RODNEY LEE VS. U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (L-1742-18, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) ( 2019 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the
internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-4907-17T3
RODNEY LEE,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,
not in its individual capacity, but solely as
trustee for the RMAC Trust, Series 2016-CTT,
and NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE, LLC,
Defendants,
and
LAW OFFICES OF STEVEN A. VARANO,
PC,
Defendant-Respondent.
_______________________________________
Submitted May 21, 2019 – Decided May 31, 2019
Before Judges Rothstadt and Natali.
On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law
Division, Essex County, Docket No. L-1742-18.
Rodney Lee, appellant pro se.
Respondent has not filed a brief.
PER CURIAM
Plaintiff Rodney Lee appeals from the Law Division's May 11, 2018 and
May 25, 2018 orders dismissing his complaint that sought relief under the
Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 to -210, against defendants U.S. National
Bank Association (USB), Nationstar Mortgage LLC (Nationstar), and the Law
Offices of Steven A. Varano, P.C. (Varano).1 On appeal, plaintiff argues that
the orders should be vacated and the matter remanded because the motion judge
who entered both orders failed to provide the parties with her statement of
reasons explaining why she dismissed plaintiff's complaint. For the reason that
follow, we vacate the May 11, 2018 order and remand the matter to the motion
judge for a statement for reasons as required by Rule 1:7-4.
Plaintiff filed his complaint in March 2018. His complaint arose out of
an earlier foreclosure action filed against him by Nationstar in which USB
appeared as the successful bidder at a sheriff's sale through its attorney, Varano.
In response to plaintiff's complaint in this matter, on April 20, 2018, Varano
filed a motion under Rule 4:6-2(e), seeking to dismiss the complaint for failure
1
After filing his appeal, on November 27, 2018, plaintiff entered into a
stipulation of dismissal with USB and Nationstar.
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to state a cause of action for which relief could be granted. A similar motion
was filed by USB and Nationstar on April 27, 2018. Plaintiff filed opposition
to both motions and without considering any oral argument, the motion judge
entered the two orders from which plaintiff appeals.
The May 11, 2018 order dismissed the complaint against defendant
Varano. The order noted that Varano's application had been opposed. It made
no reference to the reasons for the judge's decision being placed on the record
or stated in any accompanying written decision. The May 25, 2018 order
dismissed the complaint against USB and Nationstar, noted that plaintiff had
opposed the motion, and similarly made no mention of the judge's reasons for
her decision being set forth in any format.
After plaintiff received the motion judge's orders, he filed a statement of
his "objections to [the judge's] finding[s] of fact and conclusion[s] of law,"
requesting that the judge issue a written statement of the judge's "legal[]
reasoning to grant dismissal of plaintiff's undisputed complaint." Plaintiff never
received a response to this request. This appeal followed.
As already noted, on appeal, plaintiff's only argument is that the motion
judge failed to comply with Rule 1:7-4 and for that reason, the orders dismissing
his complaint should be vacated. We agree.
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Rule 1:7-4 requires that a judge "by an opinion or memorandum decision,
either written or oral, find the facts and state its conclusions of law thereon in
all actions tried without a jury . . . ." R. 1:7-4. "When a trial court issues reasons
for its decision, it 'must state clearly [its] factual findings and correlate them
with relevant legal conclusions, so that parties and the appellate courts [are]
informed of the rationale underlying th[ose] conclusion[s].'" Avelino-Catabran
v. Catabran, 445 N.J. Super. 574, 594-95 (App. Div. 2016) (alterations in
original) (quoting Monte v. Monte, 212 N.J. Super. 557, 565 (App. Div. 1986)).
"[A]n articulation of reasons is essential to the fair resolution of a case." O'Brien
v. O'Brien, 259 N.J. Super. 402, 407 (App. Div. 1992). When a judge does not
properly state his or her findings and conclusions, a reviewing court does not
know whether the judge's decision is based on the facts and law or is the product
of arbitrary action resting on an impermissible basis. See Monte, 212 N.J. Super.
at 565. "Meaningful appellate review is inhibited unless the judge sets forth the
reasons for his or her opinion." Giarusso v. Giarusso, 455 N.J. Super. 42, 53-
54 (App. Div. 2018) (quoting Strahan v. Strahan, 402 N.J. Super. 298, 310 (App.
Div. 2008)). Failure to do so therefore "constitutes a disservice to the litigants,
the attorneys and the appellate court." Ricci v. Ricci, 448 N.J. Super. 546, 575
(App. Div. 2017) (quoting Curtis v. Finneran, 83 N.J. 563, 569-70 (1980)).
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Because the motion judge here did not even attempt to meet the Rule's
requirements as to either order, we would normally be constrained to vacate the
two orders and remand them for a statement of reasons explaining her findings
of fact and conclusions of law. However, because plaintiff entered into a
stipulation of dismissal with USB and Nationstar, only the May 11, 2018 order
as to Varano needs to be vacated and remanded for the judge's statement of
reasons.
Vacated and remanded for further proceedings consistent with our
opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction.
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