Woodard v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co., Bankruptcy Appeal No. 19-30140-NMG

• Court: United States District Courts. 1st Circuit. United States District Courts. 1st Circuit. District of Massachusetts
• Writing for the Court: GORTON, J.
• Citation: 615 B.R. 664
• Parties: Daniel P. WOODARD, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST CO., et al., Defendants/Appellees.
• Docket Number: Bankruptcy Appeal No. 19-30140-NMG
• Decision Date: 05 June 2020

615 B.R. 664

Daniel P. WOODARD, Plaintiff/Appellant,
v.
DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST CO., et al., Defendants/Appellees.

Bankruptcy Appeal No. 19-30140-NMG

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

Signed June 5, 2020

David G. Baker, Boston, MA, for Plaintiff/Appellant.

Robert A. McCall, Peabody & Arnold LLP, Boston, MA, Kurt R. McHugh, Harmon Law Offices, P.C., Newton Highlands, MA, for Defendants/Appellees.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

GORTON, J.

615 B.R. 665

This is an appeal from an order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts following a two-day trial in the adversary proceeding brought by debtor Daniel Woodard ("Woodard" or "debtor") against Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. ("Deutsche Bank").

I. Background

In September, 2004, debtor and his wife, Lynne Harrington ("Harrington"), refinanced a mortgage loan encumbering their property in Northfield, Massachusetts ("the Property"). Debtor and Harrington executed a mortgage in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems, Inc. ("MERS"), as nominee for IndyMac Federal Bank F.S.B. ("the Mortgage"). The Mortgage was later assigned to Deutsche Bank.

Debtor and Harrington defaulted on the Mortgage and the Property was sold by foreclosure auction in early 2008. Shortly thereafter, debtor filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq.

Debtor subsequently filed an adversary proceeding against Deutsche Bank challenging the foreclosure. In his complaint, debtor argued that (1) the foreclosure was invalid (Count I); (2) Deutsche Bank committed fraud, deceit and misrepresentation, in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 93A as well as state and federal fair debt collection practice laws (Counts II, III and IV); (3) Deutsche Bank breached its contract by failing to provide proper notice (Count V); and (4) the foreclosure sale constituted a fraudulent transfer of the Property (Count VI).

The case languished while debtor and Deutsche Bank executed a loan modification agreement pursuant to which Deutsche Bank agreed to write off approximately $202,700 of the total amount owed by debtor. In August, 2017, the Bankruptcy Court issued a notice of inactivity....