BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P. v. Cromwell, 2011 Ohio 6413

BAC filed suit against Cromwell and Redmond for personal judgment and foreclosure on a Twinsburg, Ohio property, naming MERS and others as defendants.
Note attached to complaint showed payment to Countrywide; an allonge made it payable to BAC; mortgage attached named Countrywide but MERS as nominee and mortgagee, with an assignment from MERS to BAC.
Redmond answered generally denying and expressing desire to keep the home; no other party answered.
BAC moved for summary judgment; Redmond did not respond; trial court granted summary judgment for BAC and issued foreclosure.
Redmond later sought Civ.R. 60(B) relief to vacate the judgment, which the trial court denied.
Redmond timely appealed pro se arguing BAC lacked standing due to an allegedly invalid assignment; the appellate court affirmed the denial of relief.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Civ.R. 60(B) motion was proper for standing challenge	BAC argued standing defects are not jurisdictional and could be challenged via Civ.R. 60(B).	Redmond argued BAC lacked standing due to invalid MERS assignment, requiring relief from judgment.	No abuse; 60(B) denial proper; standing not jurisdictional here.

Countywide Home Loans Servicing, L.P. v. Murphy-Kesling, 2010-Ohio-6000 (9th Dist. No. 25297, 2010) (bare misrepresentation not enough for 60(B) relief)
Pratts v. Hurley, 102 Ohio St.3d 81 (Ohio Supreme Court 2004) (jurisdictional limits; subject-matter jurisdiction cannot be waived)
State ex rel. Jones v. Suster, 84 Ohio St.3d 70 (Ohio Supreme Court 1998) (standing jurisdictional only in limited administrative contexts)
Citibank (S. Dakota), N.A. v. Masters, 2008-Ohio-1001 (9th Dist. No. 07CA0055-M, 2008) (Civ.R.60(B) motion cannot substitute timely appeal)
GTE Automatic Elec., Inc. v. ARC Industries, Inc., 47 Ohio St.2d 147 (Ohio Supreme Court 1976) (three-part test for Civ.R. 60(B))