Ross v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

122 So. 3d 219, 2013 WL 765585, 2013 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 52
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 1, 2013
Docket2111182
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 122 So. 3d 219 (Ross v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ross v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 122 So. 3d 219, 2013 WL 765585, 2013 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 52 (Ala. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

THOMPSON, Presiding Judge.

Howard Ross appeals from a summary judgment entered by the Madison Circuit Court (“the trial court”) in favor of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. We reverse.

Wells Fargo initiated the proceedings below in March 2008 by filing a “complaint for declaratory judgment, redemption and ejectment” against Ross and a number of other defendants, seeking as to certain real property, among other things, to quiet title and to establish its redemption rights and its right to immediate possession.1 Ross filed an answer pro se.

In July 2008, Wells Fargo filed a motion for a summary judgment with a supporting brief, an affidavit, and documentation that, among other things, traced Wells Fargo’s title to the property.

Approximately six months later, in December 2008, Wells Fargo filed a motion for a temporary restraining order seeking to prevent Ross and another defendant from leasing or selling the property. Following a hearing on that motion, the trial court entered an order on February 19, 2009, that, among other things, denied Wells Fargo’s request for a temporary restraining order. In that order, the trial court determined, in part:

“This action was filed by [Wells Fargo] seeking a bill to quiet title and ejectment of [Ross and other defendants] from a parcel of land, located in Madison County, Alabama, more particularly described as, to wit:
“Lot 5, Block O, according to the map of survey of the Subdivision of Concord Place, as recorded in the Office of the Judge of Probate of Madison County, Alabama, in Plat Book 5, Page 39 ....
“[Wells Fargo] traces its title back to Sequita and Marcus Young, who allegedly purchased the said parcel on September 24, 2004, and financed said purchase with a mortgage given to Argent Mortgage Company, LLC.
“On December 29, 200k, Argent Mortgage Company allegedly executed an assignment of its mortgage interest in the above described real property to Ameri-quest Mortgage Company, which assignment was allegedly recorded on September 7, 2006. However, [Wells Fargo’s] said exhibit describes a different parcel of property and names a different mortgagor, namely, Donald Williams and wife Mia M. Williams and a parcel description set out in Exhibit A to the said assignment, to wit:
“ ‘Lot 16 Block 2 according to the map of survey of Holly Acres. Sixth Addition, Huntsville, Alabama as recorded in Plat Book 6, Page U5, in the Office of the Judge of Probate of Madison County, Alabama. ’
[221]*221“On September 28, 2004, [Wells Fargo] alleges Ameriquest Mortgage Company executed an assignment of the said mortgage to the above described parcel to “Wells Fargo Bank, NA, as Trustee.’ The said assignment was allegedly recorded on September 7, 2006.
“The said document references Sequi-ta Young and her husband Marcus Young as mortgagors and sets forth in an Exhibit ‘A’ to the assignment the proper legal description of the said parcel.
“The balance of [Wells Fargo’s] allegations describe and provide exhibits documenting Defendant Howard Ross’s purchase of the said parcel at auction from the Tax Collector of Madison County Alabama on May 12, 2006.
“[Wells Fargo] alleges that the last holders of the warranty deed to the said parcel, Sequita Young and Marcus Young, defaulted under the terms of the mortgage allegedly assigned to it, which precipitated the foreclosure procedure which resulted in the issuance of a foreclosure deed to [Wells Fargo] on June 29, 2006, which said deed was recorded in the Office of the Probate Judge of Madison County on September 7, 2006.
“[Wells Fargo] claims superior title and the immediate right to possession of the said parcel as to Defendant Ross and all Defendants who hold, will hold or who have held possession under Defendant Ross’s claim to title and possession which arises from his purchase of the said parcel for delinquent real estate taxes.
“Defendant Ross asserts to the Court that the amount paid into Court by [Wells Fargo] as redemption for the property is not an adequate sum under the redemption statues of the State of Alabama. Defendant Ross also alleges that [Wells Fargo] has in other ways
failed to comply with the statutory method for redeeming real property, and thus there is a genuine dispute with regard to which party holds superior title and the right of immediate possession of the said parcel of real property.
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“Given the current state of the title to said parcel of real property, the Court, upon preliminary consideration of [Wells Fargo’s] motion finds that whether [Wells Fargo] succeeds on the merits of its claim is not at all clear at this point in the proceedings and that due to this fact, does not find that all of the necessary prerequisites to the issuance of an injunction lie at this time.
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“The foregoing matters and authority having been considered by the Court, the following is hereby ORDERED:
“[Wells Fargo’s] motion for preliminary injunctive relief is hereby DENIED....”

(Emphasis added; footnotes omitted.)

In October 2011, Wells Fargo again filed a motion for a summary judgment with a supporting brief and documentation. In February 2012, Wells Fargo filed a supporting affidavit and documentation. In both instances, Wells Fargo failed to correct the title-documentation problem noted in the February 19, 2009, order; it continued to submit copies of the erroneous mortgage assignment not associated with the property at issue in this case.

In December 2011, Ross, represented by legal counsel, filed what he referred to as an “answer” to Wells Fargo’s summary-judgment motion, along with a supporting affidavit and documentation. In March 2012, Ross filed a second “answer” to Wells Fargo’s summary-judgment motion, along with supporting affidavits and documentation; that supporting material in-[222]*222eluded, among other things, a copy of the February 19, 2009, order. In his second “answer,” Ross requested, among other things, that the trial court “deny [Wells Fargo’s summary-judgment] motion due to the failure of [Wells Fargo] to provide uncontroverted material facts that make a showing of [its] title and redemption from tax sale of the property in question that supports [its] request for possession.” Ross also maintained that “[Wells Fargo] has not made a prima facie showing that it is vested with a title that gives it a right to recover possession of the property. [Ross] has provided substantial evidence that his right to possess the property has not been terminated.”

Shortly thereafter, also in March 2012, Wells Fargo, represented by different legal counsel, filed what it referred to as a “reply” to Ross’s “answer”; that “reply,” among other things, added an argument that Ross’s challenge to its certifícate of redemption was not timely. Ross filed an “answer” to “the new issue raised by [Wells Fargo].”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
122 So. 3d 219, 2013 WL 765585, 2013 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 52, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ross-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-alacivapp-2013.