Shirley White-Lett v. The Bank of New York Mellon

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedDecember 11, 2025
Docket24-13915
StatusUnpublished

This text of Shirley White-Lett v. The Bank of New York Mellon (Shirley White-Lett v. The Bank of New York Mellon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shirley White-Lett v. The Bank of New York Mellon, (11th Cir. 2025).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 24-13915 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 12/11/2025 Page: 1 of 18

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-13915 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

In re: SHIRLEY WHITE-LETT, Debtor. ___________________________________ SHIRLEY WHITE-LETT, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus

THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, Defendant-Appellee. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 1:24-cv-02365-WMR ____________________

Before JILL PRYOR, LAGOA, and WILSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 24-13915 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 12/11/2025 Page: 2 of 18

2 Opinion of the Court 24-13915

Shirley White-Lett, a bankruptcy debtor proceeding pro se, brought several adversary proceedings related to a debt she owed to creditor Bank of New York Mellon (“BoNYM”). In the third ad- versary proceeding related to the debt, the bankruptcy court granted summary judgment to BoNYM, concluding that White- Lett’s claims were barred by an earlier settlement agreement. She appealed to the district court, which affirmed. She now appeals the district court’s order. Because we agree that the terms of the settle- ment agreement barred White-Lett’s claims, we affirm. I. In May 2005, White-Lett took out a loan, borrowing $636,000, with the loan secured by a security deed on her home. The loan and security deed were later assigned to BoNYM. Over time, BoNYM relied on different companies to service the loan, in- cluding Bank of America, Select Portfolio Services, Inc. (“SPS”), and Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing. In 2010, White-Lett, proceeding pro se, filed a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. When she filed the petition, Bank of Amer- ica was the servicer for her loan. In her petition, she listed Bank of America as a creditor holding a secured claim and indicated that she intended to reaffirm the debt. But no agreement reaffirming the debt was filed in the bankruptcy proceedings. See 11 U.S.C. § 524(c)(3) (requiring a reaffirmation agreement to be filed with a bankruptcy court before the granting of a discharge). In 2011, the bankruptcy court granted White-Lett a discharge, and in 2012, it closed her bankruptcy case. USCA11 Case: 24-13915 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 12/11/2025 Page: 3 of 18

24-13915 Opinion of the Court 3

In November 2013, more than two years after White-Lett received a bankruptcy discharge, SPS took over as the servicer for the loan. SPS acted as servicer until December 2016, when Shell- point took over as servicer. While acting as servicers, both SPS and Shellpoint repeatedly tried to collect the mortgage debt from White-Lett. According to White-Lett, their attempts to collect the debt violated the bankruptcy court’s discharge injunction. For more than a decade, White-Lett has been litigating claims against BoNYM, Bank of America, SPS, Shellpoint, and oth- ers related to the debt. In 2013, she filed a lawsuit in Georgia state court against BoNYM, Bank of America, and others. In the state court action, she asserted, among other things, that BoNYM had never been assigned the security deed. The state court dismissed the action, concluding that White-Lett’s challenge to the security deed’s validity was barred by the doctrine of res judicata because she had received a bankruptcy discharge. The Georgia Court of Ap- peals affirmed. In 2017, White-Lett filed an action in federal district court against BoNYM, SPS, Shellpoint, and others. She asserted claims arising under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), the Truth in Lending Act, and state law. By July 2019, the only claims remain- ing in the action were the FDCPA and RESPA claims against Shell- point. In 2020, White-Lett sought to reopen her bankruptcy case. She asserted that her loan had been discharged in the bankruptcy USCA11 Case: 24-13915 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 12/11/2025 Page: 4 of 18

4 Opinion of the Court 24-13915

and that the mortgage servicers, while acting as agents of BoNYM, had violated the bankruptcy court’s discharge injunction. The bankruptcy court reopened the bankruptcy case, reappointed a trustee, and set a deadline for the filing of proofs of claim. BoNYM filed a proof of claim in the amount of $886,240.81 for the loan. After the bankruptcy proceedings were reopened, White- Lett filed multiple adversary proceedings related to the loan. In the section that follows, we review White-Lett’s first two adversary proceedings. We also discuss that, in the reopened bankruptcy case, BoNYM sought a determination whether there was an auto- matic stay in place. We then review the settlement agreement White-Lett and BoNYM signed in 2022, in which they agreed to resolve some, but not all, of their disputes. We conclude this sec- tion by reviewing White-Lett’s third adversary proceeding, which generated this appeal. 1 A. The First Adversary Proceeding In February 2020, White-Lett filed the first adversary pro- ceeding, bringing claims against BoNYM’s parent company (but not BoNYM itself), SPS, and Shellpoint. She alleged that from De- cember 2013 through July 2017, SPS and Shellpoint violated the bankruptcy court’s discharge injunction by attempting to collect

1 While this appeal was pending, White-Lett filed in the bankruptcy court a

fourth adversary proceeding against BoNYM and other defendants. The bank- ruptcy court dismissed the adversary proceeding. White-Lett’s appeal of that decision is currently pending before the district court. No issues regarding the fourth adversary proceeding are before us in this appeal. USCA11 Case: 24-13915 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 12/11/2025 Page: 5 of 18

24-13915 Opinion of the Court 5

the mortgage debt. She asserted that BoNYM’s parent company was liable under an agency theory for the servicers’ violations. She sought a declaration from the bankruptcy court that she had not reaffirmed the mortgage debt in her bankruptcy proceedings. She also requested that the bankruptcy court hold BoNYM’s parent company, SPS, and Shellpoint in contempt for violating the dis- charge injunction and impose sanctions of more than $1,000,000. In the adversary proceeding, BoNYM’s parent company as- serted that it was not the correct party and proposed that BoNYM be substituted as a defendant. But White-Lett would not agree to the substitution and did not add BoNYM as a defendant despite having the opportunity to do so. The bankruptcy court determined that some of SPS’s com- munications violated the discharge injunction but that none of Shellpoint’s communications had. Although SPS had violated the discharge injunction, the bankruptcy court ruled that it was liable for contempt sanctions only if White-Lett could show that SPS knew of the discharge injunction. Because there was a factual dis- pute about SPS’s knowledge, the bankruptcy court concluded that a trial was necessary. In December 2022, shortly before the trial in the bankruptcy court, White-Lett reached a settlement with BoNYM, which we describe in more detail below. As relevant to the first adversary USCA11 Case: 24-13915 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 12/11/2025 Page: 6 of 18

6 Opinion of the Court 24-13915

proceeding, White-Lett agreed to dismiss with prejudice her claims against BoNYM’s parent company.2 B. The Second Adversary Proceeding In December 2020, White-Lett filed a second adversary pro- ceeding, this time bringing claims against BoNYM and several other entities. She objected to BoNYM’s proof of claim and sought a declaration that it was not entitled to enforce the security deed.

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Shirley White-Lett v. The Bank of New York Mellon, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shirley-white-lett-v-the-bank-of-new-york-mellon-ca11-2025.