SEC. FIRST FED. SAV & LOAN v. Jarchin

479 So. 2d 767, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 2451
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 31, 1985
Docket84-235
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 479 So. 2d 767 (SEC. FIRST FED. SAV & LOAN v. Jarchin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
SEC. FIRST FED. SAV & LOAN v. Jarchin, 479 So. 2d 767, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 2451 (Fla. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

479 So.2d 767 (1985)

SECURITY FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION, Appellant,
v.
Glenda W. JARCHIN, Appellee.

No. 84-235.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

October 31, 1985.

G. Larry Sims of Black, Crotty, Sims, Hubka, Burnett and Samuels, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Donald E. Hawkins of Hawkins & Hawkins, Daytona Beach, for appellee.

COBB, Chief Judge.

In this case the mortgagee, Security First Federal Savings & Loan Assn. (Security), attempted to accelerate a mortgage executed in 1968 based on paragraph 14 thereof, which reads:

If a conveyance should be made by the mortgagor of the premises herein described, or of any part thereof, without the written consent of said mortgagee and without the assumption in regular form of law by the grantee of the obligation to the said mortgage created by *768 said promissory note in this mortgage and by whatever agreement for additional advances there may be, then in that event it shall be optional with said mortgagee to declare any said sums of money secured hereby immediately and concurrently with such conveyance due and payable in default, waiver of all notices as required by law hereby expressly made by said mortgagor. (Emphasis added.)

On July 30, 1982, the mortgagor, Glenda Jarchin, entered into a contract for sale and purchase of the encumbered property with Mr. and Mrs. Gormley, who agreed to assume the mortgage at existing rates. When the Gormleys attempted to assume the mortgage, however, Security told them it was assumable only at a new, accelerated interest rate unilaterally established by Security. The purchasers refused to close under the terms and conditions dictated by Security. Jarchin conveyed the property on October 28, 1982, by giving a "purchase money wrap-around mortgage" in which she became the mortgagee and the purchasers became the mortgagors under the same terms and conditions as provided for in the contract for sale and purchase, and the same terms and conditions which would have been given by Security had the assumption been granted in accordance with the original terms of the mortgage.

At all times subsequent to the closing between Jarchin and the Gormleys, Jarchin has fully complied with the terms and conditions of the promissory note and mortgage outstanding in favor of Security, and there has been no impairment of the security of the mortgage in question. On December 1, 1982, Security sent notice to Jarchin of an alleged breach. Jarchin then filed a three-count complaint seeking (1) a declaratory judgment; (2) damages for Security's breach of the mortgage agreement; and (3) injunctive relief to prevent Security from acceleration and foreclosure. Security filed a counterclaim for foreclosure of the mortgage.

Subsequently, the trial court entered a partial summary judgment for Jarchin finding, inter alia:

The mortgage in question contains a dual requirement that a conveyance must be both without the written consent of the mortgage holder and without assumption in the regular form of law before its due on sale clause applies. This wording has been previously considered in Home Federal Saving & Loan Assn. of Palm Beach v. English, 249 So.2d 707 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971), and as such this Court finds that the mortgage in question is not controlled by the Garn St. Germain Depository Institution's Act... .
Accordingly, the Court finds that the defendant, Security First Federal Savings & Loan Association, unreasonably withheld its consent to the loan assumption in question. Furthermore, the defendant Security may not in such circumstances charge an additional rate beyond that which was contractually agreed between the parties in the mortgage document, and the defendant Security is ordered to accept payment as properly tendered in accordance with the mortgage document entered between the parties.
The counterclaim for foreclosure of mortgage brought by the defendant, Security First Federal Savings & Loan Association against the plaintiff is dismissed. All remaining issues are reserved until further hearing.

Security appeals entry of the partial judgment. Since the trial court's order granted injunctive relief and determined the issue of liability in favor of Jarchin, who was seeking affirmative relief, we have jurisdiction pursuant to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.130(a)(3)(B) and (C)(iv).

It is clear under the recent Florida Supreme Court case of Weiman v. McHaffie, 470 So.2d 682 (Fla. 1985), and the Garn-St. Germain Act, that a lender, at its option, may strictly enforce a "due-on-sale" clause in a mortgage irrespective of any consideration of the impairment of the security occasioned by the sale. But that is *769 not the issue here. Both section 1701j-3(b)(2) of the Garn Act and Federal Regulation 12 C.F.R., section 545.8-3(f) (1982), specifically recognize that the rights and remedies of both parties are fixed and governed by the mortgage contract. Any law attempting to impair an existing contract would be patently unconstitutional. See Article I, Section 10, United States Constitution. It was noted by the United States Supreme Court in Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Assn. v. de la Cuesta, 458 U.S. 141, 102 S.Ct. 3014, 73 L.Ed.2d 664 (1982):

Moreover, in our view, the second sentence of section 545.8-3(f) simply makes clear that the regulation does not empower federal savings and loans to accelerate a loan upon transfer of the security property unless the parties to the particular loan instrument, as a matter of contract, have given the lender that right. Similarly, if the parties to a given contract agree somehow to limit the association's right to exercise a due-on-sale provision, the second sentence of section 545.8-3(f) precludes the lender from relying on the first sentence as authorizing more expansive use of the clause.

458 U.S. at 157-58, 102 S.Ct. at 3024-25.

We agree with the trial court's determination that Security's right to accelerate based on the due-on-sale provision in paragraph 14 arises only if the conveyance is without the written consent of the mortgage holder and without assumption in regular form of law. Security could not at its option accelerate the debt until the two conditions had been fulfilled, and the second was not — due to the good faith attempt by the Gormleys, frustrated by Security, to assume the mortgage in regular form of law. Security's argument would be valid only if the conjunctive "and" in paragraph 14 is read as the disjunctive "or."

The trial court relied on Home Federal Savings & Loan Assn. of Palm Beach v. English, 249 So.2d 707 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971), wherein Home Federal claimed the right to accelerate the debt and foreclose on the mortgaged real property for the alleged failure of a subsequent purchaser of the real property to obtain its written consent to assume the mortgage. The mortgage in question in English contained a clause which stated:

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Bluebook (online)
479 So. 2d 767, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 2451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sec-first-fed-sav-loan-v-jarchin-fladistctapp-1985.