National Equity Resources Corp. v. Montgomery

872 S.W.2d 533, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 184, 1994 WL 26806
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 3, 1994
DocketNo. 18602
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 872 S.W.2d 533 (National Equity Resources Corp. v. Montgomery) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Equity Resources Corp. v. Montgomery, 872 S.W.2d 533, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 184, 1994 WL 26806 (Mo. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

PARRISH, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment holding that a nonjudicial foreclosure based on a second deed of trust was valid. This court affirms.

George Shipman and Clara Shipman, husband and wife, executed a promissory note dated July 18, 1986, in the face amount of $436,000 payable to the order of Twin City Savings Bank. They also executed a deed of trust denominated as “Second Deed of Trust and Security Agreement” to secure its payment. The real estate that was subject to the deed of trust is located in Taney County, Missouri. A development known as the Victorian Inn is situate on that real estate. The power of sale provision in the deed of trust authorized the trustee or his successor, upon default in the payment of the promissory note, at the request of the holder of the promissory note, to sell the real estate as follows:

[T]he trustee, or ..., the (then) acting sheriff of Jasper County, Missouri, ... shall ... proceed to sell the property ... at public vendue, to the highest bidder at the east front door of the Court House in the City of Caiihage, Jasper County, Missouri, ... first giving public notice of the time, terms and place of sale, and of the property to be sold, by advertisement published weekly in the manner required by law in some newspaper printed and published in Jasper County, Missouri, ... and the said Trustee shall receive the proceeds of such sale, out of which he shall pay, first, the cost and expenses of executing this trust including reasonable attorneys’ fees and compensation to the Trustee for his services; and next, to TWIN CITY or to its assigns, upon the usual vouchers therefore [sic], all moneys paid for insurance and taxes and judgments upon statutory lien claims, and interest thereon as hereinbefore provided; and next, shall apply the proceeds remaining over to the payment of said indebtedness and interest, or so much thereof as remains unpaid; and the balance of such proceeds, if any, shall be apid [sic] to the Grantor, or the Grant- or’s legal representatives. (Emphasis added.)

Twin City Savings Bank was placed in receivership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. By instrument dated August 20, 1991, FDIC assigned the promissory note secured by the deed of trust to Joel A. Montgomery.

The trustee1 advertised the foreclosure sale of the property. The advertisement stated the sale would be conducted in Taney County, Missouri, the county in which the real estate was located, on December 16, 1991. Notice of the foreclosure sale was published weekly, for four consecutive weeks, in a newspaper published in Taney County and in a newspaper published in Jasper County. The trustee sent written notices of the foreclosure sale to National Equity Resources Corporation2 and George Shipman and Clara Shipman at addresses in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and to an attorney who had repre[535]*535sented those parties in an earlier legal proceeding in Missouri related to the real estate that was being foreclosed.

The real estate was sold by the trustee at the advertised sale location in Taney County December 16, 1991, for $75,000. The sale was subject to a first deed of trust securing a promissory note with the face amount of $500,000. At the date of sale, the unpaid principal balance of that note was at least $490,000. It bore interest at the rate of 13% per annum. The exact amount owed on the promissory note that was secured by the first deed of trust was unknown at the time of the foreclosure sale under the terms of the second deed of trust.

Immediately prior to the foreclosure sale, National Equity Resources Corporation and George Shipman and Clara Shipman filed Notice of Lis Pendens in the Office of Recorder of Deeds of Taney County, Missouri, asserting that the deed of trust that is the subject of this appeal and any attempted foreclosure thereunder were void.

The standard of review an appellate court undertakes in an appeal from a summary judgment was explained in ITT Commercial Finance Corp. v. Mid-America Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371 (Mo. banc 1993).

When considering appeals from summary judgments, the Court will review the record in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered. Zafft v. Eli Lilly, 676 S.W.2d 241, 244 (Mo. banc 1984); Cooper v. Finke, 376 S.W.2d 225, 228 (Mo.1964). Facts set forth by affidavit or otherwise in support of a party’s motion are taken as true unless contradicted by the non-moving party’s response to the summary judgment motion. Cherry v. City of Hayti Heights, 563 S.W.2d 72, 75 (Mo. banc 1978); Dietrich v. Pulitzer Publishing Company, 422 S.W.2d 330, 333 (Mo.1986). We accord the non-movant the benefit of all reasonable inferences from the record. Martin v. City of Washington, 848 S.W.2d 487, 489 (Mo. banc 1993); Madden v. C & K Barbeque Carryout, Inc., 758 S.W.2d 59, 61 (Mo. banc 1988).
Our review is essentially de novo. The criteria on appeal for testing the propriety of summary judgment are no different from those which should be employed by the trial court to determine the propriety of sustaining the motion initially. E.O. Dorsch Electric Co. v. Plaza Const. Co., 413 S.W.2d 167, 169 (Mo.1967). The propriety of summary judgment is purely an issue of law. As the trial court’s judgment is founded on the record submitted and the law, an appellate court need not defer to the trial court's order granting summary judgment. Elliott v. Harris, 423 S.W.2d 831, 834 (Mo. banc 1968); Swink v. Swink, 367 S.W.2d 575, 578 (Mo.1963).

Id. at 376.

Appellants’ first point on appeal asserts the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of respondents and the intervenor-defendants.3 Appellants contend the trial court’s determination that the nonjudicial foreclosure was valid was erroneous because the power of sale “provided that the sale take place in Jasper County, Missouri.”

Section 443.310 4 provides:

All sales of real estate under a power of sale contained in any mortgage or deed of trust executed after this section takes effect shall be made in the county where the land to be sold is situated, and not less than twenty days’ notice of such sale shall be given, whether so provided in such mortgage or deed of trust or not.

This statute was in effect at the time of the execution of the second deed of trust that is the subject of this appeal and at the time it was foreclosed.5

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Related

State Ex Rel. Moore v. Sharp
151 S.W.3d 104 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
872 S.W.2d 533, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 184, 1994 WL 26806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-equity-resources-corp-v-montgomery-moctapp-1994.