Pinti v. Emigrant Mortgage Co.

31 Mass. L. Rptr. 528
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedOctober 31, 2013
DocketNo. MICV201300348
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 31 Mass. L. Rptr. 528 (Pinti v. Emigrant Mortgage Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pinti v. Emigrant Mortgage Co., 31 Mass. L. Rptr. 528 (Mass. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Hogan, Maureen B., J.

The plaintiffs, Linda Pinti (“Pinti”) and Lesley Phillips (“Phillips”) (collectively, the “Plaintiffs”) brought this action against Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc. (“Emigrant”) and Harold Wil-ion (“Wilion”), seeking a declaratory judgment that Emigrant’s foreclosure sale of their property was invalid and that Wilion does not have superior title to the property. Wilion answered the complaint and asserted a counterclaim against the Plaintiffs, seeking a declaratory judgment that the foreclosure of the mortgage was conducted in accordance with Massachusetts law and that there was no defect in the foreclosure sale of the property to Wilion.

This matter is now before the court on Wilion’s motion for summary judgment on the Plaintiffs’ claims and his counterclaim and on the Plaintiffs’ cross motion for summary judgment. For the following reasons, Wilion’s motion for summary judgment will be ALLOWED and the Plaintiffs’ cross motion for summary judgment will be DENIED.

BACKGROUND

The undisputed facts, as set forth in the summary judgment record, are as follows.

In 1982, Phillips bought a condominium located at 1643 Cambridge Street, Unit 52, Cambridge, Massachusetts (the “Property”). On or about July 11, 2005, Phillips conveyed the Property to herself and Pinti by Quitclaim deed and they took title as tenants by the entirety. On or about March 13, 2008, the Plaintiffs granted a mortgage (the “Mortgage”) on the Property to Emigrant to secure a loan in the principal amount of $160,000, which was evidenced by a promissory note (the “Note”). The Mortgage was recorded with the Registry of Deeds on March 25, 2008. Paragraph 22 of the Mortgage provides:

22. Acceleration: Remedies. Lender shall give notice to the Borrower prior to acceleration following Borrower’s breach of any covenant or agreement in this Security Instrument (but not prior to acceleration under Section 18 unless Applicable Law provides otherwise). The notice shall specify: (a) the default; fb) the action required to cure the default; (c) a date, not less than 30 days from the date the notice is given to Borrower, by which the default must be cured; and (d) that failure to cure the default on or before the date specified in the notice may result in acceleration of the sums secured by this Security Instrument and sale of the Property. The notice shall further inform the borrower of the right to reinstate after acceleration and the right to bring a court action to assert the non-existence of a default or of any other defense of Borrower to acceleration and sale. If the default is not cured on or before the date specified in the notice, Lender at its option may require immediate payment in full of all sums secured by this Security Instrument without further demand and may invoke the STATUTORY POWER OF SALE and any other remedies permitted by Applicable Law . . .
If Lender invokes the STATUTORY POWER OF SALE, Lender shall mail a copy of a notice of sale to Borrower, and to other persons prescribed by Applicable Law, in the manner provided by Applicable Law. Lender shall publish the notice of sale, and the Property shall be sold in the manner prescribed by Applicable Law. Lender or its designee may purchase the Property at any sale . . .

As provided in paragraph 38 of the Rider to the Mortgage, the plaintiffs “agree[d] that Paragraph 19 of the mortgage is hereby deleted, and I shall have no right to reinstate the Note and this Mortgage after acceleration thereof under any provision of the Mortgage. I further agree that notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph 22, I shall have no right to receive a notice of a right to reinstate after acceleration of this Mortgage.”

In August 2009, Plaintiffs became delinquent on their payments on the mortgage Note. On September 29, Emigrant sent the Plaintiffs a notice of default and right to cure, which stated:

(N)otice is hereby given pursuant to Paragraph 22 of the Mortgage that you failed to keep the promises/agreements made by you when you executed [the Note and Mortgage]. Specifically, you failed to keep the promises/agreements made under Paragraph 1 of the Mortgage by failing to make payment of the full amounts due under the Mortgage on August 1, 2009 and September 1, 2009. Demand is hereby made on behalf of the Mortgagee that you correct the above referenced defaults and make your loan current by making full payment prior to October 1, 2009 of the sum of [amount redacted] which sum represents regular monthly interest, principal, escrow payments, and late charges past due for August 1, 2009 and September 1, 2009. The amount set forth above necessary to correct the aforementioned defaults must be received no later than December 28, 2009. This date of December 28, 2009 allows you a full 90 days before the foreclosure action can begin by acceleration of the maturity of the unpaid balance of the Note and Mortgage or any other method authorized pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws c. 244 or any other law or other steps can be taken to terminate your ownership in the property or seize your home. Monthly payments will continue to accrue during this 90-day period. Accordingly, depending upon payment date, dll accruals to that date will also be due. . . Additionally, notice is hereby given that you have the right to assert in any [530]*530lawsuit for foreclosure and sale the nonexistence of a default and any other defense you may have to acceleration and foreclosure and sale. If the default is not cured within the period stated above, the Mortgagee, at its option, may require immediate payment in full of all sums secured by this security instrument without further demand and may invoke the Statutory Power of Sale and any other remedies permitted by applicable law.

This notice of default and right to cure clearly informed the Plaintiffs of the nature of the default, the manner in which they could cure the default, the deadline by which such cure must be made, and that failure to cure may result in acceleration of the debt and sale and seizure of the Properly. This notice also informed the Plaintiffs of their “right to assert in any lawsuit for foreclosure and sale the nonexistence of a default and any other defense [they] may have to acceleration and foreclosure and sale.” The Plaintiffs failed to cure the default and Emigrant moved forward with foreclosure of the Mortgage. On February 8, 2010, Emigrant filed an action under the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (the “SCRA”) and obtained judgment thereunder on May 18, 2010.1

By letter, dated June 30, 2011, Pinti requested information from Emigrant regarding the owner of her loan, the holder of the Mortgage, any assignments of the Mortgage, and any purchases of the Note, as well as a copy of the Note “showing all endorsements and/or allonges that show that the purported ‘owner’ of [the Note] maintains legal ‘holder in due course’ status under M.G.L.c.

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Related

Wilion v. Emigrant Mortgage Co.
33 Mass. L. Rptr. 595 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 Mass. L. Rptr. 528, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pinti-v-emigrant-mortgage-co-masssuperct-2013.