THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, NA, ETC. VS. RAOUL NIAMIEN(F-003076-13, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), A-5054-15T1

Background

In 2007 Niamien executed a $470,250 note secured by a mortgage recorded to MERS as nominee for All American Lending; he defaulted in 2008 and made no payments thereafter.
MERS assigned the mortgage to Countrywide (later BAC, then merged into Bank of America); in July 2012 Bank of America assigned the mortgage to BNY Mellon (FDIC 2011-N1), which filed foreclosure in January 2013.
Default entered for failure to answer; final judgment of foreclosure was entered November 11, 2014; BNY Mellon (FDIC 2013-N1) was substituted as plaintiff in May 2014 after later assignments.
Niamien filed multiple post-judgment motions to vacate under Rule 4:50-1 and to set aside the sheriff’s sale; the trial court denied relief, and this appeal followed from the May 12, 2016 denial.
On appeal Niamien argued the judgment should be vacated (claiming lack of standing and that the judgment was void) and that the sheriff’s sale should be set aside; the court reviewed under the abuse-of-discretion standard.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Rule 4:50-1 motion to vacate for excusable neglect was timely and supported	BNY Mellon argued the motion was time-barred and defendant offered no excusable-neglect basis	Niamien argued excusable neglect and cited void judgment/standing defects	Motion barred: filed >1 year after final judgment; no showing of excusable neglect; trial court did not abuse discretion
Whether lack of standing makes the foreclosure judgment void under R. 4:50-1(d)	BNY Mellon argued standing is not jurisdictional and cannot render judgment void	Niamien contended subsequent assignments and ownership confusion deprived plaintiff of standing, so judgment is void	Standing is not jurisdictional in NJ; lack of standing does not make judgment void; relief under (d) unavailable
Whether duplicative post-filing assignments undermine plaintiff's standing	BNY Mellon: earlier assignment before complaint conferred standing; later duplicative assignments irrelevant	Niamien argued duplicative assignments and securitization confusion prevented loan modification and show lack of proper ownership	Assignment existing before complaint conferred standing; duplicative assignments after filing do not defeat standing; claim meritless
Whether sheriff's sale should be set aside	BNY Mellon: no irregularity, no Rule 4:65-2 notice defects, no fraud/irregularity alleged	Niamien sought to set aside sale based on standing/ownership confusion	Sale not vacated: no alleged notice or sale irregularities or fraud; no grounds to set aside

Key Cases Cited

U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Curcio, 444 N.J. Super. 94 (App. Div. 2016) (standard of review for Rule 4:50-1 motions and trial court discretion)
Mancini v. EDS ex rel. N.J. Auto. Full Ins. Underwriting Ass'n, 132 N.J. 330 (1993) (trial court discretion in Rule 4:50-1 relief)
U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Guillaume, 209 N.J. 449 (2012) (Rule 4:50-1 limits, excusable neglect requirement, and exceptional-circumstances standard)
Deutsche Bank Nat'l Tr. Co. v. Russo, 429 N.J. Super. 91 (App. Div. 2012) (standing is not jurisdictional; foreclosure judgment by party lacking standing is not void under R. 4:50-1(d))
Deutsche Bank Tr. Co. Ams. v. Angeles, 428 N.J. Super. 315 (App. Div. 2012) (assignment predating complaint confers standing)
Suser v. Wachovia Mortg., 433 N.J. Super. 317 (App. Div. 2013) (merger/acquisition transfers enforcement rights under UCC provisions)
Ross v. Rupert, 384 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2006) (Rule 4:50-1 is extraordinary relief requiring exceptional circumstances)
Baumann v. Marinaro, 95 N.J. 380 (1984) (Rule 4:50-1 as extraordinary equitable relief)
First Trust Nat'l Ass'n, Inc. v. Merola, 319 N.J. Super. 44 (App. Div. 1999) (grounds to set aside sheriff's sale: fraud, accident, surprise, mistake, or sale irregularities)
United States v. Scurry, 193 N.J. 492 (2008) (notice requirements for foreclosure sales)