Whitsey v. Williamson County Bank

700 S.W.2d 562, 1985 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3074
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedAugust 8, 1985
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 700 S.W.2d 562 (Whitsey v. Williamson County Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whitsey v. Williamson County Bank, 700 S.W.2d 562, 1985 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3074 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

TODD, Presiding Judge, Middle Section.

The plaintiffs have appealed from a summary judgment dismissing their suit against the defendant bank seeking damages for wrongful foreclosure of a trust deed.

Appellants state the issues on appeal as follows:

I. The Doctorine (sic) of Res Judicata is not a bar to the Appellants bringing a second action where the first action was dismissed without a trial on merits.
A. In order for a judgment to be effective as Res Judicata it must appear that the res affected by the two suits is identiaeal and that the actions were for an identical object and purpose.
B. The Appellee did not carry its burden of proving the defense of Res Judi-cata and that the first judgment was determined on the merits.
[563]*563II. The plea of collateral estoppel can only operate as a bar to a second cause of action between the same parties only as to issues which were actually litigated and determined in the former action.
III. The Appellants’ cause of action is not barred under the applicable Statute of Limitations.

The Complaint states that, on January 19, 1979, plaintiffs executed a trust deed to secure a credit of $15,000 plus interest thereon; that, about March, 1980, the loan was refinanced by defendant which concealed the terms and conditions of the loan; that the new loan provided for installment payments over a 3 to 5 year period and a “balloon” payment at the end of the period which plaintiffs could not pay; that the property pledged by the trust deed was worth more than the debt; that the trust deed was foreclosed; and that plaintiffs suffered mental anguish and suffering from defendant’s wrongful conduct.

The defendant’s answer admitted the transactions alleged, denied misconduct and asserted the following defenses:

1. Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
2. Statute of Limitations.
3. Res judicata, based upon the conclusion of prior litigation in United States District Court.
4. Collateral estoppel based upon the same federal suit.

Thereafter, defendant moved for summary judgment on the following grounds:

1. Res judicata
2. Statute of Limitations
3. No cause of action stated

Exhibited to the motion for summary judgment were the following documents from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee:

A.Complaint by the plaintiffs herein against Williamson County Bank, Mr. and Mrs. James Gentry and Stanley J. Holton, Trustee, alleging:
1. In February, 1979, plaintiffs procured from Williamson County Bank a loan of $15,000 secured by deed of trust.
2. In 1979, plaintiffs executed another deed of trust for $4,000 in connection with refinancing the first loan.
3. The Bank failed to furnish to plaintiffs the information required to be furnished by the Truth in Lending Act and TCA §§ 47-14-102 and 47-14-201.
4. The Bank advertised and sold plaintiffs’ property to the defendants Gentry.
B. Motion of defendants for summary judgment reading as follows:
Pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, defendants Williamson County Bank and Stanley L. Holtman move for summary judgment in their favor on the grounds that the complaint fails to state a claim against defendants upon which relief can be granted, there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and as a matter of law, defendants are entitled to judgment in their favor. The documents in the loan transaction in question reveal that all disclosures required by law were made and that the interest rate charged was within the interest rate permitted by law.
C. On the face of the motion for summary judgment is a longhand notation as follows:
No response has been filed as required by Rule 56, F.R.Civ.P., and Local Rule 8(b). The Court has considered the motion and supporting affidavits and the entire file. Summary judgment is proper and is accordingly granted to moving defendants. Since the relief prayed against the defendant, Gentrys, is contingent upon plaintiffs success against Bank and Holtman, the suit is also dismissed as to the Gentrys.
(Signed Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr.)

The Judgment of the Trial Court reads as follows:

This cause came on to be heard upon the defendants’ Motion for summary judgment together with the pleadings, exhibits, briefs.and argument of counsel [564]*564and upon the entire record, from all of which the Court is of the opinion that the Motion for summary judgment is well taken and should be, and hereby is, sustained. It is accordingly ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED by the Court that the complaint herein be and the same hereby is dismissed. Plaintiffs will pay court costs for which execution may issue.

On appeal to this Court, appellants first argue that a previous dismissal is not res judicata unless the dismissal is upon the merits. Appellants cite Stewart v. University of Tennessee, Tenn. 1974, 519 S.W.2d 591. In that case the previous order was leave to enter a voluntary nonsuit, which is synonymous with dismissal without prejudice. The Federal summary judgment, quoted, above contained no suggestion of any reservation of any right to renew the litigation.

Appellants next argue that the Federal dismissal could not be a dismissal upon the merits because it contained no finding of facts as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 41(b). This argument amounts to a collateral attack upon the final judgment of a court, which may not be entertained under circumstances of this appeal. The record contains evidence that plaintiffs filed but failed to prosecute an appeal from the Federal Summary judgment. Having allowed the Federal judgment to be entered for failure to respond, and having allowed the appeal from the Federal Judgment to be dismissed for failure to respond to a show cause order, the appellants are in no position to request this Court to disregard the Federal Judgment.

Moreover, the Federal Judgment, entered under Federal Civil Rule 56, does not require a finding of Fact—Federal Civil Rule 52(a).

Appellants next insist that the right of action concluded by the Federal judgment was not the same right of action asserted in the present action, but there is no citation to the record and no specification of differences between the Federal suit and the present suit for information in this regard.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
700 S.W.2d 562, 1985 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3074, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whitsey-v-williamson-county-bank-tennctapp-1985.