It’s two working days into 2016 and WeidnerLaw has already scored two major foreclosure victories…a trial court win and just today a critical win from Florida’s Second District Court of Appeals.
Copied below is the full text of the written opinion from the appellate court. Note that it is comprised of merely 3 words,
PER CURIAM AFFIRMED!
2D14-5841 THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON V. RICHARD L. JACOBS
So why are those three simple words so fantastic for us? Because we won at trial and the appellate court affirmed our win by simply asserting that we were correct.
The Bank of New York Mellon, as trustee for CIT Mortgage Loan Trust 2007-1 (“the Bank”) appeals the trial court’s order granting Richard L. Jacob’s (“the Homeowner”) motion for involuntary dismissal made after the nonjury trial below. The Bank argues that the trial court erred when it concluded that the Bank’s second foreclosure action, which was based upon the same default alleged in a prior lawsuit that resulted in a final judgment in the Homeowner’s favor after a nonjury trial in that case, was barred by the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel. The issue, then, is whether there is competent, substantial evidence to support this finding.
Appellee’s Statement of the Facts
The Bank’s statement of the case and facts[1] is chockfull of glaring omissions and borderline misrepresentations. For instance, the Bank baldly states that the Homeowner “stipulated that the date of his default under the Note and Mortgage is April 1, 2008.”[2] But then it completely disregards the trial transcript which unequivocally reflects that the Homeowner only stipulated that was the default date reflected in one of the Bank’s trial exhibits
Jacobs (4D14-5841) Initial Brief
More…much, much more on this later…for now, we simply savor a long hard fought win for our clients!
Our trial win and this big appellate court win serve as powerful (and constant) reminders of the need to continually pound the rock and hone the craft that is the practice of law….with the real emphasis on service both to clients, the court and to the larger legal community.
