Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Court finds undocumented and brief foreclosure on courthouse steps sufficient

ROBERT RICHMOND and wife, DARLENE RICHMOND, v. HSBC BANK, USA, as trustee (Tenn. Ct. App. March 26, 2009).

Plaintiffs brought this action to enjoin enforcement of a detainer judgment and to nullify a foreclosure on their home on the basis that defendant failed to offer the property for sale at the courthouse door, in accordance with the notice of foreclosure. The Trial Court held plaintiffs failed to prove their allegations and found the foreclosure sale was properly held. Plaintiffs appealed. We affirm.

Opinion may be found at the TBA website:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2009/richmondr_032609.pdf

“Plaintiffs argue the weight of the evidence does not support the Trial Court’s conclusion that this foreclosure sale actually took place, because plaintiff’s presence at the courthouse was corroborated by Rev. Acres, and because Barta did not bill for her time nor present any documentation that she was actually there. “ Id.

“The evidence does not preponderate against the Trial Court’s finding that the sale actually took place, as Barta testified, and that Richmond was around the courthouse but was not present for the sale. Tenn. R. App. P. 13(d).” Id.

“The testimony of the witnesses can be reconciled. Plaintiff Richmond admitted he was not sitting and waiting on the courthouse steps for the whole time between 11:25 and 12:15, but rather was walking around and going in and out of other businesses and offices, while “keeping watch” on the courthouse steps. He also admitted that he was expecting to see an event with a podium and at least 2 or 3 people. The evidence demonstrated that plaintiff Richmond could have easily misjudged the time and missed the sale which only took a couple of minutes to conduct.” Id.