Nationstar Mortage LLC v. MartinezNationstar Mortage LLC v. Martinez
Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, Plaintiff, filed a motion for summary judgment on March 31, 2015 in the within mortgage foreclosure action. On April 27, 2015, Angel and Maria Martinez, Defendants, by and through counsel, filed a response. On May 26, 2015, the Court heard oral argument on the motion. For the reasons set forth herein, Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is granted.
Factual and Procedural History
Defendants are the mortgagors and record owners of the real property located at 25 East Coleman Street, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. On October 31, 2006, Defendants executed and delivered a mortgage to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as Nominee for K. Hovanian American Mortgage, LLC.
On August 28, 2012, the parties to the mortgage executed and entered into a Loan Modification Agreement, which Plaintiff attached to its complaint as Exhibit “C.” The agreement “amend[ed] and supplemented]...the
On April 23, 2014, Plaintiff acquired the mortgage from Bank of America. The assignment documentation, properly pled and attached to Plaintiff’s complaint, made no specific reference to the Loan Modification Agreement.
Plaintiff filed its complaint on May 14,2014. Defendants filed an Answer with New Matter on October 27, 2014, and Plaintiffs filed an Answer to Defendants’ New Matter on November 11, 2014.
Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment on March 31, 2015. Defendants filed a response on April 27, 2015. On May 26,2015, the Court heard oral argument on the motion, after which the Court took the matter under advisement.
This Opinion follows.
Discussion
In passing on a motion for summary judgment, the Court must examine the record in a light most favorable to the non-moving party and resolve any doubt in his favor. Swartley v. Hoffner,
In this case, the threshold requirements for summary judgment in mortgage foreclosure are satisfied. There is no dispute that the recorded mortgage is in the amount specified, that Defendant is in default, and that she failed to pay interest on the obligation.
In Defendants’ response to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment, as well as in Defendants ’ New Matter, Defendants challenge Plaintiff’s standing to prosecute the instant mortgage action.
The Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure provide, in relevant part, that “[ejxcept as otherwise provided...all actions shall be prosecuted by and in the name of the real party in interest, without distinction between contracts under seal and parol contracts.” Pa.R.C.P. 2002(a). A real party in interest is a “[pjerson who will be entitled to benefits of action if successful.... [A] party is a real party in interest if it has the legal right under the applicable substantive law to enforce the claim in question.” US Bank N.A. v. Mallory,
Where a mortgage is assigned, the real party in interest with standing to sue is the assignee of the mortgage. Id.; see also Brown v. Esposito,
Defendants’ argument does not challenge Plaintiff’s standing as assignee to enforce the mortgage. Instead, Defendants contend the assignment made no reference to the Loan Modification Agreement. Accordingly, Defendants argue that Plaintiff is without standing to enforce the terms of the Loan Modification Agreement, which is the operative agreement for purposes of assessing the rights and responsibilities of the respective parties in reference to the subject property.
Defendants cite no law in support of the contention that a Loan Modification Agreement must be separately assigned or otherwise specifically designated in assignment documentation in order for an assignee to have standing to seek to enforce it. Pennsylvania courts have not addressed this issue. The applicable Rule of Civil Procedure requires only that a Plaintiff plead “the parties to and the date of the mortgage, and of any assignments, and a statement of the place of record of the mortgage and assignments.” Pa.R.C.P. 1147(a)(1).
The parties’ Loan Modification Agreement specifically provides that it “amends and supplements” the parties’ mortgage. It alters certain terms of the underlying mortgage. However, it specifically leaves many of the terms of the original mortgage in place. (See Complaint Exhibit C, ¶ 4(a)-(b).) The April 23, 2014 assignment of the mortgage to Plaintiff functioned as an assignment ofthe mortgage as it then
This holding is also consistent with longstanding contract principles in the Commonwealth. Where two parties enter into a contract and subsequently modify its terms, the “modification does not displace a prior valid contract; rather, the new contract acts as a substitute for the original contract, but only to the extent that it alters it. The original contract may be abrogated in part, with the residue remaining intact.” Melat v. Melat,
Conclusion
Because the Defendants entered into aLoanModification Agreement with Plaintiff’s predecessor-in-interest and
ORDER
AND NOW, this day of June, 2015, upon consideration of Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment, filed March 31, 2015, and after argument conducted thereon on May 26, 2015 at which time both parties were represented by counsel,
IT IS ORDERED Plaintiff’s motion is GRANTED for the reasons set forth in the accompanying Memorandum Opinion. Judgment in rent is hereby granted in favor of Nationstar Mortgage, LLC and against Angel L. Martinez and Maria C. Martinez in the amount of $256,584.31 plus interest and fees from May 14, 2014 onward, and for foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged premises.