Feltus v. U.S. Bank National Ass'n
Feltus v. U.S. Bank National Ass'n
Opinion of the Court
Julia Feltus appeals a final judgment of foreclosure in favor of U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee of Mastr Adjustable Rate Mortgages Trust 2007-3 entered upon U.S. Bank’s motion for summary judgment. We reverse because U.S. Bank failed to show conclusively the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and that it was entitled to foreclosure as a matter of law.
On August 24, 2009, U.S. Bank filed an unverified complaint seeking to reestablish a lost promissory note and to foreclose the mortgage on Feltus’s home. U.S. Bank attached to the complaint a copy of the note and the mortgage, but both documents showed the lender to be Countrywide Bank, N.A. In the count to reestablish the note pursuant to section 673.3091, Florida Statutes (2009), U.S. Bank alleged
After Feltus filed a motion to dismiss alleging that U.S. Bank had failed to establish that it owned or held the subject note, on November 16, 2009, U.S. Bank filed an affidavit of indebtedness executed by Kathy Repka, an assistant secretary of BAC Home Loan Servicing, L.P., f/k/a Countrywide Home Loan Servicing, L.P. Repka asserted that her affidavit was based on the loan payment records of the servicing agent and her familiarity with those records. After she explained that the purpose of the records was “to monitor and maintain the account relating to a note and mortgage that are the subject matter of the pending case,” Repka asserted that U.S. Bank owns and holds the note described in its complaint. Then on November 18, 2009, U.S. Bank filed another copy of the note as a supplemental exhibit to its complaint.
U.S. Bank’s reply of June 4, 2010, was the only pleading in which it alleged that the note was no longer lost, and it was the only pleading to which a copy of the alleged original note was attached. The reply could not serve as an amended complaint because U.S. Bank had not secured leave of court or Feltus’s written consent to amend its complaint after Feltus filed her answer and affirmative defenses. See Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.190(a). A pleading filed in violation of rule 1.190(a) is a nullity, and the controversy should be determined based on the properly filed pleadings. Warner-Lambert Co. v. Patrick, 428 So.2d 718 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983).
The properly filed pleadings before the court when it heard U.S. Bank’s motion for summary judgment were a complaint seeking to reestablish a lost note to which was attached a copy of a note made payable to Countrywide, N.A., Feltus’s answer and affirmative defenses alleging that the note attached to the complaint contradicts the allegation of the complaint that U.S. Bank is the owner of the note, a motion for summary judgment alleging a lost note of which U.S. Bank is the owner, and an affidavit of indebtedness alleging that U.S. Bank was the owner and holder of the note described in the complaint. The endorsed note that U.S. Bank claimed was now in its possession was not properly before the court at the summary judgment hearing because U.S. Bank never properly amended its complaint.
The trial court erred in entering final judgment of foreclosure because the documents before it did not establish conclusively that there was no genuine issue of material fact and that U.S. Bank was entitled to foreclose Feltus’s mortgage as a matter of law. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
. This "filing” did not comply with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.190(a) and thus was ineffective to amend U.S. Bank’s complaint.
. A cause of action must be complete before a party files a lawsuit. See Trawick, Fla. Prac. and Proc., § 14:8 (2010 ed.); see also § 95.031(1), Fla. Stat. (2009). Thus, even if U.S. Bank had properly amended its complaint to travel on the original note endorsed in blank, it would have needed to prove the endorsement in blank was effectuated before the lawsuit was filed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.