Dailey v. Leshin

792 So. 2d 527, 2001 WL 686770
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 20, 2001
Docket4D00-5
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 792 So. 2d 527 (Dailey v. Leshin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dailey v. Leshin, 792 So. 2d 527, 2001 WL 686770 (Fla. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

792 So.2d 527 (2001)

Nancy Kay DAILEY and Thomas A. Warmus, Appellants,
v.
Randall L. LESHIN and Randall L. Leshin, P.A., a Florida professional services corporation, and Arthur M. Walker, Trustee of the Arthur M. Walker Trust, Appellees.

No. 4D00-5.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

June 20, 2001.
Rehearing Denied September 17, 2001.

*528 Nancy Kay Dailey and Thomas A. Warmus, Lighthouse Point, pro se.

Richard J. Potash of Richard J. Potash, P.A., Plantation, for appellee Arthur M. Walker, Trustee of the Arthur M. Walker Trust.

Randall L. Leshin of Randall L. Leshin, P.A., Pompano Beach, pro se.

WARNER, C.J.

Appellants challenge a final summary judgment rendered against them on their counterclaims raising Truth-in-Lending Act ("TILA") violations as a defense to a mortgage foreclosure. The trial court granted summary judgment because appellants' *529 sale of the property rendered their TILA claims moot. While we agree that the claim for damages under TILA's section 1635 was moot, the court failed to address the other statutory claims raised. We therefore reverse the summary judgment as to those claims.

Appellant, Nancy Kay Dailey, experienced financial trouble and employed attorney Randall L. Leshin to represent her in various matters. Appellant was looking for a loan, which was to be secured with a mortgage on her homestead, and Leshin put her in touch with appellee, the Arthur M. Walker Trust ("the Trust"). Although the rates were high, appellant was pressed for time, and she, along with her husband (Thomas A. Warmus), accepted the mortgage terms.[1] Leshin acted as the closing agent. In April of 1998, appellants (Dailey and Warmus) executed a promissory note and mortgage for $100,000, together with a future advance for $300,000. A note for the $300,000 was executed at the end of May, 1998. The rate of interest on both notes was 12% but provided for the highest rate allowed by Florida law in the case of default. Appellants were never given the required TILA notice of their right to rescind the transaction. After receiving the $300,000, Leshin refused to deliver the money to appellants, claiming that they owed him attorney's fees for his earlier work. Appellants complained strenuously and, as part of this dispute, failed to pay the mortgage payments because they believed that Leshin and the Trust were conspiring together.

The Trust subsequently filed an action to foreclose on the mortgage for nonpayment. Appellants filed an answer, affirmative defenses, counterclaim, and third party complaint against Leshin. The counterclaim contained tort claims and alleged that the Trust was liable for Leshin's tortious acts because Leshin acted as the Trust's closing agent. In its prayer for relief, the counterclaim sought recision and cancellation of the $300,000 note due to fraudulent inducement and negligent nondisclosures. However, no TILA claim was alleged.

The Trust moved to dismiss the counterclaim, alleging that Leshin was not acting within the scope of its undertaking. During the pendency of the proceedings, appellant contracted to sell the subject property in March of 1999 with a closing date of April 30, 1999. Because of a cloud on the title from the Trust's foreclosure action, the buyer and appellant agreed to extend the contract for ninety days from May 20, 1999. There is no indication in the record that the contract executed in March of 1999 actually closed.

On May 3, 1999, appellants served a motion to amend their answer and counterclaim to allege TILA violations, violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA"), the Mortgage Brokers Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"). As part of the pleadings, appellants filed a Notice of Recission and Demand for Compliance pursuant to TILA. The court granted the motion, and appellants filed the amended answer and counterclaim.

The Trust moved for summary judgment on the counterclaim and in an amended motion asserted that appellants' right of recission under TILA had expired because they contracted to sell the property prior to service of the Notice of Recission. Appellants responded that their prayer for recission in the original counterclaim provided sufficient notice so that the claim should relate back to the original *530 filing date. In addition, they claimed that there had been no sale, nor was their contract for sale "irrevocable." Even if they could not assert a claim for recission, they could still assert claims for damages under TILA. Nevertheless, the court granted summary judgment. It also determined that all of appellants' remaining motions were moot.

The Trust then moved for summary judgment on the foreclosure complaint with an attached affidavit of amounts due under the two respective notes at the default interest rate of 18%. Appellants responded with a motion claiming that these interest charges were a new TILA violation under section 1639. The trial court never ruled on appellants' motion.

Instead, the Trust voluntarily dismissed its foreclosure action because the notes were paid off as part of appellants' eventual sale of the property in December, 1999. Appellants then appealed the summary judgment of the counterclaim, and the motions related thereto.

The first issue we must address is whether appellants' contract for sale in March of 1999 terminated their right of recission under TILA section 1635(f) prior to their Notice of Recission on April 30, 1999. Section 1635 provides that:

(a) Disclosure of obligor's right to rescind
Except as otherwise provided in this section, in the case of any consumer credit transaction ... in which a security interest ... is or will be retained or acquired in any property which is used as the principal dwelling of the person to whom credit is extended, the obligor shall have the right to rescind the transaction until midnight of the third business day following the consummation of the transaction or the delivery of the information and recission forms required under this section together with a statement containing the material disclosures required under this subchapter, whichever is later, by notifying the creditor, in accordance with regulations of the Board, of his intention to do so. The creditor shall clearly and conspicuously disclose, in accordance with the regulations of the Board, to any obligor in a transaction subject to this section the rights of the obligor under this section. The creditor shall also provide ... appropriate forms for the obligor to exercise his right to rescind any transaction subject to this section.
. . . .
(f) Time limit for exercise of right
An obligor's right of recission shall expire three years after the date of consummation of the transaction or upon the sale of the property, whichever occurs first, notwithstanding the fact that the information and forms required under this section or any other disclosures required under this part have not been delivered to the obligor....

15 U.S.C. § 1635 (1997)(emphasis added). The consumer thus has the absolute right to rescind up to three days following the closing of the transaction or delivery of the information containing the material disclosures required by TILA.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
792 So. 2d 527, 2001 WL 686770, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dailey-v-leshin-fladistctapp-2001.