Ministers & Missionaries Benefit Board of the American Baptist Churches v. Goldsworthy

385 A.2d 358, 253 Pa. Super. 321, 1978 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2796
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided April 13, 1978·No. No. 198·Published·Cited by 35 cases

Opinions

JACOBS, President Judge:

In this appeal,1 we are asked to decide whether the Act of January 30, 1974, P.L. 13, No. 6, 41 P.S. § 101 et seq. or, more specifically, those sections which provide for notice of intention to foreclose2 and the right to cure a [326] default,3 may be applied in a case where the mortgage was executed prior to the effective date of the Act, but the default occurred subsequent to that date. The lower court here held that those provisions may not be so applied. We disagree. Nevertheless, for the reasons developed below, we affirm the order of the lower court dismissing appellant’s preliminary objections.

[327] The pertinent facts may be summarized as follows: On October 7, 1975, plaintiff-appellee, a nonprofit religious corporation, commenced an action in mortgage foreclosure against defendant-mortgagors, former husband and wife, alleging three separate grounds of default under the terms of a mortgage dated January 24, 1968.4 Defendant-appel-

[328] lant Raymond H. Goldsworthy filed preliminary objections to the complaint alleging, inter alia, appellee’s failure to comply or to aver compliance with Act No. 6.5 Appellee filed answers to appellant’s preliminary objections and, by order dated August 12,1976, the lower court dismissed those preliminary objections. However, on September 12, 1976, the lower court amended its prior order so as to permit appellant to file a petition for an interlocutory appeal. We granted appellant’s petition on October 12, 1976, and, therefore, the issues raised by his preliminary objections are now properly before us.

At the outset, it must be noted that the validity and enforceability of “acceleration” clauses are not here questioned. Generally, a provision in a mortgage agreement according the mortgagee the option to accelerate the maturi[329] ty of the mortgage debt, under certain conditions or upon the happening of specified events, is regarded as a legitimate contractual stipulation. See 55 Am.Jur.2d, Mortgages, §§ 371-393. If a stated default exists and the option to accelerate is exercised by the mortgagee, the balance on the whole mortgage indebtedness is due and payable; foreclosure proceedings will, therefore, not be premature.

Before the enactment of Act No. 6, the effect of acceleration apparently could not be defeated by the mortgagor’s willingness to cure the default; our attention has not been called to, nor does our research disclose, a Pennsylvania appellate decision wherein a mortgagor was permitted to tender only the delinquent payment or performance after the mortgagee declared the entire debt due and payable. Under Act No. 6, however, a mortgagee is precluded from accelerating the maturity date of the mortgage debt and commencing foreclosure proceedings, despite the existence of a default, until after the mortgagor is given notice of the default and his right to cure it.

There can be no doubt that an acceleration clause confers a right upon the mortgagee which, by constitutional provision, is immune to impairment by legislative action.6 It becomes equally clear that Act No. 6 limits this right of a mortgagee to declare the entire debt due in the event of default. Accordingly, the question to be decided here is whether this change in law constituted an impairment of the obligation of a mortgage contracted prior to the passage of the Act.7 We conclude, after careful consideration, that it did not.

[330] In reaching this conclusion, we quote these enlightening comments of Mr. Justice (later Chief Justice) STERN:

“Any law which enlarges, abridges, or in any manner changes the intention of the parties as evidenced by their contract, imposing conditions not expressed therein or dispensing with the performance of those which are a part of it, impairs its obligation, whether the law affects the validity, construction, duration, or enforcement of the contract [citation omitted]. .
“The amount of impairment of the substantive obligation of a contract is immaterial. Any deviation from its terms, however slight, falls within the meaning of the constitution [citation omitted]. .
“The remedy, or means of enforcing a contract, is a part of its obligation which the Constitution protects. The Legislature has the power to formulate, alter, and suspend modes of procedure, even as to pre-existing contracts, provided that, under the guise of a procedural statute, it does not deprive a party of any substantial right under the contract [citations omitted]. Any change in procedure which does not supply an alternative remedy, equally adequate and efficacious, in place of that which existed when the contract was made, is violative of the constitutional prohibition. .
“[W]e must always bear in mind the distinction between legislation which merely postpones the legal vindication of rights and that which curtails or injuriously affects the rights themselves or the efficacy of the remedies provided for their enforcement. . . . ”

[331] Beaver County Building and Loan Association v. Winowich, 323 Pa. 483, 492-494, 187 A. 481, 485-486 (1936).

Appellee urges us to hold that Act No. 6 abrogates a mortgagee’s right to accelerate the mortgage debt and that a substantive right is thereby destroyed. Our reading, however, leads us to conclude that sections 403 and 404 do not alter the ordinary legal effect of clauses of acceleration. Rather, they merely postpone the exercise of the right to accelerate until after the mortgagor has received notice of and an opportunity to cure a default.

While adequate tender will enable the mortgagor to prevent foreclosure and avoid acceleration, the mortgagee is restored to the same position it would have been in had the default not occurred. Any harm resulting from late payments or performance is cured by the requirement that the mortgagor pay certain fees incurred by the mortgagee. Moreover, to discourage a mortgagor from assuming a casual attitude toward defaults, our Legislature has limited the frequency with which a mortgagor may avail himself of the benefits of the statute. We, therefore, find that application of sections 403 and 404 to mortgages executed prior to the effective date of Act No. 6 will pass constitutional muster.

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Ministers & Missionaries Benefit Board of the American Baptist Churches v. Goldsworthy, 385 A.2d 358, 253 Pa. Super. 321, 1978 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2796 (Pa. Ct. App. 1978).

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