HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Stevens

47 Pa. D. & C.5th 61
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Northampton County
DecidedApril 22, 2015
DocketNo. C-48-CV-2014-857
StatusPublished

This text of 47 Pa. D. & C.5th 61 (HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Stevens) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Northampton County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Stevens, 47 Pa. D. & C.5th 61 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

Opinion

BELTRAMI, J.,

This matter is before the court on plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment (“motion”), filed on December 29,2014. Plaintiff initiated this action on February 5, 2014, by filing a complaint in mortgage foreclosure (“complaint”), naming Simon A. Eisenhardt (“Eisenhardt”), Executor of the Estate of Carolyn J. Shellenberger (“Shellenberger”), deceased, as a defendant. On April 28, 2014, Kim I. Stevens, acting as the administrator of Shellenberger’s Estate (“Stevens”), filed an answer to plaintiff’s complaint on behalf of the estate. The caption on the answer identified Stevens, rather than Eisenhardt, as the representative of the estate. On [63]*63May 27,2014, Stevens filed a statement of material facts, pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. No. 2352(a), which indicated that Eisenhardt had renounced his position as the executor of Shellenberger’s estate and that Stevens had been granted letters of administration d.b.n.c.t.a. of the estate. Attached to the statement was a short certificate indicating that letters of administration d.b.nx.t.a had been granted to Stevens on April 17, 2014.

Plaintiff filed the instant motion on December 29, 2014, and it seeks a judgment for foreclosure. On January 26, 2015, Stevens filed both an answer to plaintiff’s motion (“response”) and a brief in opposition to plaintiff’s motion. On February 25, 2015, plaintiff filed a reply brief in support of its motion. The case was placed on the January 27, 2015, argument court list and was submitted to the undersigned for disposition on brief. For the reasons that follow, plaintiff’s motion will be granted.

On March 14, 2005, Shellenberger executed and delivered to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. (“MERS”) a mortgage on real property located at 818 Stones Crossing, Easton, Pennsylvania (“property”) as security for the repayment of a mortgage loan in the amount of $66,900.00. (Mot. ¶ 4, Exs. A, Al; Resp. ¶ 4.) An assignment of the mortgage from MERS to plaintiff was recorded on September 26,2007, and that assignment was corrected by a corrective assignment recorded on August 20, 2012.1 (Compl. ¶ 6, Ex. C; Answer ¶ 6.) [64]*64Shellenberger died on March 15, 2013. (Statement ¶ 1.) The mortgage loan has not been paid since June 1, 2013, and is in default.2 (Mot. ¶¶ 7-8, Exs. B, C.) On August 9, 2013, plaintiff mailed pre-foreclosure notices pursuant to 41 Pa.C.S.A. § 403 (“Act 6 Notice”) and 12 Pa. CODE § 31.203 (“Act 91 Notice”). (Mot. ¶ 9, Ex. D.) Both notices were sent via certified mail to the property and were addressed to Shellenberger. (Id. )

Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on the theory that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the mortgage is in default, entitling it to judgment as a matter of law. Stevens responds that summary judgment is not warranted because there is no proof that the pre-foreclosure notices were properly served, and the assignment of the mortgage to plaintiff was improper and, thus, not valid.

Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1035.2 establishes the standard of review for a motion for summary judgment as follows:

After the relevant pleadings are closed, but within such time as not to unreasonably delay trial, any party may [65]*65move for summary judgment in whole or in part as a matter of law
(1) whenever there is no genuine issue of any material fact as to a necessary element of the cause of action or defense which could be established by additional discovery or expert report, or
(2) if, after the completion of discovery relevant to the motion, including the production of expert reports, an adverse party who will bear the burden of proof at trial has failed to produce evidence of facts essential to the cause of action or defense which in a jury trial would require the issues to be submitted to a jury.

Pa.R.C.P. No. 1035.2. These two prongs represent the

two main avenues per which summary relief may be granted. Employing the first of these, a movant may rely on uncontroverted facts, and/or allow that the factual allegations made by the non-moving party could be true, while contending that, even accepting such facts, judgment should be rendered for the movant as a matter of law. See Pa.R.C.P. No. 1035.2(1). Alternatively, after discovery, a party may challenge the ability of the non-moving party to adduce evidence of facts material to establishing a claim or defense. See id. No. 1035.2(2).

Lance v. Wyeth, 85 A.3d 434, 449-450 (Pa. 2014).

Under either avenue, summary judgment may only be granted when the record clearly shows that no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Summers v. Certainteed Corp., 997 A.2d 1152, 1159 (Pa. 2010). The moving party bears the burden of proving that no genuine issue [66]*66of material fact exists. Barnish v. KWI Bldg. Co., 916 A.2d 642, 645 (Pa. Super. 2007). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the record must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and any doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved against the moving party. Ario v. Ingram Micro, Inc., 965 A.2d 1194, 1200 (Pa. 2009). Even where the facts are agreed upon, summaiy judgment cannot be entered if the facts can support conflicting inferences. Washington v. Baxter, 719 A.2d 733, 740 n.10 (Pa. 1998).

The party opposing a motion for summary judgment

may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the pleadings but must file a response within thirty days after service of the motion identifying
(1) one or more issues of fact arising from evidence in the record controverting the evidence cited in support of the motion or from a challenge to the credibility of one or more witnesses testifying in support of the motion, or
(2) evidence in the record establishing the facts essential to the cause of action or defense which the motion cites as not having been produced.

Pa.R.C.P. No. 1035.3(a)(l)-(2). In other words, the “[fjailure of a non-moving party to adduce sufficient evidence on an issue essential to its case and on which it bears the burden of proof such that a jury could return a verdict in its favor establishes the entitlement of the moving party to judgment as a matter of law.” Young v. Commonwealth, Dep’t of Transp., 744 A.2d 1276, 1277 (Pa. 2000). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the “record” available for the court’s examination includes [67]*67the pleadings, discovery materials, affidavits, and expert reports. Pa.R.C.P. No. 1035.1.

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In Re Adoption of S.P.T.
783 A.2d 779 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
Summers v. CERTAINTEED CORP.
997 A.2d 1152 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
LANDAU v. W. PA. NAT. BANK
282 A.2d 335 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
First Wisconsin Trust Co. v. Strausser
653 A.2d 688 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)
Young v. Commonwealth Department of Transportation
744 A.2d 1276 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Ario v. Ingram Micro, Inc.
965 A.2d 1194 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Cunningham v. McWilliams
714 A.2d 1054 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Barnish v. Kwi Building Co.
916 A.2d 642 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Murray
63 A.3d 1258 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)
Lance v. Wyeth
85 A.3d 434 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Washington v. Baxter
719 A.2d 733 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
47 Pa. D. & C.5th 61, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hsbc-bank-usa-na-v-stevens-pactcomplnortha-2015.