Mbigi v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

785 S.E.2d 8, 336 Ga. App. 316, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 173
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 22, 2016
DocketA15A2067
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 785 S.E.2d 8 (Mbigi v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mbigi v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, 785 S.E.2d 8, 336 Ga. App. 316, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 173 (Ga. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

Ellington, Presiding Judge.

Lovemore Mbigi sued Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (“Wells Fargo”) after Wells Fargo sold his home in a foreclosure sale. In his complaint, as amended, Mbigi asserted claims against Wells Fargo for wrongful foreclosure, violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”),1 fraudulent and/or negligent misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, punitive damages, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, and promissory estoppel. The trial court granted Wells Fargo’s motion to dismiss Mbigi’s complaint for failure to state a claim. See OCGA § 9-11-12 (b) (6). On appeal, Mbigi contends that the trial court erred in dismissing his claims. We affirm in part and reverse in part for the reasons set forth below.

A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim should not be granted unless:

(1) the allegations of the complaint disclose with certainty that the claimant would not be entitled to relief under any state of provable facts asserted in support thereof; and (2) the movant establishes that the claimant could not possibly introduce evidence within the framework of the complaint sufficient to warrant a grant of the relief sought.

(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Stendahl v. Cobb County, 284 Ga. 525 (1) (668 SE2d 723) (2008). In other words, “[i]f, within the [317]*317framework of the complaint, evidence may be introduced which will sustain a grant of relief to the plaintiff, the complaint is sufficient.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Austin v. Clark, 294 Ga. 773, 775 (755 SE2d 796) (2014). On appeal, this Court “review[s] de novo a trial court’s determination that a pleading fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, construing the pleadings in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and with any doubts resolved in the plaintiff’s favor.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Babalola v. HSBC Bank, USA, N.A., 324 Ga. App. 750 (751 SE2d 545) (2013).

In his complaint, Mbigi alleges that, in 2007, he executed a security deed in favor of Wells Fargo’s predecessor2 to secure a loan used to fund a 60 percent portion of the $2.68 million purchase price of a Gwinnett County home (the “Property”). The terms of the loan, an “Option ARM,” allowed Mbigi to pick a monthly payment that was less than the amount needed to pay the accruing interest, resulting in negative amortization. Mbigi was not informed by Wells Fargo or the closing attorney that certain payment options would result in negative amortization. When Mbigi later inquired about the mortgage balance, which he had noticed was “very high,” Wells Fargo told him that it would investigate and modify the loan. In December 2008, Wells Fargo told Mbigi to stop loan payments until the loan was modified. In 2009, Mbigi attempted to pay the loan in full, but Wells Fargo refused to accept the payment. Wells Fargo accepted a loan payment in 2010, but then informed Mbigi that he should not make further payments until the loan was modified. Wells Fargo later informed Mbigi that, because of the negative amortization, the loan had to be modified before he could resume payments, and that he should ignore any communications regarding mortgage payments. Mbigi continued to inquire with Wells Fargo about the loan modification status in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Wells Fargo then referred the loan to its attorneys for foreclosure, “at the same time it was purportedly working on a loan modification.”

On February 8, 2014, Mbigi left the United States on business. While he was away, Wells Fargo’s counsel mailed the foreclosure sale notice to a previous notice address and not the address that Mbigi had requested in writing that Wells Fargo use for all correspondence. On June 3, 2014, Wells Fargo sold the Property in a foreclosure sale.

1. Mbigi asserted a claim against Wells Fargo for wrongful foreclosure. A claim of wrongful foreclosure requires the plaintiff to “establish a legal duty owed to it by the foreclosing party, a breach of that duty, a causal connection between the breach of that duty and the [318]*318injury it sustained, and damages.” (Citations, punctuation and footnote omitted.) DeGolyer v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, 291 Ga. App. 444, 448 (4) (662 SE2d 141) (2008). Under OCGA § 23-2-114, “Mowers of sale in deeds of trust, mortgages, and other instruments shall be strictly construed and shall be fairly exercised.” And “[t]he legal duty imposed upon a foreclosing party under a power of sale is to exercise that power fairly and in good faith.” Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Molina-Salas, 332 Ga. App. 641, 642 (1) (774 SE2d 712) (2015).

(a) In his complaint, Mbigi contended that Wells Fargo breached its duty to exercise the power of sale fairly and in good faith in that it failed to provide him with notice of the foreclosure sale in compliance with OCGA § 44-14-162.2 (a). Mbigi contends that the trial court erred in dismissing his wrongful foreclosure claim to the extent that the claim was based on this alleged breach of duty. We agree.

OCGA § 44-14-162.2 (a) provides, in relevant part, that the notice of the initiation of proceedings to exercise a power of sale shall be sent “to the property address or to such other address as the debtor may designate by written notice to the secured creditor.” Id. In the complaint, Mbigi stated that he provided written notice to Wells Fargo of the designated address it was to use for all correspondence, but that Wells Fargo did not send the notice of the foreclosure sale to that address. The complaint does not disclose with certainty that Mbigi would not be entitled to any relief on account of his contention that Wells Fargo failed to provide the proper statutory notice of foreclosure. See Farris v. First Financial Bank, 313 Ga. App. 460, 464 (2) (722 SE2d 89) (2011) (“The plain language of OCGA § 44-14-162.2 (a) requires the secured creditor send notice to the property address unless the debtor designates in writing another address.”) (Punctuation and footnote omitted; emphasis supplied). See also Babalola, 324 Ga. App. at 753 (2) (a) (allegation that lender failed to provide notice offoreclosure as required by OCGA § 44-14-162.2 supported a wrongful foreclosure claim under Georgia law).

The trial court concluded that Wells Fargo’s alleged failure to comply with the notice requirement afforded no basis for a claim of wrongful foreclosure because Wells Fargo had denied the allegation and maintained that it had provided Mbigi’s counsel with copies of the notices sent to the Property’s address. The order also referenced a copy of the notice of sale under power which was attached to the motion of a third party.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
785 S.E.2d 8, 336 Ga. App. 316, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mbigi-v-wells-fargo-home-mortgage-gactapp-2016.