Payne v. Wells Fargo Bank National Ass'n

637 F. App'x 833
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit·Decided February 11, 2016·No. No. 15-10366·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

After Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. foreclosed on Candis Payne’s home, she sued in Tex[835] as state court, alleging, among other claims, that Wells Fargo failed to provide proper notice and failed to apply insurance proceeds to cure her default. Wells Fargo removed the case to federal court and moved for summary judgment, which the court granted. We affirm.

In November 2006, Payne obtained a loan from LMI Funding to buy a house in Dallas, Texas. She signed a promissory note and a deed of trust, which were transferred to Wells Fargo in 2007. In February 2008, a fire damaged Payne’s' home and she submitted a claim of loss to her insurer, ASI Lloyds. Payne then fell behind on her mortgage payments and defaulted on her loan in March 2008. Providing notice that the loan was in default, Wells Fargo gave. Payne until July to bring it current. Payne failed to cure the default and thereafter filed for bankruptcy, postponing foreclosure.

During the pendency of Payne’s bankruptcy proceedings, Wells Fargo received an insurance check as payment for the fire damage. Pursuant to the terms of the deed of trust, insurance proceeds were to be made payable to the lender, and the lender had the option of applying the insurance proceeds to reduce the indebtedness of the loan or to repair the damaged property. Wells Fargo endorsed the check in May 2009 but did not act to repair the property or reduce the loan. Payne’s bankruptcy proceedings were dismissed in June 2009. A foreclosure sale followed in September 2009, and Wells Fargo purchased the property.

Payne sued Wells Fargo and others in state court, challenging Wells Fargo’s authority to foreclose. Wells Fargo removed the case to federal court on the basis of diversity and filed a motion to dismiss. The magistrate judge (“MJ”) recommended granting the motion but permitting Payne to replead her claims related to lack of proper notice. Neither party objected. Payne filed a second amended complaint, reasserting many of the same claims, and Wells Fargo moved for summary judgment,1 The MJ recommended granting summary judgment, and the court adopted the recommendation over Payne’s objections. This appeal followed.

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo and affirm if the record demonstrates that “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); see Williams v. N. Am. Van Lines of Tex., Inc., 731 F.3d 367, 368 (5th Cir.2013). “An issue is material if its resolution could affect the outcome of the action.” Daniels v. City of Arlington, 246 F.3d 500, 502 (5th Cir. 2001).

Payne appeals on nine claims: breach of contract; wrongful foreclosure; usury; common law fraud; Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”); Texas Theft Liability Act; money had and received; slander of credit; and declaratory judgment. We examine each in turn.

Payne first asserts that Wells Fargo breached the terms of the deed of trust. This claim is predicated on Payne’s contention that Wells Fargo misused the insur-[836] anees proceeds by failing to apply the funds to the note thereby curing her default. The deed of trust, however, expressly provides that Wells Fargo is entitled to use the insurance funds to repair damage to the property rather than credit the proceeds against the debt. And the deed provides no specific time period within which Wells Fargo must elect an option; Furthermore, Texas law — which the parties agree applies here — provides that performance or tendered performance by the plaintiff is an essential element of a breach of contract claim. Mullins v. TestAmerica, Inc., 564 F.3d 386, 418 (5th Cir.2009). “[A] party in default cannot sue for breach of contract.” Stevens v. Deutsche Bank Nat. Trust Co., 570 Fed.Appx. 402, 403 (5th Cir.2014); see Dobbins v. Redden, 785 S.W.2d 377, 378 (Tex.1990).

Payne relies on Statewide Bank & SN Servicing Corp. v. Keith, 301 S.W.3d-776, 781-83 (TexApp.-Beaumont 2009, pet. abated) for the proposition that a lender must “make a decision on utilizing the insurance proceeds fairly quickly.” Id. at 782. The court in Statewide Bank held that a mortgagee’s seven-month delay after receiving insurance proceeds to elect to repair property constituted a breach of the deed of trust. Statewide Bank is inappo-site, however, because the plaintiff-homeowner had not defaulted on his loan. Id. at 778. Here, Payne defaulted in March 2008, and Wells Fargo received the insurance proceeds in May 2009. Payne offers no evidence that she performed her obligations under the note before Wells Fargo received the insurance proceeds. Rather than contest her failure to perform, Payne maintains that credit from the insurance payment would have cured her default. The terms of the deed, however, do not mandate that Wells Fargo apply insurance funds against the debt, and Payne’s prior default precludes her breach of contract claim. Summary judgment was proper on this claim. See Eastty v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. A-13-CA-915-55, 2014 WL 2722319, at *3 (W.D.Tex. June 16, 2014) (dismissing homeowner’s breach of contract claim predicated on misuse of insurance proceeds because of prior default).

Second, Payne maintains that Wells Fargo wrongfully foreclosed on the property. She alleges that the pre-foreclosure notices were defective because the notices of acceleration were sent after Wells Fargo received the insurance proceeds. Payne asserts that Wells Fargo’s failure to apply the proceeds to the note led to defective notice, depriving her of the chance to cure her default. Under Texas law, to allege wrongful foreclosure, a plaintiff must demonstrate: (1) a defect in the foreclosure sale proceedings; (2) a grossly inadequate selling price; and (3) a causal connection between the defect and the grossly inadequate selling price. Miller v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P., 726 F.3d 717, 726 (5th Cir.2013). Payne neither alleges nor offers evidence of a grossly inadequate selling price or a connection between the selling price and alleged procedural defect. Accordingly, her wrongful foreclosure claim fails and summary judgment was appropriately granted.

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Payne v. Wells Fargo Bank National Ass'n, 637 F. App'x 833 (5th Cir. 2016).

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