Jaffer v. Chase Home Fin. LLC

Decision Date01 August 2012
Docket NumberNo. 4D11–1572.,4D11–1572.
Citation92 So.3d 240
PartiesGafoor JAFFER and Nina Jaffer, Appellants, v. CHASE HOME FINANCE LLC, as successor by merger to Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Joann M. Hennessey of Civil Justice Advocates, PL, Fort Lauderdale, for appellants.

Rossana Navarro and Dennis M. Campbell of Campbell Law Firm PLLC, Coral Gables, for appellee.

POLEN, J.

Appellants, Gafoor Jaffer and Nina Jaffer, appeal the trial court's order denying their amended motion to vacate default, set aside summary judgment, and cancel sale in an underlying foreclosure action. In support of its case, Chase Home Finance, LLC (Chase) filed affidavits signed by representatives of the company. Later, Chase filed a letter with the trial court, admitting that some of its affidavits may have been signed by individuals without personal knowledge of the facts therein. As such, we remand this case to the trial court, limited strictly to the determination of whether the affidavits filed in this case were based on the personal knowledge of the affiant.

Chase filed a mortgage foreclosure complaint and an amended mortgage foreclosure complaint against the Jaffers. The amended complaint states that Chase is the holder of the note and mortgage and is entitled to enforce the same against the property owner, the Jaffers. The Jaffers defaulted and Chase declared the entire amount on the note due. In anticipation of a hearing on its motion for summary judgment in the course of this foreclosure case, Chase filed an affidavit as to amounts due and owing. The affiant was Mary Cook, employee of Chase.1 Cook averred as to Chase's practice regarding its books, records, and documents and stated that she had personal knowledge of the sums of money owed by the Jaffers. After the summary judgment hearing, the court entered final summary judgment of mortgage foreclosure in favor of Chase, making the unpaid principal balance, interest, late charges, miscellaneous fees and expenses, and taxes due. Public sale was set for September 1, 2010, at 10:00 a.m.

Chase filed a motion to cancel foreclosure sale, attaching a letter stating that [i]t has come to the attention of Chase ... that in some cases employees in Chase's mortgage foreclosure operations may have signed affidavits about loan documents on the basis of file reviews done by other personnel—without the signer personally having reviewed those loan files.” The court granted Chase's motion to cancel the sale. The Jaffers filed a motion to vacate default, set aside summary judgment and cancel sale, pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(3)-(5). The trial court entered an order denying the Jaffers' motion. This appeal timely followed.

The Jaffers argue that the affidavit in support of Chase's motion for summary judgment was never confirmed as valid after Chase placed the authenticity of its affidavits at issue in its motion to cancel foreclosure sale. Therefore, the Jaffers contend that the trial court erred in its failure to set aside default and summary...

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