FIRST FED. SAV. & LOAN ASS'N v. Moss

616 So. 2d 648, 1993 WL 112051
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedApril 12, 1993
Docket92-C-3143
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 616 So. 2d 648 (FIRST FED. SAV. & LOAN ASS'N v. Moss) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
FIRST FED. SAV. & LOAN ASS'N v. Moss, 616 So. 2d 648, 1993 WL 112051 (La. 1993).

Opinion

616 So.2d 648 (1993)

FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION OF NEW IBERIA
v.
Jefferson J. MOSS and Rebecca Fournet Moss.

No. 92-C-3143.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

April 12, 1993.

*649 Jefferson Joseph Moss, Jr., Richard Mary, for applicant.

Billy J. Domingue, Craig A. Ryan, Liskow & Lewis, for respondent.

HALL, Justice.[*]

This case presents the question of whether an in globo judicial sale of two separately mortgaged immovable properties seized in a single executory proceeding is unauthorized and constitutes a fundamental defect in the executory proceeding, precluding the seizing creditor from obtaining a deficiency judgment on the two underlying debts. The court of appeal, reversing the trial court, answered this question in the negative. We answer this question in the affirmative and thus reverse.

I.

On October 12, 1982, Jefferson J. Moss, Jr., and Rebecca F. Moss obtained a loan from First Federal Savings & Loan Association of New Iberia to acquire a four-plex apartment complex located on Lot 175 of He Des Cannes Subdivision in Lafayette Parish ("Lot 175"). As part of the financing of that loan, the Mosses executed a promissory note in the amount of $106,000, secured by a mortgage on Lot 175 ("Note 1"). On that same date, the Mosses and Richard Becker obtained a second loan from First Federal to acquire a four-plex apartment complex located on Lot 173 of that same subdivision ("Lot 173"). As part of the financing of the second loan, the Mosses and Becker executed a promissory note in the amount of $106,000, secured by a mortgage on Lot 173 ("Note 2"). In February 1987, the Mosses, Becker and First Federal entered into a Cash Sale with Assumption Agreement. Pursuant to that agreement, Becker conveyed his one-half interest in Lot 173 to the Mosses; the Mosses assumed Becker's liability under Note 2; and First Federal released Becker from liability. In June 1987, the Mosses defaulted on both loans.

In July 1988, First Federal filed a single petition for executory process, foreclosing on both mortgages and requesting that the properties be sold at judicial sale with appraisal. First Federal's petition did not request that the properties be sold either separately or together. Nor did any of the statutorily required notices served on the Mosses indicate that the properties would be sold together; rather, the notices indicated that the properties would be sold in accordance with law.

*650 In October 1988, the Mosses were personally served with a notice of seizure and sale, and a notice to appoint appraiser by December 19, 1988. As the Mosses failed to appoint an appraiser by the designated date, the sheriff, pursuant to LSA-R.S. 13:4364, appointed Marilyn Crouchet as their appraiser. First Federal appointed Wayne Cestia, one of its employees, as its appraiser. Both appraisers signed the appraiser's report form, each assigning a value to the properties of "$35,000.00 Dollars per 4-Plex—Total $70,000." On December 28, 1988, the sheriff sold the properties at judicial sale in globo. First Federal was the successful (and only) bidder at the sale, purchasing the properties for $49,000.00 (70% of the total appraised value). First Federal did not request that the properties be separately sold. Nor did the Mosses seek to enjoin the sale or to voice, in any other manner, an objection to the sale.

In January 1989, First Federal commenced the instant deficiency judgment action, seeking to obtain a judgment for the remaining balance owed on the two notes ($102,069.94 on Note 1 and $102,159.94 on Note 2), plus interest and attorney's fees, less a credit for the net amount received from the judicial sale, $47,822.12 (the $49,000.00 bid price less costs of $1,177.88). The Mosses answered contending that First Federal was not entitled to a deficiency judgment as it failed to sell the properties in accordance with law. Meanwhile, in October 1990, the Resolution Trust Corporation ("RTC") was substituted as the proper party plaintiff, having been appointed as First Federal's receiver. (For ease of reference, we refer hereinafter to the plaintiff-creditor as "Bank".)

In January 1991, the Mosses filed a motion for summary judgment, contending that the in globo sale of Lot 175 and Lot 173 was unauthorized, created the insurmountable problem of how to allocate the sale proceeds between Note 1 and Note 2, and thus precluded Bank from obtaining a deficiency judgment. In support of these contentions, the Mosses cited Central Louisiana Bank & Trust Co. v. Dauzat, 539 So.2d 1306 (La.App. 3d Cir.1989), which held, albeit in a different factual context, that such an in globo sale is unauthorized. In conjunction with their motion for summary judgment, the Mosses filed an affidavit of Marilyn Crouchet, the sheriff-appointed appraiser; it avers that affiant would have appraised the properties differently had she known that there would be only one sale of both properties.

Agreeing with the Mosses' contentions and finding Dauzat, supra, dispositive, the trial court granted the Mosses' motion for summary judgment and dismissed Bank's deficiency action. In so doing, the trial court opined:

A creditor seeking to obtain a deficiency judgment must prove that there is a deficiency due on the debt after distribution of the proceeds of the judicial sale. In this case, there is no means available to properly apportion the bid price with respect to the debts. Irrespective of the identical appraisals, had the property been offered separately, the deficiency may not have been as great. However, the opportunity to purchase a single lot was negated by the unauthorized "in globo" sale which results in a denial of a deficiency judgment. Therefore, the debt is extinguished.

On appeal, the Third Circuit framed the issue as whether the in globo judicial sale pursuant to executory process of two separately mortgaged immovable properties that secured two separate notes was unauthorized and was a defect which barred Bank's right to a deficiency judgment. In resolving this issue, the court found Dauzat, supra, distinguishable and First Bank of Natchitoches & Trust Co. v. Chenault, 576 So.2d 1123 (La.App. 3d Cir.1991), dispositive. The court reasoned, following Chenault, supra, that an in globo sale is lawful absent a showing of prejudice to the debtor. Finding the Mosses failed to show that they were prejudiced by the in globo sale, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. First Federal Savings & Loan Association of New Iberia v. Moss, 607 So.2d 1085 (La.App. 3d Cir.1992).

We granted the Mosses' writ application, 610 So.2d 806 (La.1993), primarily to determine *651 whether an in globo sale of separately mortgaged properties in an executory proceeding is unauthorized. For the reasons detailed below, we decide that such an in globo sale is unauthorized and that, under the circumstances of this case, the unauthorized sale constitutes a fundamental defect in the executory proceeding, precluding the seizing creditor from obtaining a deficiency judgment. We thus reverse the court of appeal and reinstate the trial court's decision.

II.

A creditor seeking to obtain a deficiency judgment has the burden of establishing compliance with two criteria: (1) insufficiency of the sale proceeds to satisfy the underlying debt; and (2) sale of the seized property after appraisal in accordance with the codal and statutory requirements for executory proceedings. First Acadiana Bank v. Bieber,

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Bluebook (online)
616 So. 2d 648, 1993 WL 112051, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-fed-sav-loan-assn-v-moss-la-1993.