Justia Consumer Law Opinion Summaries

Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, as trustee in trust for the registered holders of Ameriquest Mortgage Securities, Inc., appealed from a summary judgment entered in the district court in favor of Donald and Kim Pelletier on the bank's complaint for foreclosure. The district court concluded that Deutsche Bank had failed to dispute facts asserted by the Pelletiers demonstrating that they had asserted a right of rescission. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment, but because the district court's order reached only the point of determining that the Pelletiers were entitled to rescission, the Court remanded for further proceedings to effectuate the rescission.

Eric and Martha Hankins executed a promissory note and mortgage on their residence in favor of the lender, Option One Mortgage Corporation, which later assigned the mortgage and note to Deutsche Bank. A loan modification agreement changed the lender to Liquidiation Properties. When the Hankinses stopped making payments on the note, Liquidation filed a complaint for foreclosure against the Hankinses. Deutsche Bank then assigned the mortgage to Liquidiation, which, in turn, assigned the mortgage and note to Kondaur Capital Corporation. Liquidation then moved to substitute Kondaur as the named plaintiff. The Hankinses did not challenge the motion to substitute, and the district court granted the motion. The district court then entered summary judgment in favor of Kondaur. Martha Hankins appealed. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the district court, holding (1) the district court did not err in substituting Kondaur as the named plaintiff because the substitution did not alter the underlying allegations of the foreclosure action or tend to produce a manifest injustice; and (2) entry of summary judgment was error because the record did not establish the essential elements of a foreclosure action without dispute as to genuine issues of material fact. Remanded.

After Beneficial Maine filed a complaint for foreclosure against Timothy and Kathleen Carter in district court, Beneficial moved for summary judgment. To support its motion, Beneficial relied on an affidvait of an employee of a separate business identified as Beneficial's servicer. Beneficial cited to the affidavit as the sole evidentiary support for its allegations of its ownership of the promissory note and mortgage, the Carters' obligation on the note, the Carters' default, and the amount that the Carters owed. The district court entered summary judgment in the bank's favor on its foreclosure complaint. The Carters appealed, challenging the foundation presented by Beneficial to support the admissibility of its mortgage records pursuant to the business records exception to the hearsay rule. The Supreme Court vacated the summary judgment entered in favor of Beneficial, concluding that because the employee did not establish that she was a custodian or other qualified witness who could provide trustworthy and reliable information about the records, the affidavit could not establish the foundation for the records' admissibility. Therefore, the district court could not properly consider those records on summary judgment. Remanded.

Cach, L.L.C., alleging that it was an assignee of Bank of America, filed a complaint against Nathaniel Kulas seeking principal and interest on an unpaid credit card balance. The complaint stated that Kulas owed $6042 on the account. Cach then filed a motion for summary judgment, supporting its motion with affidavits and other documents alleging that the balance due on the account was $6042. In response, Kulas filed an objections to the summary judgment motion. The court found Kulas's responses were procedurally defective and granted Cach's motion for summary judgment. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that Cach's support for its assertions that it received an assignment of the account from the bank and that Kulas owed $6042 on the account was inadequate. Because Cach failed to properly establish each element of its claim without dispute as to material fact, the Court vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment and remanded the case.