RH Kids, LLC v. MTC Fin.
RH Kids, LLC v. MTC Fin.
Opinion of the Court
Before the Court are competing motions for summary judgment filed by defendants MTC Financial, Countrywide Home Loans, Bank of America, Inc., and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS)
This real estate foreclosure case asks the Court to determine who holds superior title in a residential property located at 2704 Coventry Green Avenue, Henderson, Nevada 89074. To do so, the Court confronts two questions. First, did the so-called Federal Foreclosure Bar of
I. Factual and Procedural Background
A. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act and Federal Foreclosure Bar
Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act in response to the 2008 recession and its ensuing foreclosure crisis. The purpose of the act was to protect the fragile housing market by addressing the critical undercapitalization of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). It sought to ensure that the two companies "operated in a safe and sound manner ... consistent with the public interest."
The act created the Federal Housing Finance Agency and authorized it to place both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the Agency's conservatorship, which it did in 2008. As conservator, the FHFA was responsible for supervising and winding up Fannie's and Freddie's affairs.
B. The Foreclosure and Sale of 2704 Coventry Green Avenue
Non-parties Luis and Mirna Alfaro purchased the Coventry Green property in August of 2007. (# 80, at 3). At the time of the purchase, the property was part of the Cobblestone Homeowners' Association and was subject to the Association's Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC & Rs). (# 10, at 2-3). The deed of trust listed the Alfaros as the borrowers, Bank of America as the lender, and MERS
At some point, the Alfaros defaulted on their mortgage payments and HOA assessments. That default prompted two separate foreclosure proceedings. The HOA struck first. In January of 2011, the HOA recorded a lien for delinquent assessments against the property through its agent Nevada Association Services. (# 80, Exh. D). After the Alfaros failed to satisfy the outstanding lien, the HOA recorded a Notice of Default and Election to Sell again *1182through its agent Nevada Association Services. (# 80, at 5). In March of 2012, the Coventry Green Trust purchased the property at a public auction.
After the HOA foreclosure, servicer Bank of America attempted to satisfy the outstanding superpriority-lien balance. Bank of America contacted Nevada Association Services by letter and requested a payoff invoice that would satisfy the superpriority portion of the HOA lien. (# 80, Exh. G-1). Nevada Association Services did not respond. (# 80, at 5). Shortly thereafter, the bank filed a Notice of Trustee's Sale pursuant to a Deed of Trust to sell the property at auction in May of 2012. (# 10, at 3).
Before that sale, RH Kids filed this action in state court to halt foreclosure proceedings.
II. Legal Standard
The purpose of summary judgment is to isolate and dispose of factually unsupported claims or defenses. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,
III. Analysis
A. The Federal Foreclosure Bar Preserved Freddie Mac's Property Interest Because Freddie Mac Owned the Loan at the Time of the HOA Foreclosure and Did not Consent to Foreclosure
Freddie Mac's interest in the Coventry Green property is preserved by the Federal Foreclosure Bar of
RH Kids does not dispute that the Foreclosure Bar generally preempts state foreclosure law. Instead, it brings three arguments to avoid the Bar's application here. First, RH Kids argues that the Bar is irrelevant because Freddie Mac did not have an interest in the loan at the time the HOA foreclosed. (# 81, at 3). If true, the FHFA's conservatorship over Freddie Mac would offer no reprieve from this valid state-law foreclosure. Second, RH kids argues that even if Freddie Mac did have an interest in the property, its failure to record voided that interest.
The Court turns first to RH Kids's argument that Freddie Mac did not have an interest in the property at the time of the foreclosure. The crux of this argument is that Bank of America failed to present sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Freddie Mac took an interest in the property in September of 2007 like it claims. (# 81, at 3-5). It contends that Bank of America's proffered evidence-Freddie Mac internal records and declarations of employees-is inferior to the recorded title, which does not bear Freddie Mac's name. Id. at 3. As a result, it argues that there is a material issue of fact regarding whether Freddie Mac's ownership implicates the Foreclosure Bar at all.
However, the evidence that RH Kids urges the Court to disregard is the very evidence the Ninth Circuit found sufficient to demonstrate a Freddie Mac property interest in Berezovsky.
Here, the Court has examined the same evidence as did the Ninth Circuit in Berezovsky, and it comes to the same conclusion; Freddie Mac owned an interest in this property at the time of the HOA foreclosure. Bank of America provided the declaration of Dean Meyer who is a Freddie Mac employee competent to testify on behalf of the enterprise. (# 80, Exh. B). Meyer testified that "Freddie Mac acquired ownership of the [Coventry Green]
*1184Loan, which specifically includes the Note and the Deed of Trust, on or about September 4, 2007 and has owned it ever since." Id. at 3. To support his declaration, Meyer also submitted authenticated printouts of the Freddie Mac internal loan processing system, MIDAS. (# 81, Exh. B-1-B-3). These printouts corroborate Meyer's declaration that Freddie Mac owns 100% of the loan and that it owns the loan to this day. Id. Under Berezovsky, Bank of America has provided evidence that Freddie Mac owned the loan at the time the HOA foreclosed.
Nevertheless, Summit argues that Freddie Mac surrendered its interest in the property when it failed to promptly record. Admittedly, Nevada law generally requires recording of a lien before that lien is enforceable. Berezovsky,
Freddie Mac and Bank of America shared a principal-agent relationship as owner and servicer. Freddie Mac's relationship with its loan servicers and beneficiaries is governed by the "Guide." (# 80, at 15-16). The Guide's rules and regulations confirm that Freddie Mac retained ownership of any loan under its portfolio and had authority to direct the actions of its beneficiaries and servicers. For instance, Freddie Mac could "require the Seller or the Servicer ... to make such ... assignments and recordations of any of the Mortgage documents so as to reflect the interests of Freddie Mac" at any time. Freddie Mac, Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide § 1301.10 (2019), http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/pdf/guide.pdf ("The Guide"). Also, Freddie Mac could compel its agents to make assignments that Freddie Mac deemed proper.
Finally, RH Kids argues that the Federal Foreclosure Bar does not preempt NRS § 205.395, which prohibits a party from knowingly misrepresenting ownership on title. (# 81, at 5). This argument arises out of a 2011 assignment of the deed of trust wherein MERS transferred its interest in the loan to Bank of America. (# 80, Exh. C). RH Kids argues that if MERS knew that Freddie Mac was the owner of the deed of trust when it assigned the deed to Bank of America, that assignment was a misrepresentation under § 205.395-a class C felony. (# 81, at 5). This argument, however, starts from the incorrect premise that Bank of America was the owner of the deed after the assignment. MERS was merely the temporary nominee who assigned its own servicing rights to Bank of America in 2011. Freddie Mac remained the owner of the deed of trust despite not being listed on the title. Accordingly, the 2011 assignment did not violate NRS § 205.395. More importantly, that assignment did not affect the application of the Federal Foreclosure Bar.
*1185In sum, Bank of America has demonstrated that Freddie Mac indeed owned this loan at the time the HOA foreclosed. Its ownership of the loan created a property interest that was protected by
B. Bank of America's Lack of Tender is Excused Because the HOA Trustee's Practice was to Reject Such Payments
In addition to the Federal Foreclosure Bar's preservation of Freddie Mac's interest in the property, the Court also grants summary judgment because Bank of America was excused from the tender requirement of the superpriority lien amount. Prior to the HOA foreclosure, Bank of America contacted Nevada Association Services by letter and requested a payoff amount to satisfy the HOA's superpriority lien balance. (# 80, Exh. G).
The Nevada Supreme Court addressed the tender issue in Bank of America, N.A. v. SFR Inv. Pool 1, LLC, --- Nev. ----,
Generally, valid tender requires more than what Bank of America did here, namely requesting the outstanding superpriority *1186lien amount and promising to pay upon receipt of that amount. Jessup,
That is what happened here. Bank of America's letter requested the superpriority lien amount, acknowledged that NRS § 116.3116 granted the HOA a lien superior to its own, and offered to tender the nine-month delinquency. (# 80, Exh G-1, at 1). Bank of America never received a response, which was consistent with Nevada Association Services' policy at that time. (# 80, Exh. H, at 18) (explaining that Nevada Association Service's position was to ignore requests like Bank of America's under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act). Accordingly, Bank of America could not ascertain the delinquent balance necessary to satisfy the HOA superpriority lie.
Nevertheless, RH Kids contends that Bank of America's failure to tender a physical check still extinguished the bank's interest because its mere inquiry is insufficient. The problem is that Bank of America fared no better had it calculated the superpriority lien amount and sent a check. Nevada Association Services would have rejected tender and foreclosed anyway. Id. at 19-21 (despite receiving a check or request for a ledger balance, Nevada Association Services would not respond except to "[send the bank] a notice of sale"). Nevada Association Services' corporate counsel, Chris Yergensen, testified in a similar case that during that time, it was the company's policy not to provide the delinquent superpriority lien amount. Instead, it would mail a notice of sale and proceed with the foreclosure despite the bank's attempt to satisfy the outstanding balance. Id. at 22. RH Kids does not dispute that policy in its briefing, nor does it provide evidence that Bank of America's attempt to tender payment was not futile. Accordingly, the Court finds that Bank of America was excused from sending valid tender because Nevada Association Services made it clear that it would reject that tender and proceed with its planned foreclosure.
IV. Conclusion
Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (# 80) is GRANTED ;
It is FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff RH Kids's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 82) is DENIED ;
For clarity, the Court will refer to the Defendants collectively as "Bank of America" unless otherwise necessary.
The original plaintiff in this case, Diakonos Holdings, LLC, was substituted by current plaintiff RH Kids, LLC by stipulation of the parties in September of 2018. (# 79). For clarity, the Court will refer to plaintiff as RH Kids unless otherwise necessary.
MERS is an electronic registry system that tracks the beneficial ownership and servicing rights within property-holding portfolios. See About MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., https://www.mersinc.org/about (last visited Mar. 15, 2019). While MERS is the recorded mortgagee of a property it may assign the loan to other servicers without having to re-record the deed each time. In essence, MERS remains the mortgagee giving the loan owners the flexibility to change the servicers in their loan portfolios quickly and efficiently. Id.
Berezovsky v. Moniz,
The letter is dated January 20, 2015, which is nearly three years after the HOA foreclosure in this case. To explain the apparent delay, Bank of America presented the affidavit of an employee of law firm Miles Bauer who Bank of America retained to process this tender. (# 80, Exh. G). There, the affiant explains that the letter is incorrectly dated due to the "Automatic Date Change function in Microsoft Word."
Reference
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- RH KIDS, LLC v. MTC FINANCIAL
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- Published