Elizabeth Blanchard v. Nathan A. Mize, 186 So. 3d 403

Elizabeth Blanchard purchased a house in 2003 and secured it with a deed of trust; she later defaulted on payments beginning in 2008.
The deed of trust required written notice to borrower before acceleration and notice if lender elected to sell; Section 15 set notice by first-class mail to the property address unless borrower designated otherwise.
The deed of trust was assigned to U.S. Bank and a substituted trustee (Morris & Associates attorney Emily Courteau) in 2009; a notice of sale was posted in the courthouse and published in the local paper in June 2010.
A substituted trustee’s deed conveyed the property to U.S. Bank after a July 9, 2010 foreclosure; the property was sold to defendant Nathan Mize on February 7, 2011 for $30,000.
Blanchard sued for wrongful/illegal/ fraudulent foreclosure, breach of contract, and torts, and sought to set aside the foreclosure; Mize moved for summary judgment asserting he is a bona fide purchaser for value without notice.
The trial court granted Mize’s summary-judgment motion, finding no genuine dispute of material fact on notice and that Mize was a bona fide purchaser; Blanchard appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Blanchard received contractually required notice of acceleration before foreclosure	Blanchard: she did not receive the written acceleration notice required by the deed of trust, so foreclosure/sale were void	Mize: foreclosure complied with statutory posting/publishing; Blanchard offered no sworn proof disputing facts or that contractual notice was given	Court: Blanchard failed to produce sworn evidence creating a genuine issue; absence of proof meant issue resolved for defendant
Whether purchaser (Mize) is entitled to bona fide purchaser defense	Blanchard: if foreclosure/sale were void due to lack of notice, bona fide purchaser defense unavailable	Mize: he purchased for valuable consideration without notice and submitted a sworn affidavit so defense applies	Court: Mize proved purchase without notice by affidavit; Blanchard offered no sworn contradictory evidence, so bona fide purchaser defense applies

In re Admin. of Estate of May, 32 So. 3d 1227 (Miss. Ct. App. 2010) (summary-judgment standard and requirement that nonmoving party present specific factual proof)
Anglado v. Leaf River Forest Prods., 716 So. 2d 543 (Miss. 1998) (Mississippi standard for de novo review of summary judgment cited)
EB Inc. v. Allen, 722 So. 2d 555 (Miss. 1998) (statutory posting and publication suffice for non-judicial foreclosure; additional notice obligations derive from the deed of trust)