Nationstar Mortage LLC v. Martinez

48 Pa. D. & C.5th 491
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedJune 10, 2015
DocketNo. 2014-C-1584
StatusPublished

This text of 48 Pa. D. & C.5th 491 (Nationstar Mortage LLC v. Martinez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nationstar Mortage LLC v. Martinez, 48 Pa. D. & C.5th 491 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

Opinion

REICHLEY, J.,

Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, Plaintiff, filed a motion for summary judgment on March 31, 2015 in the within mortgage foreclosure action. On April 27, 2015, Angel and Maria Martinez, Defendants, by and through counsel, filed a response. On May 26, 2015, the Court heard oral argument on the motion. For the reasons set forth herein, Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is granted.

Factual and Procedural History

Defendants are the mortgagors and record owners of the real property located at 25 East Coleman Street, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. On October 31, 2006, Defendants executed and delivered a mortgage to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as Nominee for K. Hovanian American Mortgage, LLC.

On August 28, 2012, the parties to the mortgage executed and entered into a Loan Modification Agreement, which Plaintiff attached to its complaint as Exhibit “C.” The agreement “amend[ed] and supplemented]...the [494]*494Mortgage...dated the 31st of October, 2006.” (Complaint Exhibit C.) The Loan Modification Agreement was between Bank of America, N.A. and Defendants.

On April 23, 2014, Plaintiff acquired the mortgage from Bank of America. The assignment documentation, properly pled and attached to Plaintiff’s complaint, made no specific reference to the Loan Modification Agreement.

Plaintiff filed its complaint on May 14,2014. Defendants filed an Answer with New Matter on October 27, 2014, and Plaintiffs filed an Answer to Defendants’ New Matter on November 11, 2014.

Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment on March 31, 2015. Defendants filed a response on April 27, 2015. On May 26,2015, the Court heard oral argument on the motion, after which the Court took the matter under advisement.

This Opinion follows.

Discussion

In passing on a motion for summary judgment, the Court must examine the record in a light most favorable to the non-moving party and resolve any doubt in his favor. Swartley v. Hoffner, 734 A.2d 915 (Pa. Super. 1999). The non-moving party may not rest on averments in its pleadings and must demonstrate by evidence that there exists a genuine issue for trial. Younginger v. Heckler, 410 A.2d 340, 342 (Pa. Super. 1979). If there is no response, and summary judgment is otherwise appropriate, it may be entered against him. Id. In the case of a mortgage foreclosure action, pretrial disposition is proper if there is no genuine dispute that: (1) the recorded mortgage is in the specified amount, (2) the mortgage is in default, and [495]*495(3) the mortgagor failed to pay interest on the obligation. Cunningham v. McWilliams, 714 A.2d 1054, 1057 (Pa. Super 1998) (citing Landau v. Western Pennsylvania National Bank, 282 A.2d 335, 340 (Pa. 1971)). This is true even if the mortgagor has not admitted the specific amount of indebtedness in their pleadings. Id.

In this case, the threshold requirements for summary judgment in mortgage foreclosure are satisfied. There is no dispute that the recorded mortgage is in the amount specified, that Defendant is in default, and that she failed to pay interest on the obligation.

In Defendants’ response to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment, as well as in Defendants ’ New Matter, Defendants challenge Plaintiff’s standing to prosecute the instant mortgage action.

The Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure provide, in relevant part, that “[ejxcept as otherwise provided...all actions shall be prosecuted by and in the name of the real party in interest, without distinction between contracts under seal and parol contracts.” Pa.R.C.P. 2002(a). A real party in interest is a “[pjerson who will be entitled to benefits of action if successful.... [A] party is a real party in interest if it has the legal right under the applicable substantive law to enforce the claim in question.” US Bank N.A. v. Mallory, 982 A.2d 986, 993-94 (Pa. Super.2009) (quoting Cole v. Boyd, 719 A.2d 311, 312-313 (Pa. Super. 1998).

Where a mortgage is assigned, the real party in interest with standing to sue is the assignee of the mortgage. Id.; see also Brown v. Esposito, 42 A.2d 93 (Pa. Super. 1945) (indicating assignee may sue as real party in interest). In assessing a party’s standing to pursue amortgage foreclosure action, Pennsylvania courts recognize that an assignee [496]*496stands in the shoes of the assignor and assumes the rights of the assignor. Mallory, 982 A.2d at 994 (citing American Society For Testing & Materials v. Corrpro Companies, Inc., 292 F.Supp.2d 713 (E.D.2003)). Thus, stated more plainly, the person or business entity in possession of a note has standing to enforce it. See JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. v. Murray, 63 A.3d 1258 (Pa. Super. 2013).

Defendants’ argument does not challenge Plaintiff’s standing as assignee to enforce the mortgage. Instead, Defendants contend the assignment made no reference to the Loan Modification Agreement. Accordingly, Defendants argue that Plaintiff is without standing to enforce the terms of the Loan Modification Agreement, which is the operative agreement for purposes of assessing the rights and responsibilities of the respective parties in reference to the subject property.

Defendants cite no law in support of the contention that a Loan Modification Agreement must be separately assigned or otherwise specifically designated in assignment documentation in order for an assignee to have standing to seek to enforce it. Pennsylvania courts have not addressed this issue. The applicable Rule of Civil Procedure requires only that a Plaintiff plead “the parties to and the date of the mortgage, and of any assignments, and a statement of the place of record of the mortgage and assignments.” Pa.R.C.P. 1147(a)(1).

The parties’ Loan Modification Agreement specifically provides that it “amends and supplements” the parties’ mortgage. It alters certain terms of the underlying mortgage. However, it specifically leaves many of the terms of the original mortgage in place. (See Complaint Exhibit C, ¶ 4(a)-(b).) The April 23, 2014 assignment of the mortgage to Plaintiff functioned as an assignment ofthe mortgage as it then [497]*497existed because the original mortgage was a nullity by action of the Loan Modification Agreement. Absent an agreement to the contrary, a Loan Modification Agreement changes the terms of the mortgage agreement without changing its status. This holding is consistent with other jurisdictions. See, e.g., CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Davis, 2014-Ohio-3292, ¶ 16 (loan modification agreement does not change the status of the parties without specific provision to that effect).

This holding is also consistent with longstanding contract principles in the Commonwealth.

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Related

Cole v. Boyd
719 A.2d 311 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Swartley v. Hoffner
734 A.2d 915 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Younginger v. Heckler
410 A.2d 340 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
Melat v. Melat
602 A.2d 380 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
American Society for Testing & Materials v. Corrpro Companies
292 F. Supp. 2d 713 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2003)
Cunningham v. McWilliams
714 A.2d 1054 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Davis
2014 Ohio 3292 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
Knight v. Gulf Refining Company
166 A. 880 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1933)
Brown v. Esposito
42 A.2d 93 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1945)
JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Murray
63 A.3d 1258 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)
Landau v. Western Pennsylvania National Bank
282 A.2d 335 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
Egyptian Sands Real Estate, Inc. v. Polony
294 A.2d 799 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
48 Pa. D. & C.5th 491, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nationstar-mortage-llc-v-martinez-pactcompllehigh-2015.