Sutton Funding, L.L.C. v. Herres

936 N.E.2d 574, 188 Ohio App. 3d 686
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 6, 2010
DocketNo. 23625
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 936 N.E.2d 574 (Sutton Funding, L.L.C. v. Herres) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sutton Funding, L.L.C. v. Herres, 936 N.E.2d 574, 188 Ohio App. 3d 686 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Froelich, Judge.

{¶ 1} Mark Herres appeals from a judgment of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, which dismissed his counterclaim and granted summary judgment to Sutton Funding, L.L.C., on its foreclosure claim. For the following reasons, the trial court’s judgment will be affirmed.

I

{¶ 2} On April 19, 2007, Mark Herres borrowed $250,750 from EquiFirst Corporation and executed an adjustable-rate note in favor of EquiFirst for that amount. The note indicated that Herres would make monthly payments to HomEq Servicing, P.O. Box 79230, City of Industry, California, 91716. Herres’s monthly payments of $2,108.45 were to begin on June 1, 2007.

{¶ 3} On the same date that Herres executed the note, Herres also executed a mortgage to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), as nominee for EquiFirst and EquiFirst’s successors and assigns. The mortgage secured payment of the note with the real property located at 300 Pauly Drive in Clayton, Ohio. Paragraph 20 of the mortgage informed Herres that the note, or a partial interest in the note, together with the mortgage, could be sold one or more times without prior notice to him and that these sales might result in a change of the loan servicer, i.e., the entity that collects his monthly payments; Herres would receive a written notice if there were any change in the loan servicer. The mortgage further stated that if the note were sold and the loan continued to be serviced by a loan servicer, the loan-servicing responsibilities would remain with the loan servicer and would not be assumed by the note’s purchaser.

{¶ 4} The portion of the mortgage discussing transfer of rights in the property indicates that Herres “understands and agrees that MERS holds only legal title [690]*690to the interests granted by Borrower in this Security Instrument, but, if necessary to comply with law or custom, MERS (as nominee for Lender and Lender’s successors and assigns) has the right: to exercise any or all of those interests, including, but not limited to, the right to foreclose and sell the Property.” The mortgage was recorded in the Montgomery County Recorder’s office on May 22, 2007.

{¶ 5} In his verified memorandum in opposition to summary judgment, Herres states that he was informed at closing that he would receive a welcoming package and payment book with instructions regarding who was to receive payments. Herres did not receive that information. After 30 days, Herres “called Select Mortgage Group who handled the original note, and inquired as to the status of this matter. He was informed at that time that the note and mortgage had been sold.” 1

{¶ 6} Herres failed to make payments in June and July 2007, as required by the note and the mortgage. On July 17, 2007, HomEq sent correspondence to Herres informing him that he was in default of the note and the mortgage, that HomEq might accelerate the maturity date of his loan, and that in order to avoid further action, full and timely payment of $4,427.74 had to be received by HomEq on or before August 21, 2007. The letter requested that remittance be sent to HomEq at P.O. Box 70829, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28272-0829. The letter listed the current creditor and owner as Sutton Funding.

{¶ 7} Herres states that he also received a telephone call from HomEq requesting immediate payment; Herres informed the caller that he did not know who HomEq was (despite the fact that HomEq was listed as the payee on the note) and that he needed to see documentation that the note and mortgage had been assigned to HomEq and/or Sutton Funding. Herres indicated to HomEq that he would not make a payment “over the telephone at this time.” Herres states that he “believed it would be foolish to make a payment to someone who he had never heard of without any proof that it was, in fact, the new holder of the note and mortgage.”

{¶ 8} On July 20, 2007, HomEq received payment from Herres in the amount of $4,216.90 (the sum of two regular monthly payments), but the check was returned for insufficient funds. Herres made a subsequent payment of $4,216.90 on September 5, 2007, and this check cleared.

[691]*691{¶ 9} On September 17, 2007, HomEq again sent a letter to Herres, informing him that he was in default as of August 1, 2007, and telling him that HomEq might accelerate the maturity date of his loan and that in order to avoid further action, full and timely payment of $4,823.16 had to be received by HomEq on or before October 22, 2007. The letter requested that remittance be sent to HomEq at P.O. Box 70830, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28272-0830. The letter again indicated that the current creditor and owner was Sutton Funding.

{¶ 10} Although both letters from HomEq to Herres had previously indicated that Sutton Funding was the owner of the note, EquiFirst transferred its interest in the note to Sutton Funding by means of an allonge on October 27, 2007. HomEq continued to be the loan servicer for the note. Herres states that he did not receive any notice that the note had been transferred to Sutton Funding and “for an extended period of time, did not know who to pay.”

{¶ 11} Herres states that he called HomEq and “emphatically stated that he would not make any further payments until he was provided with some proof of assignment of the note and mortgage in question.” Herres was notified that he owed approximately $6,000.

{¶ 12} On November 23, 2007, HomEq received a payment from Herres in the amount of $6,325.35 ($2,108.45 x 3), which was applied to the payments due on August 1, September 1, and October 1, 2007. On December 17, 2007, HomEq sent Herres a third letter, notifying him that he was in default as of November 1, 2007. This letter requested that payment of $5,139.42 be sent to HomEq at P.O. Box 70830, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28272-0830, by January 21, 2008, and informed Herres of the consequences of failing to do so. Although previous letters had identified the current owner of the debt as Sutton Funding, the December 2007 letter stated that the current owner and creditor was Barclays Bank P.L.C. Herres states that he also received a telephone call from HomEq requesting immediate payment; Herres informed HomEq that he would not make any further payments until he received proof of the assignment of the note and the mortgage. Herres failed to make any further payments.

{¶ 13} On February 5, 2008, Sutton Funding filed a complaint in foreclosure against Herres and others who might have an interest in the property. Sutton Funding claimed that it held the note and the mortgage, that Herres was in default, and that Sutton Funding was due $250,123.42, together with interest at the rate of 9.5 percent from October 1, 2007, plus court costs, advances, and other charges. Sutton Funding requested judgment on the note and foreclosure of the property. Sutton Funding attached copies of the note (without the allonge) and the mortgage to its complaint.

{¶ 14} On February 12, 2008 — one week after the complaint was filed — MERS assigned its interest in the mortgage to Sutton Funding. The assignment of the [692]*692mortgage was recorded with the Montgomery County Recorder’s Office on February 27, 2008.

{¶ 15} In April 2008, Herres sent a check, dated April 1, 2008, to HomEq in the amount of $8,800. Herres states that “[s]aid payment was returned to Defendant by HomEq. It was indicated that it had been sent to the wrong HomEq office and that it was not for the correct amount.

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Bluebook (online)
936 N.E.2d 574, 188 Ohio App. 3d 686, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sutton-funding-llc-v-herres-ohioctapp-2010.