U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION VS. MARISA LUZ BELL (F-003596-16, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE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-4311-17T3
U.S. BANK NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS
INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY
BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE
FOR THE RMAC TRUST,
SERIES 2016-CTT,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
MARISA LUZ BELL, a/k/a MARISA
L. BELL,
Defendant-Appellant,
and
MR. MARISA LUZ BELL, her
husband, and CHAYNAE SLY,
Defendants.
________________________________
Submitted May 22, 2019 – Decided June 6, 2019
Before Judges Accurso and Moynihan.
On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey,
Chancery Division, Essex County, Docket No.
F-003596-16.
Marisa Luz Bell, appellant pro se.
Pleuse Becker & Saltzman, LLC, attorneys for
respondent (Stuart H. West, on the brief).
PER CURIAM
Defendant Marisa L. Bell appeals from a final judgment of foreclosure
contending plaintiff, U.S. Bank National Association, not in its individual
capacity but solely as trustee for the RMAC Trust, Series 2016-CTT, failed to
establish it possessed the mortgage note "at the time the complaint was filed or
at the time final judgment was respectfully recommended" by the Foreclosure
Unit. Because the record reveals plaintiff established its standing and that of its
predecessor, Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, through duly recorded assignments of
mortgage predating Nationstar's complaint and U.S. Bank's motion for final
judgment, we affirm.
Defendant borrowed $212,000 from Lehman Brothers Bank in June 2006,
secured by a purchase money mortgage on her home. The loan went into default
in March 2008. As reflected in the foreclosure complaint filed on February 5,
2016, and in counsel for original plaintiff Nationstar's certification of diligent
inquiry pursuant to Rule 4:64-1(a)(2), the mortgage was assigned first to Aurora
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Loan Services, LLC then to Nationstar. The complaint notes the assignment to
Nationstar was recorded in the Essex County Register's Office on September 13,
2012. When Nationstar filed its summary judgment motion to strike defendant's
contesting answer, it also moved to substitute U.S. Bank as trustee as plaintiff.
The assignment of mortgage from Nationstar to U.S. Bank was recorded on
October 3, 2016, and the order granting summary judgment, striking defendant's
answer and substituting U.S. Bank as plaintiff was filed on November 4, 2016.
We denied defendant's motion for leave to appeal in January 2017, and her
motion for reconsideration the following month. The Supreme Court denied
defendant's motion for leave to appeal.
U.S. Bank moved for entry of final judgment in March 2018. In support
of that motion, which defendant did not oppose, plaintiff's counsel filed a
certification on personal knowledge averring he received the original note from
plaintiff's servicer on September 15, 2016, and personally made the copy
attached to his certification from the original document, which he certified to be
true and correct. That note bears an indorsement to Nationstar's order and an
allonge by which Nationstar indorsed the note to the order of U.S. Bank, not in
its individual capacity but solely as trustee for the RMAC Trust, Series 2016 -
CTT, without recourse.
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On appeal, defendant contends "[n]o certification testimony of a U.S.
Bank National Association representative has set forth any proof that original
plaintiff or substituting plaintiff, was in physical possession of the Original Note
and mortgage before the Complaint was filed and attached business record[s] to
that effect" and "no certification was offered that plaintiff's Counsel . . . was
provided with the Original Note, with an endorsement to Nationstar Mortgage,
LLC when the Complaint in this matter was filed on February 5, 2016."
Defendant has not provided us with the transcript in which the judge
placed his reasons on the record for granting summary judgment striking her
answer, nor do we have plaintiff's motion or supporting documents. We are thus
unable to ascertain on this record whether plaintiff established on the motion
that it possessed the original note when it filed its complaint. New Jersey case
law, however, is clear a foreclosing plaintiff can establish its standing through
"either possession of the note or an assignment of the mortgage that predated
the original complaint." Deutsche Bank Tr. Co. Ams. v. Angeles, 428 N.J.
Super. 315, 318 (App. Div. 2012). Because Nationstar, the original plaintiff,
held a recorded assignment of mortgage in its favor when it filed its complaint,
it easily proved its standing to pursue this foreclosure. See Bank of N.Y. v.
Raftogianis, 418 N.J. Super. 323, 330-31 (Ch. Div. 2010).
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U.S. Bank likewise established its own standing to proceed with reference
to a duly recorded assignment of mortgage from Nationstar predating the entry
of the order to substitute as plaintiff. In addition, on its motion for final
judgment, U.S. Bank further established its standing by virtue of a certification
of its counsel made on personal knowledge in accordance with Rule 1:6-6,
attesting to his possession of the original note indorsed to U.S. Bank's order not
in its individual capacity, but solely as trustee for the RMAC Trust, Series 2016-
CTT. See Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Ford, 418 N.J. Super. 592, 597-600 (App.
Div. 2011).
As the record on appeal conclusively establishes Nationstar's standing to
institute this action and U.S. Bank's standing to pursue it through final judgment,
we reject defendant's arguments and affirm the entry of the final judgment in
foreclosure.
Affirmed.
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