Wells Fargo Bank v. Mowery

931 N.E.2d 1121, 187 Ohio App. 3d 268
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 5, 2010
DocketNo. 09CA3300
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 931 N.E.2d 1121 (Wells Fargo Bank v. Mowery) 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
Wells Fargo Bank v. Mowery, 931 N.E.2d 1121, 187 Ohio App. 3d 268 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Kline, Judge.

{¶ 1} Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, National Association (“Wells Fargo”), as trustee under the Pooling and Servicing Agreement Dated as of February 28, 2001, Series 2001-A, appeals the judgment of the Scioto County Court of Common Pleas. Wells Fargo filed its complaint because of alleged mistakes in two separate transactions. The first mistake occurred during the transfer of real property between Wilma McClurg (“Wilma”) and Joe McClurg Sr. (“Joe Senior”). And the second mistake occurred when Wilma took out a mortgage on the property she received from Joe Senior. Wells Fargo acquired the mortgage note from the original mortgagee. Sometime later, the mortgage went into default. After obtaining a judgment of foreclosure, Wells Fargo discovered that the mortgage was actually on a vacant lot. Wells Fargo had assumed that the mortgage was on a residential property. This discovery prompted Wells Fargo to seek equitable relief, which the trial court denied.

{¶ 2} On appeal, Wells Fargo initially contends that the trial court erred in finding that there was no privity between Wilma and Wells Fargo. Because it is irrelevant to our resolution of this appeal, we decline to address Wells Fargo’s privity argument. Next, Wells Fargo contends that the trial court should have issued an order transferring certain real property to Wilma’s estate. Because Wells Fargo’s arguments have no basis in the established rules of equity, and because the trial court acted within its discretion, we disagree. Finally, Wells Fargo contends that the trial court erred in not reforming the mortgage as Wells Fargo requested. We disagree. The original mortgagee was inexcusably negligent during the mortgage transaction. Therefore, the mortgage cannot be reformed under the doctrine of mutual mistake. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

I

{¶ 3} The facts in this case are not in dispute. Wilma and Joe Senior were married in 1954. As husband and wife, they owned two adjoining pieces of [272]*272property. The marital residence was situated on one piece of property, and the other piece of property was an undeveloped vacant lot. During their marriage, Wilma and Joe Senior produced three children: Carolyn Sue Mowery (“Carolyn”), Joe McClurg Jr. (“Joe Junior”), and Mark McClurg (“Mark”).

{¶ 4} Wilma and Joe were divorced in 1986. As part of the divorce settlement, Joe Senior was supposed to quitclaim his interest in the residential parcel to Wilma. In turn, Joe Senior was to receive the undeveloped parcel. Somehow, the transfers were reversed; that is, Wilma received a deed to the undeveloped parcel, and Joe Senior received a deed to the residential parcel. Both deeds were recorded in the county recorder’s office shortly after the divorce. Even though Wilma received the deed to the undeveloped parcel, she continued to live on the residential parcel until her death.

{¶ 5} In 1998, Wilma took out an $87,700 mortgage from an entity known as The Money Store, which no longer exists. The mortgage includes, as Exhibit A, the legal description for the undeveloped parcel. Thus, Wilma secured a mortgage on the property that she actually owned — that being the undeveloped parcel — -but both Wilma and The Money Store apparently believed that the mortgage applied to the residential parcel. There is no evidence that The Money Store ever performed a survey prior to the closing of the mortgage. However, an appraisal was done, and the appraisal included information about the house on the residential parcel.

{¶ 6} Wells Fargo subsequently acquired the mortgage note from The Money Store, and Wilma continued to make payments on the mortgage until her death. Wells Fargo did not order a survey of the mortgaged property before acquiring the mortgage note.

{¶ 7} Joe Senior died intestate in 2008, and Carolyn was appointed the administrator of Joe Senior’s estate. Pursuant to the laws of intestacy, Joe Senior’s interest in the residential parcel passed to his children. As a result, Carolyn, Joe Junior, and Mark each obtained an undivided one-third interest in the residential parcel.

{¶ 8} Wilma died intestate in 2005, and Carolyn was appointed the administrator of Wilma’s estate. Soon after Wilma’s death, the mortgage went into default. This prompted Wells Fargo to file a foreclosure action. After Wells Fargo obtained a judgment of foreclosure, a sheriffs sale was ordered. Before the sale was to take place, a sheriffs deputy visited the foreclosed property and discovered that the property was, in fact, a vacant lot. The sheriffs office then notified Wells Fargo of this development.

{¶ 9} In January 2008, Wells Fargo ordered a survey of the foreclosed property. The survey confirmed that the property was, indeed, the undeveloped [273]*273parcel. Upon learning the results of the survey, Wells Fargo canceled the sheriffs sale and initiated the present case.

{¶ 10} Wells Fargo filed this action as a complaint for declaratory judgment. In its complaint, Wells Fargo claimed that a mutual mistake of fact occurred when Joe Senior received the residential parcel and Wilma received the undeveloped parcel. As a result, Wells Fargo asked the trial court to order the county auditor and county recorder to transfer the residential parcel to Wilma’s estate and the undeveloped parcel to Joe Senior’s estate. Additionally, Wells Fargo sought to reform the mortgage so that the mortgage would represent a first and best lien upon the residential parcel.

{¶ 11} On March 12, 2009, the trial court held a hearing where the parties essentially agreed on the facts. Subsequently, both parties filed trial briefs outlining their legal arguments.

{¶ 12} The trial court rejected Wells Fargo’s claims and found the following:

“[W]ith respect to the quitclaim deeds between Joe [Senior] and Wilma, only Joe [Senior] or Wilma or their successors in interests can seek reformation. A stranger to these contracts such as Wells Fargo has no legal relationship to the contracts and no standing to seek reformation in equity. There must be a privity of contract between Wells Fargo and Joe and Wilma to assert the right to reform the deeds.
{¶ 13} “Furthermore, neither Wells Fargo nor The Money Store ever had any privity relationship with either Joe [Senior] or Wilma and neither have any standing to ‘reform’ deeds issuing from the divorce action. With respect to the mortgage from Wilma to The Money Store, Joe [Senior] was never a signator to this mortgage.
{¶ 14} “The property owned by Joe [Senior] and his heirs cannot be substituted to a mortgage to secure a promissory note when neither Joe [Senior] nor his heirs were parties to the note or mortgage.”

{¶ 15} Wells Fargo appeals and asserts the following four assignments of error: I. “The court erred in finding that there was no privity between Wilma McClurg and the appellant herein.” II. “The court erred in not directing an order or judgment divesting title from the appellees to Wilma.” III. “The court erred in not reforming the mortgage of the appellant.” IV. “The court erred in dismissing the complaint of appellant.”

II

{¶ 16} For ease of analysis, we will start with a brief overview of the relevant issues. Wells Fargo bases its arguments on alleged mistakes in two different transactions. First, Wells Fargo argues that a mistake occurred because the [274]*274initial transactions did not comply with the terms of the divorce settlement.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hanuman Chalisa, L.L.C. v. Bomar Contracting, Inc.
2022 Ohio 1111 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
Villaos v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co.
2020 Ohio 5123 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
Brown v. Ward
2019 Ohio 4848 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
Bank of Am., N.A. v. Seymour
2019 Ohio 2884 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
Berry v. Bowling
2019 Ohio 898 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
Lukacevic v. Daniels
128 N.E.3d 845 (Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County, 2019)
Hubbard v. Aase Sales, LLC
104 N.E.3d 1027 (Court of Appeals of Ohio, Fifth District, Delaware County, 2018)
Nat'l City Real Estate Servs. LLC v. Frazier
96 N.E.3d 311 (Court of Appeals of Ohio, Fourth District, Ross County, 2018)
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Gau
2016 Ohio 7646 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2016)
CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Brown
2015 Ohio 5347 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2015)
Fannie Mae v. Winding
2014 Ohio 1698 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
McClatchey v. GMAC Mortgage, LLC (In re Lacy)
483 B.R. 126 (S.D. Ohio, 2012)
Gallaugher v. Holmes Surgical Assoc., Inc.
2011 Ohio 1794 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2011)
Dassel v. Hershberger
2010 Ohio 6595 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2010)
Bell v. Turner
2010 Ohio 4506 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
931 N.E.2d 1121, 187 Ohio App. 3d 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wells-fargo-bank-v-mowery-ohioctapp-2010.