Helen Y. Robinson v. Gerald M. Warren

179 So. 3d 1146, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 142, 2015 WL 1296046
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 24, 2015
Docket2013-CA-01210-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 179 So. 3d 1146 (Helen Y. Robinson v. Gerald M. Warren) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Helen Y. Robinson v. Gerald M. Warren, 179 So. 3d 1146, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 142, 2015 WL 1296046 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

JAMES, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. This appeal arises out of a foreclosure sale of real property by Trustmark National Bank and Gerald M. Warren, substitute trustee (collectively Trustmark), against Helen Robinson on August 11, 2011. Trustmark filed a complaint for unlawful detainer, and the judgment was issued by the County Court Of Jackson County, Mississippi. ■ Robinson was ordered to leave the property by February 24, 2012. Robinson then filed a complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief in the Circuit Court of - Jackson County, which was denied.' Sanctions were ordered against Robinson and her counsel, and the remainder of the case was transferred to chancery court.

¶ 2. Robinson appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court; however, the appeal was dismissed-without prejudice. Trust-mark filed a motion for summary judgment in chancery court, which the court granted. Robinson now appeals raising the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in applying Nichols v. Bush to the case; and (2) whether the trial court erred in granting Trustmark’s motion for summary judgment. Finding no error, we affirm.

*1148 FACTS

¶8. On February 20, 2009, Robinson executed a promissory note payable to First Rank and Trust of Mississippi in the amount of $266,091. On that same day, Robinson also executed a deed of trust to Michael L. Riddle as the trustee for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc (MERS). At some point, Robinson defaulted on the loan, and Trustmark commenced foreclosure proceedings.

¶ 4. On August 11, 2011 Trustmark conducted a foreclosure sale on Robinson’s real property. Gerald M. Warren was the substitute trustee that conducted the pale. Trustmark then filed a complaint for unlawful detainer. On February 13, 2012, the county court granted Trustmark’s motion for unlawful detainer and ordered Robinson to vacate the premises by February 24, 2012. Robinson filed a motion to reconsider, and on June 19,2012, the court denied her motion. Trustmark then forwarded a writ of possession to. the Circuit Clerk of Jackson County,

¶ 6. On July 16, 2012, Robinson filed a complaint in circuit court for injunctive and declaratory relief to enjoin the writ of possession and to set aside the sale.. On October 18, 2012, the court denied the request for a temporary restraining order, transferred, the rest of the complaint to chancery court, and sanctioned Robinson and her attorney for bringing the action in the wrong court.

¶6. On November 16, 2012, Robinson filed a notice of appeal, and appealed the sanctions levied against her. and her attorney. Trustmark filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that the order by the circuit court was not a final order. On March.7, 2013, the Mississippi Supreme Court granted the motion and dismissed the ap-. peal without prejudice.

¶ 7. Robinson then filed a complaint in chancery court, and Trustmark did not file an answer to the complaint. On March 18, 2013, Trustmark filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, a motion for summary .judgment. Robinson filed a response opposing the motion for summary judgment on June 12, 2013. The hearing on the summary-judgment motion .was held on June 14, 2013. On June 17, 2013, the court entered an order granting summary judgment in favor of Trustmark.

¶ 8. Robinson appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 9. “Factual findings made by the chancery court will not be disturbed if they are supported by substantial evidence unless we can say with reasonable certainty that the chancellor abused his discretion, was manifestly wrong [or] clearly erroneous!,] or applied an erroneous legal standard.” Finch v. Finch, 137 So.3d 227, 232 (¶ 10) (Miss.2014) (quoting Biglane v. Under the Hill Corp., 949 So.2d 9, 14 (¶ 17) (Miss.2007)).

¶ 10. The standard of review when reviewing a granted motion for summary judgment is de novo. Scruggs v. Bost, 149 So.3d 493, 499 (¶ 21) (Miss.2014). The Mississippi Supreme court has held:

Summary judgment is appropriate and shall be rendered if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no ■genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to [a] judgment as a matter of law. Importantly, the party opposing summary judgment may not rest óñ mere allegations or denials of his pleadings, but his response, by affidavit or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. If hq does not so *1149 respond, summary judgment, if appropriate, will be entered against him,

Karpinsky v. American Nat’l Ins. Co., 109 So.3d 84, 88 (¶ 10) (Miss.2013) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).

DISCUSSION

I. The trial court erred in applying the holding of Nichols v. Bash to the instant case.

¶ 11. Robinson argues that Nichols v. Bush, 913 So.2d 387 (Miss.Ct.App.2005), and' other similar cases cited are distinguishable from the instant case because the sale itself was improperly conducted and “tainted with fraud.” Secondly, Robinson argues that the foreclosure should be void as a- matter of law because MERS did not assign the deed of trust to Trustmark, and Trustmark did not have the authority to foreclose on the property.

¶ 12. Robinson also contends that since Trustmark misrepresented the áfñant, this constituted wrongful conduct related to the foreclosures. Robinson further asserts that a blanket application of Nichols to all wrongful-foreclosure cases is erroneous. Robinson lastly argues that she was within the statute of limitations to protest the foreclosure sale.

¶ 13. In Nichols, Nichols defaulted under a deed of trust several times. A foreclosure sale was scheduled each time, but before, each sale, Nichols would pay what was owed and bring the note current. The last time the property was scheduled for foreclosure, however, Nichols had an agent present and raised no objections during the sale. In our analysis, we cited Hamilton v. Federal Land Bank, 184 Miss. 878, 878, 186 So. 832, 833 (1939), and stated: “[T]he general rule is that any person who is present and fails to object to the manner in which the sale is made cannot subsequently have the sale set aside on the ground that it should have been conducted in a different manner.” Nichols, 913 So.2d at 391 (¶ 21). We ultimately held that Nichols was estopped from seeking to have his foreclosure set aside because he waived any irregularity in the sale through his silence before, during, and after the foreclosure proceedings. Id. at (¶ 22).

■ ¶14. Here,.,. there is no dispute that Robinson received notice of the foreclosure sale, Robinson was mailed a certified letter giving notice. Despite receiving notice, however, ■ Robinson failed to respond or acknowledge, the foreclosure proceedings before, during, or immediately after the sale.

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Bluebook (online)
179 So. 3d 1146, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 142, 2015 WL 1296046, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/helen-y-robinson-v-gerald-m-warren-missctapp-2015.