In re the Foreclosure of a Deed of Trust from Draffen

731 S.E.2d 435, 222 N.C. App. 39, 2012 WL 3171792, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 933
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedAugust 7, 2012
DocketNo. COA11-1403
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 731 S.E.2d 435 (In re the Foreclosure of a Deed of Trust from Draffen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Foreclosure of a Deed of Trust from Draffen, 731 S.E.2d 435, 222 N.C. App. 39, 2012 WL 3171792, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 933 (N.C. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

CALABRIA, Judge.

Douglas K. Draffen (“respondent”) appeals the trial court’s order granting Branch Banking and Trust Company’s (“petitioner”) Rule 60 Motion to Lift the Stay of Foreclosure Proceedings against respondent to allow the foreclosure to proceed and dismissed respondent’s appeal to Superior Court. We affirm.

I. Background

On 19 October 2005, respondent and Joseph B. Williams purchased an undeveloped lot in Cannonsgate in Carteret County, North Carolina. To finance the purchase, respondent executed a promissory note secured by a deed of trust in favor of petitioner in the amount of $215,892.00. Respondent made monthly interest payments of $1,128.96 to petitioner from the time of his purchase until 13 October 2009.

On 12 February 2010, respondent and numerous other plaintiffs initiated a civil action seeking damages against a variety of lenders, developers, marketing firms, appraisers, and others in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (“the federal action”). Petitioner was one of the lenders named as a defendant. The federal action alleged that the defendants engaged in a fraudulent scheme to induce the plaintiffs to buy real property at a severely inflated value.

As a result of respondent’s default, petitioner, as beneficiary, initiated a foreclosure proceeding against respondent pursuant to the power of sale included in the deed of trust on respondent’s property. Petitioner alleged that respondent was in default in that he had failed to make any payments after 13 October 2009.

The initial foreclosure proceeding was conducted by the Carteret County Clerk of Superior Court (“the Clerk”) on 3 June 2010. The Clerk found the existence of a valid debt, that respondent was in default of that debt, that the Trustee possessed the right to foreclose, and that all required parties received notice under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-21.16. The Clerk authorized the Trustee to proceed to foreclosure pursuant to the power of sale in the deed of trust and to proceed to give notice of and conduct a foreclosure sale.

Respondent appealed the Clerk’s order to Carteret County [41]*41Superior Court. At the de novo hearing1 resulting from respondent’s appeal, respondent’s counsel moved to have the foreclosure action stayed pending the outcome of the federal action or dismissed and filed as a compulsory counterclaim in the federal action. Respondent’s counsel also informed the court that respondent and petitioner had entered into settlement negotiations and they were close to reaching a settlement. On 8 February 2011, the superior court entered an order staying the foreclosure. In its order, the court found that “Counsel for Draffen also reported to the Court that Draffen and BB&T were in the process of settling all matters arising out of the federal litigation, and that it was his understanding that a final settlement was forthcoming.”

Approximately four months later, on 6 June 2011, petitioner filed a motion to lift the stay on the basis that no settlement was actually forthcoming between respondent and petitioner. On 21 June 2011, the superior court entered an order lifting the stay, upholding the Clerk’s findings, dismissing respondent’s appeal of the foreclosure order and allowing the Substitute Trustee or any subsequent trustee, to proceed with the foreclosure. Respondent appeals.

II. Compulsory Counterclaim

Respondent argues that the superior court erred by lifting the stay which had been previously entered on 8 February 2011. Specifically, respondent contends that petitioner’s foreclosure action was a compulsory counterclaim in the federal action and that the foreclosure could not proceed until the federal action was completed. We disagree.

Respondent argues that the instant case is controlled by Rule 13(a) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, which states, in relevant part, that

[a] pleading shall state as a counterclaim any claim which at the time of serving the pleading the pleader has against any opposing party, if it arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the opposing party’s claim and does not require for its adjudication the presence of third parties of whom the court cannot acquire jurisdiction.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 13(a) (2011). Respondent argues that, pursuant to this rule, petitioner was required to pursue its foreclosure as [42]*42a counterclaim in the federal action. Since petitioner did not do so, respondent contends that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 13(a) requires that the foreclosure action “must be either (1) dismissed with leave to file it in the former case or (2) stayed until the conclusion of the former case.” Brooks v. Rogers, 82 N.C. App. 502, 507, 346 S.E.2d 677, 681 (1986).

Respondent is mistaken. The North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure do not apply to Federal Court proceedings. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 1 (2011)(“These rules shall govern the procedure in the superior and district courts of the State of North Carolina in all actions and proceedings of a civil nature except when a differing procedure is prescribed by statute.” (emphasis added)). Consequently, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 13(a) could not compel petitioner to pursue its foreclosure in the federal action.

The rules which govern whether petitioner’s foreclosure action was required to be filed as a compulsory counterclaim in the federal action are the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 1 (2012)(“These rules govern the procedure in all civil actions and proceedings in the United States district courtsf.]”). Although Fed. R. Civ. P. 13(a), which governs compulsory counterclaims in federal cases, is substantially the same as N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 13(a), it is subject to an important limitation. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2072, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “shall not abridge, enlarge or modify any substantive right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2072 (2011).

In Douglas v. NCNB Tex. Nat’l Bank, 979 F.2d 1128 (5th Cir. 1992), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit considered whether Fed. R. Civ. P. 13(a) required a lender pursuing a foreclosure action by power of sale, which had been filed in Texas state court, to file the state foreclosure claim as a compulsory counterclaim in a federal case. The Court reasoned that

[u]nder Texas law, lenders have a substantive right to elect judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure in the event of a default, and debtors have no right to force the lender to pursue a judicial foreclosure remedy.

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731 S.E.2d 435, 222 N.C. App. 39, 2012 WL 3171792, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 933, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-foreclosure-of-a-deed-of-trust-from-draffen-ncctapp-2012.