A Win for the Homeowners in a Mortgage Foreclosure

Pineda v. Wells Fargo, 2014 WL 3608886 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014); decision rendered July 23, 2014 

The homeowners received a discharge in bankruptcy, releasing them from personal liability from all debts including their first and second mortgages.  A foreclosure sale was held on the second mortgage.  A third party bidder purchased the property, subject to the first mortgage, for nearly $100,000 more than the second mortgage’s foreclosure judgment. Pursuant to Florida Statute § 45.032(2) the owner was supposed to get the nearly $100,000 surplus.

However, the third party purchaser petitioned for the surplus and promised to use the money to pay down the first mortgage.  The purchaser argued that the owners would be unjustly enriched if they received the surplus because they no longer had any liability for the first mortgage note and would keep the money.  The trial court, claiming it was equitable,agreed and ordered the surplus disbursed to the purchaser with the requirement that the purchaser to use the money to pay down the first mortgage.

The District Court of Appeals held  the case was a “cautionary tale to bidders at foreclosure sales” and reversed because “[t]he statute is clear: the owner of record at the time of the recording of the lis pendens is entitled to any surplus proceeds.” The bankrupt owners are to receive the nearly $100,000 surplus and they can spend it anyway they want to.