Appeals Court Affirms Mortgage Foreclosure Decision

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Rob Burgess for www.theindianalawyer.com

A South Bend man had no standing to challenge the assignment of loan documents and therefore was not entitled to relief from judgment in a mortgage foreclosure, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

The judgment in question was a foreclosure action decided in favor of U.S. Bank Trust National Association, as Trustee of American Homeowner Preservation Trust 2014A, and involving Duty’s South Bend house. Bryant Edward Duty had executed a promissory note and mortgage in favor of Wilmington Finance upon purchase of the house.

After a mortgage foreclosure in 2009, the sale of the home was delayed for several years, apparently due to Duty’s bankruptcy filing later that year. The property was purchased this summer by Northwood Investments.

The COA affirmed the trial court’s denial of Duty’s motion for relief from judgment in Bryant Edward Duty Sr. v. The CIT Group/Consumer Finance, Inc., Northwood Investments, LLC,71A04-1704-MF-920.

 “Duty contends that he is entitled to relief from judgment on the basis that the entity which pursued the foreclosure action in 2009 had no legal right to enforce the Loan Documents at the time,” Judge Cale Bradford wrote for the court. “Because we conclude that Duty has no standing to challenge the assignment of the Loan Documents from assignor to assignee, we affirm.”