WELLS FARGO BANK, NA VS. DONALD D. COLLUCCI, JR.(F-16527-13, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), A-1948-15T3

Donald executed a $561,952 promissory note and both Donald and Veronica signed the mortgage on the marital home; Veronica did not sign the note.
Donald defaulted on payments beginning January 2011; Wells Fargo sent Notices of Intent to Foreclose (NOI) to Donald at the property but did not serve Veronica or copy her.
Wells Fargo filed a foreclosure complaint in May 2013; Veronica answered and later opposed summary judgment.
Veronica moved to dismiss under R. 4:46-2, arguing the Fair Foreclosure Act (FFA), N.J.S.A. 2A:50-52 to -68, required that she (as a mortgagor) receive a NOI.
The Chancery Division granted Wells Fargo summary judgment and later entered final judgment of foreclosure; Veronica appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the lender must send a FFA Notice of Intent to Foreclose to a mortgagor who did not sign the promissory note (a non-debtor mortgagor)	Lender satisfied FFA by sending NOI to the person obligated on the note (Donald) and had no statutory duty to serve Veronica because she is not a debtor	Veronica argued the FFA required notice to any mortgagor residing in the house and thus she was entitled to receive the NOI	The court held the FFA requires notice to the person shown on the lender's records as obligated to pay the loan (debtor); Veronica, not being a signatory/debtor, need not be sent the NOI; judgment affirmed

In re Liquidation of Integrity Ins. Co., 193 N.J. 86 (2007) (standard for de novo review of statutory interpretation)
Bank of N.Y. v. Laks, 422 N.J. Super. 201 (App. Div. 2011) (interpreting FFA notice obligations and defining debtor)
U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Guillaume, 209 N.J. 449 (2012) (related appellate history addressing FFA issues)