On May 12, 2023, the Supreme Court of Texas held, in a unanimous decision, that a claim to foreclose on a subrogated real property lien accrues when the refinance loan is accelerated, not when the prior loan (the payoff of...more
Real Property Update - UCC / Security Interests: Eleventh Circuit certified to the Florida Supreme Court the following questions: (1) Is the "search of the records of the filing office under the debtor's correct name,...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Standing: Servicer had standing to foreclose where asset management agreement authorized predecessor-in-interest to delegate service of loan and ability to bring foreclosure action and...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Condo Assessments: under section 718.116(1)(a), Florida Statutes, present condo owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid assessments and related expenses...more
Real Property Update - Sanctions / Dismissal: trial court abused discretion in dismissing bank’s foreclosure action; record established bank complied with discovery orders on which the motion for dismissal/sanctions was...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Standing: bank cannot rely solely on its acquisition of prior lenderto prove standing where note was specially indorsed to prior lender - Certo v. The Bank of New York Mellon, No....more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Attorneys' Fees: borrower not entitled to attorneys' fees for prevailing on lender's claim for reformation of mortgage, where lender prevailed on claim of foreclosure without...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure/Attorneys' Fees: where borrower prevailed on argument that dismissal of foreclosure action was required as bank was not entitled to enforce a mortgage contract containing a fee...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - Receiver/Barton Doctrine: individual could not bring negligence action against discharged receiver of commercial property until individual first obtained leave to do so from the court that appointed...more
The doctrine of conventional subrogation in real estate is familiar to most lenders: a new lender that pays the mortgage of a prior one steps into the shoes of – or is subrogated to – the prior lender’s security interest in...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE- Takings/Declaratory Relief: plaintiff’s request for a declaration that its further pursuit of a zoning application was futile was not a proper claim for declaratory relief – GolfRock, LLC v. Lee...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - Foreclosure/Condition Precedent: servicer did not meet its burden of proving it satisfied condition precedent of giving notice of acceleration by failing to provide evidence that notice letter had...more
Foreclosure: foreclosing bank’s allegation that borrowers were in a continuing state of default sufficient to satisfy five-year statute of limitations even though stated initial default date was more than five years prior to...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - - Foreclosure/Standing/Hearsay: copy of a note with undated allonge containing blank endorsement sufficient to establish standing as a matter of law, even though bank did not have formal...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - Foreclosure/Bankruptcy Stay: because borrower’s notice of appeal was filed during pendency of bankruptcy stay it was a nullity, and appellate court lacked jurisdiction to consider appeal –Hewett v....more
All real estate professionals and investors are familiar with the concept of the priority of liens. As a general rule, when there are multiple liens recorded against a property, the one that is recorded first is “superior”...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - Foreclosure/Documentary Stamp Tax: deferred interest on a “pick-a-payment” mortgage did not amount to future advance, which would have required payment of documentary stamp tax - Steinberg v. Wells...more
The smoke has finally cleared in a hard and long-fought battle between a bank and contractor both claiming priority to foreclose millions of dollars on a Phoenix condominium project. The project, well-known as Summit at...more
I. FLORIDA STATE CASES - SARA WITMEYER - - Jurisdiction: where court never entered order authorizing individual to intervene and individual never became party to litigation, court had no personal jurisdiction to...more
Every so often, we might not realize that, by our actions, we are doing exactly what the opposing party wants us to do. Perhaps we do not have an appropriate amount of time for each and every decision to consider ‘the forest’...more