Federal National Mortgage Ass'n v. Gregory

426 F. Supp. 282
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJanuary 10, 1977
DocketNo. 74-C-254
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 426 F. Supp. 282 (Federal National Mortgage Ass'n v. Gregory) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federal National Mortgage Ass'n v. Gregory, 426 F. Supp. 282 (E.D. Wis. 1977).

Opinion

DECISION and ORDER

MYRON L. GORDON, District Judge.

The plaintiff in the above action has moved for summary judgment, pursuant to Rule 56, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The third party defendants Federal Housing Administration, Lawrence S. Katz, and John Doe have moved to dismiss the third party plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for failure to state a claim against, them on which relief can be granted. I believe that both of these motions should be granted.

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Based on the record before me, I find that there is no dispute as to the following material facts: On or about February 5, 1970, the defendant Elizabeth Simmons Gregory (then Elizabeth Simmons) executed a promissory note in the amount of $12,700 at 8V2% annual interest to A. L. Grootemaat & Sons, Inc., one of the third party defendants. The note obligated Mrs. Gregory to make monthly payments in the amount of $102.36 beginning on March 1, 1970, and continuing until the principal and interest on the note was paid.

As security for the note, Mrs. Gregory also executed a purchase money mortgage in the same amount and with the same monthly payments as the note relative to the real estate located at 1037 Grand Avenue, Racine, Wisconsin. The note provided among other things that in the event of a default in payment of principal or interest, the mortgagee or its assignees could declare all sums then owing immediately due and payable and sell the mortgaged premises at a public auction.

On March 9, 1970, in consideration for “one dollar and other good and valuable considerations [sic],” A. L. Grootemaat & Sons, Inc. assigned the note and mortgage to the plaintiff. The assignment was an “arms length transaction between unrelated and non-connected corporate entities.” The plaintiff-assignee would appear to have taken the note and mortgage in good faith and without notice of any defenses.

Mrs. Gregory has made no payments on the note since July 12, 1973, and the entire balance on the note has therefore been declared due and payable.

[284]*284The plaintiffs motion for summary judgment is based on its contentions that it is a holder in due course of the note accompanying the mortgage, that the defendants have raised no defense to which it is subject in such a capacity, and that judgment should therefore be entered in its favor.

In response, the defendants point out that the pleadings present a disputed issue of fraud allegedly perpetrated against Mrs. Gregory at the time she signed the note and mortgage. The third party complaint asserts that the third party defendants induced Mrs. Gregory to sign those instruments by fraudulently representing to her that all repairs had been completed or that sufficient funds had been escrowed to complete the repairs on the premises she was purchasing. The third party plaintiffs further allege that the third party defendants fraudulently induced Mrs. Gregory’s minor daughter to sign an FHA certificate stating that her mother found the requisite repairs satisfactorily completed. In the Gregorys’ view, allegations of fraud, which include the assignor, place an affirmative duty on the plaintiff-assignee to make inquiries about the original transaction before it can satisfy the good faith and lack of notice requirements for a holder in due course.

Wis.Stat. 403.302(1) provides:

“403.302 Holder in due course. (1) A holder in due course is a holder who takes the instrument:
“(a) For value; and
“(b) In good faith; and
“(c) Without notice that it is overdue or has been dishonored or of any defense against or claim to it on the part of any person.”

Wis.Stat. 403.307 provides:

“403.307 Burden of establishing signatures, defenses and due course. (1) Unless specifically denied in the manner provided in s. 891.25 each signature on an instrument is admitted. When the effectiveness of a signature is put in issue:
“(a) The burden of establishing it is on the party claiming under the signature; but
“(b) The signature is presumed to be genuine or authorized except where the action is to enforce the obligation of a purported signer who has died or become incompetent before proof is required.
“(2) When signatures are admitted or established, production of the instrument entitles a holder to recover on it unless the defendant establishes a defense.
“(3) After it is shown that a defense exists a person claiming the rights of a holder in due course has the burden of establishing that he or some person under whom he claims is in all respects a holder in due course.”

The Gregorys cite Union State Bank v. Savord, 186 Wis. 365, 202 N.W. 688 (1925), Hodge v. Smith, 130 Wis. 326, 110 N.W. 192 (1907), and Mortgage Associates, Inc. v. Siverhus, 63 Wis.2d 650, 218 N.W.2d 266 (1974), in support of their position that the plaintiff must inquire about the original transaction when that transaction was allegedly induced through fraud. I believe that Union State Bank and Hodge simply state the rule of law codified most recently in Uniform Commercial Code, Wis.Stats. 403.-307(2) and (3). Although the holder in Mortgage Associates did make certain inquiries, that case did not decide that such inquiry is required of every holder of an instrument seeking holder in due course status.

The genuineness of Mrs. Gregory’s signatures on the note and mortgage are not in issue; therefore the plaintiff need not make any showing under Wis.Stat. 403.-307(1). However, as noted above, Mrs. Gregory has raised the defense of fraud in the inducement. The plaintiff now has the burden of showing that it is a holder in due course. Wis.Stat. 403.307(3). In my view, the plaintiff has met that burden.

The assignment states that the note and mortgage were assigned to the plaintiff for “one dollar and other good and valuable considerations [sic].” The plaintiff has filed affidavits made by its senior loan representative and by the assignor’s vice president. The affidavits show that the documents were assigned to the plaintiff on March 9, [285]*2851970 “as the result of an arms length transaction between unrelated and non-connected corporate entities” and that the plaintiff took them in good faith and without notice of any defense by any person. The defendants do not claim that the affiants are incompetent to testify in court to these facts.

The Gregorys assert that the FHA certificate allegedly signed by Mrs.

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Related

FEDERAL NAT. MORTG. ASS'N v. Gregory
426 F. Supp. 282 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1977)

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Bluebook (online)
426 F. Supp. 282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federal-national-mortgage-assn-v-gregory-wied-1977.