Figueroa v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A.
| Decision Date | 24 September 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 06-81084-CIV-GOLD/TURNOFF.,06-81084-CIV-GOLD/TURNOFF. |
| Citation | 382 B.R. 814 |
| Parties | Joan A. FIGUEROA, Appellant, v. WELLS FARGO BANK N.A., Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., as Nominee, a Foreign Corporation, and America's Wholesale Lender, a Foreign Corporation, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
James Bonfiglio, Esq., Boynton Beach, FL, Sherri B. Simpson, Esq., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellant, Joan Figueroa.
Philip Joseph Landau, Esq., & William Heller, Esq., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellee, Wells Fargo Bank.
Jason Elliot Slatkin, Esq., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellee, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.
Kimberly A. Leary, Esq., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellee, America's Wholesale Lender.
ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION; CLOSING CASE
THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Appellant's Initial Brief [DE 29] appealing the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida's Order Dismissing with Prejudice Appellees' Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.("Wells Fargo"), America's Whole Lenders and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. ("Mortgage Electronic Registration") from the underlying adversary proceeding. Appellees filed an Answer Brief [DE 30] on July 20, 2007. Appellant filed her Reply Brief [DE 31] on July 30, 2007. Because I conclude that I do not have jurisdiction, this Appeal is dismissed.
The facts of this case, as summarized in my previous Order Denying Appellees' Motion to Dismiss [DE 15], are as follows: Appellant owned and resided in real property located in Boca Raton, Florida. On May 20, 2005, Appellant agreed to sell the property to Nicole Smith, a defendant in an adversary proceeding before the Bankruptcy Court. Ms. Smith and Appellant also agreed that Appellant would lease the property back from Ms. Smith with an option to repurchase it in one year. Appellant continued to reside in the property after the transaction; Ms. Smith never resided there. Ms. Smith financed the original purchase of the property with a loan from Appellee Wells Fargo. Then, Ms. Smith refinanced the property with a loan from Appellee America's Wholesale Lender. Appellee Mortgage Electronic Registration was named Appellee America's Wholesale Lender nominee and mortgagee in the mortgage.
On May 22, 2006, Debtor/Appellant sued Appellees in an adversary proceeding before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. Debtor primarily sought the rescission of two residential mortgage loans under federal Truth in Lending Act ("TILA"), 15 U.S.C. § 1601, et seq. On September 21, 2006, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order dismissing the adversary complaint against the Appellees finding that the Debtor/Appellant did not have a right to rescind the mortgage loans and that TILA was not violated. Subsequently, Debtor/Appellant filed a Motion to Reconsider the Dismissal Order. The Bankruptcy Court denied the Reconsideration Motion. On November 21, 2006, Debtor/Appellant filed a Notice of Appeal in which she appealed the Order on Appellees' Motion to Dismiss and the Order denying her Motion for Reconsideration. On December 5, 2007, Appellees filed a Motion to Dismiss the Bankruptcy Appeal.
On February 8, 2007, I entered an Order Denying Appellees' Motion to Dismiss the Appeal on jurisdictional grounds and Granting Certification of the Appeal to the Eleventh Circuit [DE 15] (hereinafter, the "Feb. 8 Order"). On April 16, the Eleventh Circuit issued two. Orders: (1) dismissing Appellant's Notice of Appeal [DE 24] for lack of jurisdiction; and, (2) denying the Appellant's Rule 5 petition for permission to appeal [DE 28]. The Order denying the Rule 5 petition did not articulate the specific grounds for the denial. Thereafter, I held a telephonic status conference to discuss the Eleventh Circuit Orders. During the conference, the parties raised novel additional jurisdictional questions. Following the telephonic status conference, I issued an Order [DE 28] reopening the case and directing the parties to submit briefs addressing this Court's jurisdiction and the merits of the appeal. Appellant's Initial Brief [DE 29], Appellees' Answer Brief [DE 30], and Appellant's Reply Brief [DE 31] have been filed and this matter is ripe for review.
III. Standard of Review
District courts function as appellate courts in reviewing bankruptcy court's decisions. Williams v. EMC Mortg. Corp. (In re Williams), 216 F.3d 1295, 1296 (11th Cir.2000). On appellate review, factual findings of the bankruptcy court are reviewed under the limited and deferential "clearly erroneous" standard. Fed. R. Bankr.P. 8013; Green Tree Acceptance, Inc. v. Calvert (In re Calvert), 907 F.2d 1069, 1071 (11th Cir.1990) Conclusions of law and application of the bankruptcy court are subject to de novo review. Id.
IV. Analysis
A district court has appellate jurisdiction over the Bankruptcy Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(a), which provides, in pertinent parts, that:
(a) The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction to hear appeals
(1) from final judgments, orders and decrees;
. . .; and
(3) with leave of the court, from other interlocutory orders and decrees; of bankruptcy judges entered in cases and proceedings referred to the bankruptcy judges under section 147 of this title. An appeal under this subsection shall be taken only to the district court for the judicial district in which the bankruptcy judge is serving. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a).
In her Initial Brief, Appellant argues that this court has appellate jurisdiction because the bankruptcy order disposed of all the issues "between these parties in the adversary [proceeding]" and the pending claims against the remaining defendants are separate from the claims against the present appellees. Appellant further argues that even if the bankruptcy order was not final, I should treat her timely Notice of Appeal as a Motion to Appeal pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 8003(c)1 and grant discretionary leave to appeal. Finally, Appellant argues that Appellees time to seek a rehearing of the Feb. 8 Order has passed and, as a result, the Order dismissing Appellees' Motion to Dismiss stands as the law of the case.
In response, Appellees argue: (1) that the bankruptcy court's order is not final because it did not dispose of all the parties and claims in the adversary proceeding below; (2) that Appellant's request for discretionary appeal should be denied because Appellant has failed to demonstrate that "at least two courts interpret the relevant legal principle differently" and because an interlocutory appeal will not advance the ultimate termination of the litigation; and, (3) that Appellees do not seek an untimely rehearing of the Feb. 8 Order because jurisdiction can be raised at any time. I agree with Appellants that jurisdictional questions may be raised at any time and that the bankruptcy court's order was not final. Consequently, I will treat Appellant's Notice of Appeal as a Motion to Appeal. Having considered the parties' arguments and applicable case law, I conclude that leave to appeal should not be granted.
As a threshold matter, Appellees' Answer Brief does not seek an untimely rehearing of the Feb. 8 Order in which I initially concluded the bankruptcy court's order was final. A Federal court must always determine whether it has jurisdiction to hear a case. See, e.g., Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 546 U.S. 500, 507, 126 S.Ct. 1235, 163 L.Ed.2d 1097 (U.S.2006)("The objection that a federal court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction ... may be raised by a party, or by a court on its own initiative, at any stage in the litigation, even after trial and the entry of judgment."); Kontrick v. Ryan, 540 U.S. 443, 455, 124 S.Ct. 906, 157 L.Ed.2d 867 (2004)("Whenever it appears by suggestion of the parties or otherwise that the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter, the court shall dismiss the action."); Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 94-95, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998)("Without jurisdiction the court cannot proceed at all in any cause ... On every writ of error or appeal, the first and fundamental question is that of jurisdiction, first, of this court, and then of the court from which the record comes."); Amos v. Glynn County Bd. of Tax Assessors, 347 F.3d 1249, 1255 (11th Cir.2003) (). Furthermore, in light of the Eleventh Circuit Orders denying this appeal and the novel jurisdictional questions raised by the parties during the May 11, 2007 telephonic status conference, I specifically instructed the parties to submit briefs addressing this Court's jurisdiction. (Order Following Telephonic Status Conference, DE 28 at 1). For these reasons, I conclude that Appellees' arguments as to whether the bankruptcy court's order was final are appropriate for my review.
In the bankruptcy context, district courts sit as appellate courts and "have jurisdiction to hear appeals from final judgments, orders, and decrees of bankruptcy judges." The Charter Co. v. The Prudential Ins. Co. of Am. (In re Charter), 778 F.2d 617, 621 (11th Cir.1985) (citing 28 U.S.C.A. § 158(a)). Generally, a final decision is one which "ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment." Anastasia Cruises, Inc. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 331 F.3d 1257, 1259 (11th Cir.2003). In bankruptcy cases, "[t]he statutory requirement. offinality is a flexible concept, grounded in the practicalities of the situation." In re Allied Holdings, Inc., 376 B.R. 351, 355 (D.Ga.2007)(quoting Jove Eng'g, Inc. v. I.R.S., 92 F.3d 1539, 1548 (11th Cir.1996)). A bankruptcy case is ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Sagamore Partners, Ltd., 13–20708–CIV.
... ... , LLC (“Berkadia”), LNR Partners, LLC (“LNR”), Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as Trustee, and U.S. Bank National ... See Figueroa v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., 382 B.R. 814, 820–21 ... ...
- In re Sagamore Partners, Ltd.
- In re: McINTYRE BUILDING COMPANY Inc.
- Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. v. AASI Creditor Liquidating Trust