion for default for failure to plead against the defendants, which was granted on December 29, 2022. The certification page of the motion provided in relevant part that it was served on Patricia and on Attorney Plotkin. The plaintiff then filed a motion for a judgment of strict foreclosure on August 31, 2023. The certification page of the motion provided in relevant part that it was served on Patricia and James through Attorney Plotkin. The trial court rendered a judgment of foreclosure by sale on October 30, 2023, finding the debt to be $540,652.03 and the fair market value of the property to be $437,700, and ordered the sale to be held on February 24, 2024.

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Bank of New York Mellon v. Savanella, (Colo. Ct. App. 2026).

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