Jackson v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, N.A.

159 So. 3d 58, 2014 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 48, 2014 WL 1098998
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 21, 2014
Docket2120513
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 159 So. 3d 58 (Jackson v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, N.A., 159 So. 3d 58, 2014 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 48, 2014 WL 1098998 (Ala. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

DONALDSON, Judge.

Emmett Jackson and Debra Jackson appeal from a summary judgment entered by the Mobile Circuit Court (“the trial court”) in favor of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, N.A., and U.S. Bank, National Association, as trustee for Structured Asset Securities Corporation Trust 2005-WF-8 (“the trustee”). We affirm the trial court’s summary judgment, which is premised on its holding that the foreclosure sale of the Jacksons’ property was proper.

Facts and Procedural History

The Jacksons’ action against Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and the trustee is before an appellate court for the second time. See Jackson v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 90 So.3d 168 (Ala.2012).1 In Jackson, our supreme court provided the following background information regarding the action:

“On February 11, 2005, the Jacksons refinanced an existing loan on their home in Mobile. In so doing, they gave a mortgage on the property, which was subsequently assigned to the bank. Although the mortgage was, in turn, assigned to the trustee, the bank continued to function as the ‘servicer’ of the loan.
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“By October 2007, the Jacksons were in arrears -on their mortgage payments. In that month, the Jacksons and the bank entered into a ‘special forebearance agreement’ (‘the first forebearance’), whereby the Jacksons were to make three monthly payments of $389.32, beginning on November 29, 2007, and a fourth payment of $1,597 on February 29, 2008. A dispute arose over the Jacksons’ compliance with the first forebearance, and, on January 25, 2008, the bank offered the Jacksons another ‘special forebearance agreement,’ whereby they were to make three monthly payments of $370.95, beginning on February 22, 2008, and a fourth payment of $2,405.86 on May 22, 2008. While the Jacksons and the bank were engaged in negotiations for further fore-bearance, the Jacksons did not make the payment of $2,405.86 that was due in May.”

90 So.3d at 169-70.

On May 23, 2008, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, acting as the servicer of the Jacksons’ loan on behalf of the trustee, sent the Jacksons a proposed agreement to modify the terms of their mortgage and note (“the loan-modification agreement”). (Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and the trustee are hereinafter referred to collectively as “the bank.”) Under the terms of the loan-modification, agreement, the maturity date of the Jacksons’ loan was extended to February 1, 2035, and the first payment under the agreement, in the amount of $345.43, was due on August 1, 2009. The Jacksons had the opportunity to cure their mortgage default by entering the loan-modification agreement. The packet containing the loan-modification agreement included a letter that provided, in pertinent part:

“This letter will confirm our formal approval of a loan modification/restructure of your mortgage loan. To facilitate this transaction, it was mutually agreed that a contribution of $1,348.58 would be required, which will be applied toward the accrued delinquency.
[61]*61“Please sign the enclosed loan modification agreement and return it, along with any payment(s) and/or contribution due as reflected in the terms of this-letter.
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“This proposal is valid for five (5) days from the date of this letter. Therefore, it is imperative the modification agreement(s) be executed and returned in the enclosed, self-addressed, prepaid, express mail envelope. Please note, although approved, the normal servicing process will continue uninterrupted, unless advised otherwise.”

The Jacksons signed the proposed loan-modification- agreement and mailed it to the bank, but they did not pay the $1,348.58 contribution referenced in the letter (“the contribution payment”) or make any other payment.

Around the time the loan-modification agreement was being negotiated, the bank referred the Jacksons’ loan to a debt-collection representative to try to seek a resolution regarding the Jacksons’ default and, if necessary, to handle foreclosure matters. On June 11, 2008, the debt-collection representative sent the .following letter by certified mail to the Jacksons informing them that their loan was in default and that they had until July 16, 2008, to cure the default and to prevent acceleration of their note:

“By virtue of default in the terms of your Note and Mortgage ... we hereby notify you that there has been a breach in the terms of the note and mortgage.
“In order to cure this breach, you must- send to our office, in certified funds, the sum of $4,248.85, including lawful charges, which total shall be the amount necessary to reinstate this loan through July 16, 2008. Payment, in certified funds, must be received in our office on or before July 16, 2008. In the event we do not receive the reinstatement funds by July 16, 2008 it is the intention of [the trustee] to accelerate the total amount due under the Note and Mortgage and to proceed with foreclosure as provided in said Mortgage.
“This is to further advise you that you have the right to reinstate after the acceleration of the Note and the right to bring a court action to assert the nonexistence of a default or any other defense you have as to the acceleration and sale.
“If the breach is not cured on or before July 16, 2008, [the trustee] may, at its option, declare all of the sums secured by the Mortgage to be immediately due and payable without further demand and may invoke the power of sale and any other remedies permitted by applicable law....”

The return receipt indicates that “Valencia, J.” signed for the letter on June 18, 2008. An affidavit from an employee of the debt-collection representative states that it received a telephone call from a person identifying herself as “Mrs. Jackson” on June 13, 2008. The Jacksons allege that they did not receive the letter, and they dispute the bank’s assertion that it was sent.

The Jacksons indisputably received a letter from the bank dated June 30, 2008, denying the proposed loan modification because the bank had not received “the executed modification agreements needed to complete the transaction.” In her affidavit, Debra Jackson states that, after receiving the June 30, 2008, letter, she contacted a bank representative who informed her “that, for whatever reason, their system was not showing the modification as being received,” that the Jacksons would have to restart the loan-modification process in order to keep their house, and that the Jacksons “should hold off sending any [62]*62payments, including the contribution payment.” In a deposition, a bank representative affirmed that the June 30, 2008, letter incorrectly stated that the bank had not received the signed loan-modification agreement, but she could not confirm whether Debra Jackson was told not to make the contribution payment, as Debra asserted in her affidavit. The bank representative stated in her deposition testimony that the parties understood that the Jacksons “were given up to [July 15, 2008,] to make the [contribution] payment.” Nevertheless, the Jacksons did not remit the contribution payment by July 15.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
159 So. 3d 58, 2014 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 48, 2014 WL 1098998, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-wells-fargo-home-mortgage-na-alacivapp-2014.