Trumbull Twp. Bd. of Trustees v. Rickard

2019 Ohio 2502
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 24, 2019
Docket2017-A-0048
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2019 Ohio 2502 (Trumbull Twp. Bd. of Trustees v. Rickard) 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
Trumbull Twp. Bd. of Trustees v. Rickard, 2019 Ohio 2502 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

[Cite as Trumbull Twp. Bd. of Trustees v. Rickard, 2019-Ohio-2502.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO

TRUMBULL TOWNSHIP BOARD OF : OPINION TRUSTEES, ASSIGNEE OF GEAUGA SAVINGS BANK, : CASE NO. 2017-A-0048 Plaintiff-Appellant, :

- vs - :

LAWRENCE RICKARD, et al., :

Defendant-Appellee. :

Civil Appeal from the Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 2011 CV 1081.

Judgment: Affirmed.

Sandra J. Rosenthal, 25423 Cardington Drive, Beachwood, OH 44122, and Catherine R. Colgan, Assistant Prosecutor, Ashtabula County Courthouse, 25 West Jefferson Street, Jefferson, OH 44047 (For Plaintiff-Appellant).

Erik L. Walter and Grant J. Keating, Dworken & Bernstein Co., L.P.A., 60 South Park Place, Painesville, OH 44077 (For Defendant-Appellee).

THOMAS R. WRIGHT, P.J.

{¶1} Appellant, the Board of Trumbull Township Trustees (the Township),

appeals the trial court’s July 21, 2017 decisions approving Lawrence Rickard’s

redemption of the subject property and vacating the September 9, 2016 judgment entry

of foreclosure and dismissing the case. We affirm. {¶2} This is the third appeal in this case. The first appeal arose via the

Township’s motion to intervene and ended with a finding that we lacked jurisdiction due

to a lack of a final appealable order. Geauga Savs. Bank v. Rickard, 11th Dist. Ashtabula

No. 2012-A-0052, 2013-Ohio-3863, ¶11. In “Appeal II,” decided on July 24, 2017, we

summarized the procedural history, Trumbull Twp. Bd. of Trustees v. Rickard, 11th Dist.

Ashtabula No. 2016-A-0061, 2017-Ohio-6945, ¶2-5:

{¶3} “In November 2011, Geauga Savings Bank (GSB) filed a complaint for

foreclosure against appellee, Lawrence Rickard, pursuant to his assumption of a loan

agreement, based on Rickard’s nonpayment and against Bryce R.T. Seymour and

Christine Seymour, whose mortgage Rickard assumed. The Township was not a party to

the suit.

{¶4} “In 2014, GSB filed a motion for summary judgment against Rickard and the

Seymours seeking foreclosure and money damages based on Rickard’s default.

{¶5} “After the parties’ competing motions and briefs were filed regarding

summary judgment, but before the trial court issued its decision, the Township was

substituted as the plaintiff in place of GSB on January 5, 2016 pursuant to GSB’s

assignment of Rickard’s assumption agreement, mortgage, and note.

{¶6} “On July 29, 2016, the trial court granted the Township summary judgment

as to foreclosure and reformation of the legal description and ordered the Township to

produce a judgment entry of foreclosure within 30 days. However, it denied summary

judgment on GSB’s request for attorney fees as well as its request for a hearing on the

issue. The trial court later issued its judgment entry of foreclosure on September 9, 2016.”

2 {¶7} We reversed and remanded finding that the Township, as GSB’s assignee,

“stand[s] in the shoes of the prior plaintiff and acquire[s] the prior parties’ right to recover

attorney fees incurred in enforcing the note against Rickard.” Id. at ¶18. Accordingly, the

trial court erred in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing on the attorney fee issue. Id.

{¶8} Notwithstanding the pending appeal in Appeal II, on March 29, 2017,

Rickard filed a motion to vacate the July 29, 2016 decision granting the Township

summary judgment and the September 9, 2016 decree of foreclosure and for approval of

redemption of the subject property. This motion also sought an order distributing the

funds Rickard deposited with the clerk of courts to satisfy his outstanding obligations

regarding the property.

{¶9} Rickard then moved this court to stay the appeal in Appeal II due to his

pending motion to redeem the property in the trial court. We overruled his motion to stay

Appeal II, noting that the appeal was not moot. Neither party had moved to stay the trial

court’s July 29, 2016 summary judgment decision and September 9, 2016 judgment entry

of foreclosure at this time.

{¶10} On April 7, 2017, the Township filed its opposition to Rickard’s motion to

vacate and for a redemption order, and for the first time, the Township moved the trial

court to stay its foreclosure proceedings. It argued in part that the pendency of Appeal II

deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to approve Rickard’s redemption and consider the

motion to vacate the foreclosure decree.

{¶11} Rickard opposed the Township’s motion to stay the trial court proceedings,

alleging irreparable harm based on the continued accrual of interest during the pendency

of the appeal, noting that the principal amount owed pursuant to the note was $50,992.04,

3 but that this amount had increased by approximately $20,000 during the protracted

litigation. And because Rickard had already deposited the outstanding funds with the

clerk of courts necessary to satisfy the trial court’s September 9, 2016 foreclosure decree,

Rickard urged the court to find that he successfully exercised his right to redeem the

property.

{¶12} Following a hearing, the magistrate overruled the Township’s motion to stay

and granted Rickard’s motion for approval of redemption and to vacate the September 9,

2016 judgment, finding that the note was satisfied. The magistrate directed Rickard to

prepare a judgment entry outlining the proper disbursement of the funds deposited with

the clerk of courts. The Township filed objections.

{¶13} On July 21, 2017, the trial court granted Rickard’s motions to redeem and

vacate the September 9, 2016 decree of foreclosure. It overruled the Township’s

objections and adopted and approved the magistrate’s decision, explaining in part:

{¶14} “[A]bsent a stay of execution, the plaintiff may proceed with a foreclosure

sale while an appeal is pending. By the same logic, the defendant should not be

prevented from exercising a statutory right to redeem the property. It is not clear whether

this Court has the authority to issue an order prohibiting a judgment debtor from exercising

the statutory right of redemption. However, continuing to delay the defendant’s ability to

redeem the property substantially prejudices the defendant, while the plaintiff will surely

seek to claim interest on the underlying judgment until the date it is ultimately paid.”

{¶15} The redemption journal entry, ordering the disbursement of funds that

Rickard deposited with the clerk of courts, was also issued on July 21, 2017. It orders

4 the clerk to distribute the funds on deposit, orders the judgment and decree of foreclosure

vacated, and dismisses the case with prejudice.

{¶16} The Township subsequently moved the trial court to stay its ruling granting

redemption and vacating the foreclosure decree pending the instant appeal, Appeal III,

which the trial court granted. Accordingly, the trial court stayed the attorney fee hearing

on remand following Appeal II pending the resolution of this appeal.

{¶17} The Township raises one assigned error, which asserts:

{¶18} “The trial court erred in vacating its judgment granting a foreclosure and in

approving a redemption as well as dismissing the case with prejudice when the judgment

it vacated was under review in a pending appeal.”

{¶19} The Township raises three arguments under its sole assigned error. First,

it claims the trial court lacked jurisdiction to dismiss the case with prejudice when an

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 Ohio 2502, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trumbull-twp-bd-of-trustees-v-rickard-ohioctapp-2019.