In re Stanley

514 B.R. 27, 2012 WL 10940770, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6266
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Nevada
DecidedOctober 12, 2012
DocketNo. BK-S-11-15621-BAM
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 514 B.R. 27 (In re Stanley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Stanley, 514 B.R. 27, 2012 WL 10940770, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6266 (Nev. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion OveRruling Objection to Amended Proof of Claim and Granting Relief from the Automatic Stay

BRUCE A. MARKELL, Bankruptcy Judge.

I. FACTS

A. The Home Loan and Stanley’s Bankruptcy Filing

On August 24, 2006, debtor Charles M. Stanley (“Stanley”), together with his non-debtor spouse,1 executed a promissory note (the “Note”). The Note was in the principal amount of $383,000, and called for monthly payments of $2,591.45. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (“Countrywide”) [31]*31was named payee. Stanley incurred this debt to finance the purchase of a house in Las Vegas, Nevada (the “Property”).

To secure his obligations under the Note, Stanley also executed a deed of trust encumbering the Property (the “Deed of Trust”). The Deed of Trust identified Countrywide as the lender, but nominated Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”) as the beneficiary.

Sometime after loan origination, the beneficial interest in the Note was sold to the CWALT, Inc., Alternative Loan Trust 2006-34 (“CWALT Trust”). Bank of New York Mellon, f/k/a the Bank of New York, is the trustee for the certificateholders of that trust (“BONY”).

On August 18, 2009, MERS executed a “Corporation Assignment of Deed of Trust Nevada” in favor of BONY (the “Assignment”); the Assignment was recorded on September 2, 2009. It assigned to BONY:

All beneficial interest under that certain deed of trust dated 08/24/2006, executed by: Charles M. Stanley, and Beth E. Stanley, husband and wife as joint tenants, trustor: to Recontrust Company, N.A., trustee and recorded as instrument no. 0004826 on 08/29/2006, in book 20060829, of official records in the county recorder’s office of Clark County, in the state of Nevada.
Describing the land therein: as more fully described in said deed of trust. Together with the note or notes therein described or referred to, the money due and to become due thereon with interest, and all rights accrued or to accrue under said deed of trust/mortgage.

(P.O.C. No. 7-1, Part 2.)2 At some point, Countrywide merged into or became an affiliate of Bank of America, N.A. (“BofA”), and all of Countrywide’s systems related to mortgage loans became BofA’s property.

B. The Bankruptcy Proceedings

Stanley filed Chapter 133 bankruptcy on April 14, 2011. (Dkt. No. 1.) On October 24, 2011, BONY moved for relief from the automatic stay pursuant to Section 362(d)(2). (Dkt. No. 24.) In its motion, BONY alleged that: the total encumbrances against the Property were $458,967.04; that the lien-free value of the Property was $321,000; and that the total amount of postpetition arrears owed BONY were $17,158.14. (Id.) In support of the motion, BONY attached copies of: the Note, which had been endorsed in blank;4 a rate improvement addendum to [32]*32the Note; the Deed of Trust; a planned unit development rider to the Deed of Trust; and the Assignment. (Id.)

On November 15, 2011, Stanley filed an opposition to BONY’s motion for relief from stay. (Dkt. No. 29.) Stanley challenged BONY’s standing to move for relief from stay. Specifically, he challenged the purported allonge to the Note, contending that it was never properly affixed to the Note. (Id. at 7.)5 He also contended, without citation to legal authority, that:

[W]hen the Bank of New York filed its Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay, it attached thereto a separate, unauthenticated, inadmissible alleged Allonge purporting to bear the signature of one Michele Sjolander, an ostensible Executive Vice President of Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (Dkt. 24, page 12.) This alleged Allonge is undated, has no dated signature and is not notarized.

(Id. at 2.) Stanley also challenged the validity of the Assignment. (Id. at 2-3.) However, the opposition contains no arguments as to whether BONY made the requisite showing with respect to any lack of equity in the Property.6

C. The Proof of Claim and the Objection

On June 8, 2011, BAC Home Loans Servicing LP (“BAC”), acting as BONY’s servicing agent, filed a proof of claim in the amount of $444,323.06. (P.O.C. No. 7.) In support of the Proof of Claim, BAC attached a copy of: the Note (albeit without a copy of the reverse of the last page with the endorsement in blank); the Deed of Trust; the planned unit development rider; and the Assignment. (Id.)

On February 21, 2012, over eight months later and after BONY filed its motion for relief from stay, Stanley objected to the proof of claim. (Dkt. No. 37.) In the objection, Stanley again challenged BONY’s status as a secured creditor. (Id. at 2-4.) Stanley also asserted that the Note and Deed of Trust had been irreparably split, the result of which was that the debt obligations under the Note were unenforceable “against the Debtor and the Debtor’s property.” (Id.)7

[33]*33Finally, Stanley challenged the validity of the endorsement by allonge “since it was improperly handled,” arguing that because BAC “failed to establish the necessary proof for the Note and the alleged Allonge to be admissible in evidence, they cannot be considered by the Court.” (Id.)

The court heard both the motion for relief from stay and the objection to claim in a consolidated hearing. At the hearing, Stanley introduced the following exhibits into evidence: (i) a copy of the Proof of Claim and supporting documentation; and (ii) three screen shots, dated March 29, 2012, March 30, 2012, and April 13, 2012, respectively, from BofA’s collateral indexing and imaging system. (Hr’g Tr. 4:3-6, 47:14-15, Apr. 27, 2012.) Stanley also offered the testimony of William McCaffrey, an individual with 35 years of experience in the mortgage industry, as to the true ownership and possession of the Note. (Id. at 19.)8

BONY introduced the following exhibits into evidence: (i) a copy of Stanley’s voluntary petition; (ii) a copy of the Deed of Trust; (iii) a copy of the Assignment; (iv) Stanley’s Schedule A; (v) further copies of certain screen shots from BofA’s collateral indexing and imaging system; and (vi) the original Note. (Id. at 4:7-14, 47:16-17, 61:8-9, 65:4-5, 76:3-4.) The bank also offered the testimony of Neil Patak, an assistant vice president at BofA.9 (Id. at 49.)

The hearing lasted a half day. The parties submitted post-hearing briefs on June 4, 2012, and the matter was then deemed submitted for decision. (Dkt. Nos. 69, 70.)10

II. DISCUSSION

A. Relationship Between BofA, BAC, and BONY

Before proceeding further, it is important to disentangle the relationships between and among BofA, BAC, and BONY. In this proceeding, BONY filed the motion to lift stay while BAC filed the Proof of Claim. (Dkt. No. 24; P.O.C. No. 7.) BONY is the assignee under the Assignment, not BAC or BofA. At the evidentiary hearing, the only live witness for the creditor was Mr. Patak, who is an assistant vice president of BofA, but who also works for BAC.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
514 B.R. 27, 2012 WL 10940770, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-stanley-nvb-2012.