United States v. Jacono

244 F. App'x 416
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedAugust 6, 2007
Docket06-2155
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 244 F. App'x 416 (United States v. Jacono) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Jacono, 244 F. App'x 416 (3d Cir. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

RENDELL, Circuit Judge.

Robert Miller appeals the District Court’s order granting the United States’ motion to amend its complaint and granting its motion for summary judgment in this mortgage foreclosure action initiated by the United States against the estate of William Jacono. We will affirm.

I.

On June 11, 1993, William Jacono (“Jacono”) took out a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (“HECM”) from Hart Mortgage Company (“Hart”) on his home located at 4178 Oliver Avenue in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, in order to secure a home equity *418 line of credit. The property was also mortgaged in favor of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), which insured the Hart mortgage, When the Hart mortgage was later assigned to HUD on February 4, 2000, the HUD mortgage was thereafter released and marked satisfied, although the primary Hart mortgage remained unsatisfied. Both the Hart mortgage and the HUD mortgage were recorded in the real estate records of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on July 1,1993.

Under the terms of the loan agreement between Hart and Jacono, Hart agreed to advance Jacono up to 150% of the appraised value of his home. Jacono in fact received advances totaling $79,489.03 during his lifetime. In addition, interest, service fees, and mortgage insurance premiums accrued and were added to the principal. The outstanding balance on the home equity loan as of March 3, 2006 was $189,754.54. Under the agreement, the lender could require full and immediate payment of the loan balance upon Jacono’s death, but could only recover the debt through the sale of the mortgaged property. The lender could not obtain a deficiency judgment against Jacono. Jacono died on October 11, 2003, and the United States, as the holder of the Hart mortgage, instituted this foreclosure action against Jacono’s estate in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

James Jacono (“James”), the son and only known heir of William Jacono, and Robert Miller, the current Trustee of the Irrevocable Living Trust of William Jacono (“the Trust”), argued before the District Court that Jacono conveyed the property at issue to the Trust on August 11, 1992, prior to the date that he mortgaged the property in favor of Hart. However, the deed conveying the property from Jacono to the Trust was not recorded until 2003, after the Hart mortgage had already been recorded.

The United States moved for summary judgment in the District Court and also requested permission to amend its complaint to attach the correct mortgage note. The Court granted the motions and entered a judgment in favor of the United States. 1 Miller appealed.

II.

We exercise plenary review over an order granting a motion for summary judgment and apply the same standard as the District Court. Andreoli v. Gates, 482 F.3d 641, 647 (3d Cir.2007). Summary judgment is appropriate when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). We “must view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draw all inferences in that party’s favor.” Farrell v. Planters Lifesavers Co., 206 F.3d 271, 278 (3d Cir.2000).

*419 Under Pennsylvania’s recording statute, an unrecorded deed is void as to any subsequent “bona fide purchaser or mortgagee.” 21 Pa. Cons.Stat. § 351. 2 A “bona fide purchaser” is “one who pays valuable consideration, has no notice of outstanding rights of others, and acts in good faith.” Carnegie Natural Gas Co. v. Braddock, 142 Pa.Cmwlth. 383, 597 A.2d 285, 288 (1991). “The burden of proving notice is upon the party asserting unrecorded rights in the property.” Id. Miller argues that there is a genuine issue of material fact concerning whether Hart had notice that Jacono had conveyed the property to the Trust prior to 1993.

First, Miller contends that Jacono did not receive the face-to-face counseling “required” by the HUD regulations governing Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (“HECM”) and that such counseling would have likely brought to light the fact that Jacono had deeded the property to the Trust. 3 Miller argues that a factfinder could conclude that the mortgagee had constructive notice of the prior conveyance of the property to the Trust based on evidence that the mortgagee failed to ensure that the mortgagor received the required counseling and that the mortgagee would have learned about the conveyance if the required counseling had occurred. However, even if constructive notice could be proved in this way, there is no evidence that Jacono did not receive the counseling required under the HUD regulations. The HUD “guidelines” that Miller references require only that “[hjousing counselors should make every effort to provide HECM counseling on a face-to-face basis.... Telephone counseling should be an alternative only where face-to-face counseling is unfeasible.” App. 125. Here, Jacono contacted the Philadelphia Council for Community Advancement (“PCCA”) for mortgage counseling. At the time that Jacono sought counseling, there were no agencies in Delaware County that provided counseling of this kind. Henry Cruz, who was the Director of Housing Counseling at PCCA, testified that the agency’s procedure was “always to ask if [clients] could come in for a face-to-face, yes. That was always the first request.” App. 119. There is no evidence from which a factfinder could conclude that PCCA failed to try to get Jacono to come in for face-to-face counseling prior to counseling him over the phone or otherwise failed to comply with the HUD regulations governing HECM.

Miller further contends that there is a genuine factual dispute as to whether Jacono told the Hart employee who assisted him in filling out the mortgage loan application that the property was owned by the Trust. However, the evidence proffered by Miller is insufficient to allow a factfinder to make this finding. Miller points out that the mortgage application says “Establish Trust” in the box entitled “Purpose of Refinance.” App. 235. In addition, there is some sketchy notation next to the property address on page 3 of *420 the application that Miller argues reads “ET.” App. 237. Finally, Miller notes that Jacono requested that the proceeds of the loan be deposited into a Fidelity account which, according to the bank statement submitted with Jacono’s mortgage application, is owned by the Trust rather than Jacono.

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244 F. App'x 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-jacono-ca3-2007.