This court granted appellant’s application for an interlocutory appeal to hear this appeal from the denial of appellant’s motion for summary judgment by the trial court.
In 1986, appellant purchased certain real estate from appellees and in return executed two separate promissory notes in favor of ap
The instant appeal results from the denial of appellant’s motion for summary judgment in the suit filed by appellees on the $75,195 note. Appellant’s sole enumeration of error is that the court erred in denying its motion.
1. “On summary judgment, the movant has the burden of showing there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that he is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. When, as in the instant case, the movant is the defendant, he has the additional burden of piercing the plaintiff’s pleadings and affirmatively negating one or more essential elements of the complaint.” (Citations and punctuation omitted.)
Waits v. Makowski,
2. At the outset, it must be determined whether appellees are seeking a deficiency judgment against appellant which is barred due to the failure to obtain a confirmation of the sale. A creditor may not seek a deficiency judgment with respect to any real estate sold on foreclosure unless a confirmation of the sale is obtained. OCGA § 44-14-161. “A deficiency judgment is the ‘imposition of personal liability on mortgagor for unpaid balance of mortgage debt after foreclosure has failed to yield full amount of due debt.’ [Cit.]”
Redman Indus. v. Tower Properties,
517 FSupp. 144, 151 (5) (N.D. Ga. 1981). The Georgia courts have determined whether a deficiency judgment is being sought in a variety of circumstances. For example, “when a secured creditor seeks to satisfy its claim from property of a debtor other than the security itself, the creditor is in substance seeking a deficiency judgment.” Id. After an initial foreclosure under a deed with a “dragnet clause,” a subsequent foreclosure under a separate deed securing separate property is not a deficiency judgment, but is a separate contractual remedy of the creditor not subject to the confirmation requirement.
Salter v. Bank of Commerce,
In the instant case, both notes are clearly secured by the same deed and the same property. “[T]he two debts represented purchase money loans and the security for both was the property purchased.” Kennedy, supra at 736. The notice of acceleration of the $75,195 note indicated that the property securing the note would be foreclosed,
Judgment reversed.
Notes
There are inconsistencies in the record as to the exact page on which the Security Deed was recorded. As this has not been raised by the parties as affecting any issue in this case, we will assume that each reference refers to the Security Deed.
