U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOC., ETC
v.
GEORGE E. BUCHANAN A/K/A G. EUGENE BUCHANAN
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A bank appealed a circuit court judgment dismissing its mortgage foreclosure action and denying its request to re-establish a lost promissory note. The appellate court affirmed the dismissal, finding the bank failed to present sufficient evidence of ownership and entitlement to enforce the note, and also rejected the bank's arguments regarding the default letter requirement and declaratory judgment counts.
The circuit court's judgment dismissing the bank's foreclosure and lost note re-establishment counts was affirmed because the bank failed to present sufficient competent substantial evidence proving it owned and was entitled to enforce the note when it was lost. Although the trial court erred in finding the bank did not prove mailing of the default letter, this error was harmless given the fatal deficiency in proving ownership.
[1] In a foreclosure action where the original promissory note is lost, the mortgagee must establish by sufficient competent substantial evidence that it owned and was entitl…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe bank sought to foreclose on a mortgage and re-establish a lost promissory note against borrowers. The bank claimed it owned the note and was entit…
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Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Martin County; William L. Roby, Judge; L.T. Case No. 2016CA001099.
Sara F. Holladay-Tobias, Emily Rottmann, and C. H. Houston, III of McGuireWoods LLP, Jacksonville, for appellant.
W. Trent Steele of Steele Law, Hobe Sound, for appellees. GERBER, J.
The bank appeals from the circuit court’s final judgment of dismissal against the bank and in the borrowers’ favor after a non-jury trial. The bank argues the trial court erred in three respects: (1) finding the bank did not prove it owned and was entitled to enforce the note when the note was lost; (2) finding the bank did not prove it satisfied the condition precedent of having mailed a default letter to the borrowers at their changed address; and (3) denying the bank’s two declaratory judgment counts to declare certain quit claim deeds legally sufficient.
We conclude the circuit court erred on the second argument. However, that error is harmless, because we conclude on the first argument that the bank did not present sufficient competent substantial evidence to prove it owned and was entitled to enforce the note when the note was lost. Thus, we affirm the final judgment as to the bank’s mortgage foreclosure and re-establishment of lost note counts (Counts I and II) without further comment.
We also affirm the final judgment as to the bank’s declaratory judgment counts (both inadvertently labeled Count III) without further comment. Affirmed. GROSS and MAY, JJ., concur. * * * Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.