Preview
Filing # 181442524 E-Filed 09/08/2023 04:50:32 PM
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR FLAGLER COUNTY, FLORIDA
KENNETH BELL, SR., and ALENA BELL,
Case No. 2022-CA-000080
Plaintiffs,
v
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS
TRUSTEE FOR RAMP 2006ECF2;
EQUIFIRST CORPORATION;
RESIDENTIAL FUNDING COMPANY, LLC
and RESIDENTIAL FUNDING CORP.,
Defendant.
/
USBANK’S RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO AND MOTION TO STRIKE
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S
MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM ORDER ABATING PROCEEDINGS
Defendant, U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR RAMP
2006EFC2 (“U.S. Bank” or “Defendant”), by and through its undersigned counsel, hereby files its
opposition to the Motion for Relief from Order Granting Defendant’s Motion for Relief from Order
Abating Proceedings filed by Plaintiffs, KENNETH BELL, SR., and ALENA BELL (collectively,
the “Bells” or “Plaintiffs”) on August 14, 2023, and moves to strike same in accordance with Rule
1.140, Fla. R. Civ. P., and states as follows:
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
Plaintiffs’ Motion requests the Court to strike the portion of the Order Lifting the
Abatement that directed Plaintiffs to file an amended complaint. (Docket Number [“D.N.”] 43.)
Plaintiffs argue that there was no prior hearing or order on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss so that
any order to amend is improper, wherein Plaintiffs are “at a loss” what needs to be amended.
Plaintiffs’ Motion must in of itselfbe stricken.
Electronically Received in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court - Flagler County, Florida - 09/11/2023 09:54 AM - DIN: 51
A hearing was conducted on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss on April 13, 2022 where the
Court specifically held that Plaintiffs’ Complaint needed to be amended with additional allegations
required, although the Court abated the necessity to amend until after a related 5" DCA appeal
was concluded. Plaintiffs’ counsel specifically conceded to this fact at the last July 14, 2023
hearing. Now that the appeal has concluded, the Court has issued an order directing Plaintiffs to
amend. Plaintiffs must either comply with said order, or the Court should hold Plaintiffs in default,
dismissing the litigation.
BACKGROUND
1 This quiet title action was commenced by the Bells against U.S. Bank and others,
asserting that U.S. Bank’s mortgage on the property should be vacated, without explanation or
context. The suit was commenced during the pendency of an appeal of a judgment in Plaintiffs’
favor in a related foreclosure action for the property commenced by U.S. Bank. See Complaint,
Ex. F (D.N. 13); see also 2008-CA-002727 (the “Foreclosure Action”). The Court in the
Foreclosure Action had originally issued a judgment in favor of the Bells, holding that at the prior
trial U.S. Bank failed to prove standing, which judgment was appealed and ultimately overturned
this past year. (/d.) Specifically, during the trial, the Court would not admit the Pooling and
Servicing agreement (“PSA”) and Mortgage Loan Schedule (“MLS”) into evidence to show U.S.
Bank’s standing on hearsay grounds. (/d.) This judgment was appealed to the 5"" DCA. U.S. Bank
Nat'l Ass'n v. Bell, 355 So. 3d 980 (Fla. 5th DCA 2023).
2. U.S. Bank originally moved to dismiss the Bells’ Quiet Title Complaint for failure
to state a cause of action. (D.N. 31.) Specifically, any alleged unsuccessful foreclosure action
would not invalidate Defendant’s mortgage lien nor prohibit another foreclosure action, making a
quiet title action improper. 2010-3 SFR Venture, LLC v. Garcia, 149 So. 3d 123, 124 (Fla. 4th
DCA 2014) (dismissal of prior foreclosure action does not render mortgage unenforceable).
Indeed, each failed payment under the Note and Mortgage creates a new cause of action for
foreclosure. Id.; see also Bartram v. U.S. Bank Nat. Ass’n, 211 So. 3d 1009 (Fla. 2016) (if
mortgagee’s initial foreclosure action is unsuccessful for whatever reason, the mortgagee still has
the right to file subsequent foreclosure actions); Singleton v. Greymar Associates, 882 So. 2d 1004,
1008 (Fla. 2004) (successive foreclosure suits are not barred, regardless of whether or not the
mortgagee sought to accelerate payments on the note in the first suit.).
3 The Motion to dismiss was set for hearing on April 13, 2022. See Exhibit A —
Notice of Hearing. At the hearing, Defendants argued that the Quiet Title Action was improper
because even if there was an unsuccessful prior foreclosure action, it would not wipe out
Defendant’s mortgage lien. (See Exhibit B— April 13, 2022 Hearing Transcript “2022 Tr.” 8:20-
9:4.) Plaintiffs opposed, specifically arguing that U.S. Bank is only “pretending” to have standing
wherein it is not entitled to enforce the loan documents (although not explaining how the loan itself
is somehow invalid). (2022 Tr. 12-14.)
4 At the end of this hearing, the Court held that “in order to proceed on a quiet title
action, Ms. Herman, in all fairness, you’re going to have to amend the complaint. And you’re
going to have to add a whole lot more factual allegations than what you put in here.” (2022 Tr.
14:11-15.) Although the Court did abate the proceedings pending the 5'* DCA appeal, the Court
specifically stated that “rather than have [Plaintiffs] [amend] and then stay the proceedings until
we get a ruling from the 5"* DCA, I’m just going to stay them now. So I’m going to abate it until
we hear something from the 5" DCA.” (2022 Tr. 14:16-20.) In other words, the Court directed
Plaintiffs to amend the complaint, although not requiring them to comply until the abatement was
lifted.
5 After a hearing on the motion to dismiss, the Court issued its Order Abating
Proceedings, although stating that Plaintiffs’ Complaint needed to be amended. (D.N. 38- Exhibit
Cc)
6 Thereafter, the 5" DCA issued a ruling overturning the judgment in the Foreclosure
Action. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass’n v. Bell, 355 So. 3d 980 (Fla. Sth DCA 2023). The 5" DCA
specifically held that the trial court should have admitted the PSA and MLS proffered by U.S.
Bank into evidence at the trial, establishing U.S. Bank’s standing at inception of that lawsuit. Id.
at 983. This appellate holding made it clear, beyond any doubt, that the subject Quiet Title
Complaint was improper.
7 As a result, a hearing was conducted on Defendant’s Motion to Lift the Abatement
on July 14, 2023, where the Court directed Plaintiffs to amend the Complaint under the prior order.
(D.N. 42.) Of importance, Plaintiffs conceded during this exchange that a hearing on the Motion
to Dismiss was in fact held along with an issued ruling which directed Plaintiffs to amend.
MR. HARTLEY: Yes, Your Honor. My question is that order abating the
proceedings was —when it ruled on our motion to dismiss, it held the complaint
needed to be amended.
THE COURT: Yes.
MR. HARTLEY: So I didn’t know if Your Honor wanted to issue an order
directing her to amend the complaint?
MS. HERMAN: That is correct. I agree with what counsel is saying, Your
Honor.
(See Exhibit D — July 2023 Transcript [2023 Tr.”] 3:22-4:6.)
MEMORANDUM OF LAW
A “motion to strike matter as redundant, immaterial or scandalous should be granted when
the material is wholly irrelevant, can have no bearing on the equities and no influence on the
decision.” McWhirter, Reeves, McGothlin, Davidson, Rief & Bakas, P.A. v. Weiss, 704 So. 2d 214,
216 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) citing Pentecostal Holiness Church, Inc. v. Mauney, 270 So.2d 762, 769
(Fla. 4th DCA 1972); see also Rice-Lamar v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 853 So. 2d 1125, 1133 (Fla.
4th DCA 2003).
Here, it is clear that Plaintiffs’ statement in their Motion that the Court “refused to conduct
any hearings, until the appellate court made a ruling” misconstrues the record and procedural
posture. (Motion for Relief 2.) In turn, Plaintiffs’ statement that there “are no court minutes;
transcripts, or any other document or action evidencing that a hearing was held on the Defendant’s
Motion to Dismiss” is not true. (/d.§ 3.) Similarly, Plaintiff's statement that “[w]ithout having a
hearing on the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, nor an order granting same, Plaintiffs are at a loss
as to what alleged deficiency needs amending” is similarly ingenuine. (/d. § 5.) As a result,
Plaintiffs’ Motion for Relief must be denied and/or stricken.
WHEREFORE, Defendant U.S. Bank respectfully requests that the Court enter an order
denying and/or striking Plaintiffs’ Motion for Relief, together with attorneys’ fees and such other
relief that this Court deems just and appropriate.
Respectfully submitted,
GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A.
777 South Flagler Drive, Suite 300 E
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Tel.: 561.650.7900
By: /s/Adam P. Hartley
Adam P. Hartley, Esq., FBN 0052211
hartleya@gtlaw.com
andra. famadas@gtlaw.com
FLService@gtlaw.com
CERTIFICATE OF GOOD FAITH
The undersigned certifies in accordance with Local Rules that he reached out to Plaintiff's
counsel via email on August 15-16, & 24, 2023 to resolve the underlying dispute surrounding
Plaintiff's motion. To date, Plaintiffs have not withdrawn their motion, prompting the instant
Motion to Strike.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on September 8, 2023, this a true and correct copy of the
foregoing was filed electronically through the Court’s CM/ECF system which will, in turn, send a
notice of electronic filing to parties and counsel of record.
Patricia K. Herman, Esq.
LAW OFFICE OF PATRICIA K. HERMAN, P.A.
1631 Rock Springs Road, #305
Apopka, FL 32712-2229
Tel.: 407.731.5823
lopkhpa@gmail.com
Counsel for Plaintiffs
/s/ Adam P. Hartley
Adam P. Hartley
Exhibit A
Filing # 146946484 E-Filed 04/04/2022 08:54:43 AM
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR FLAGLER COUNTY, FLORIDA
CIVIL ACTION
KENNETH BELL, SR.,
and ALENA BELL,
Plaintiffs, Case No: 2022-CA-000080
vs.
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
AS TRUSTEE FOR RAMP 2006ECF2;
EQUIFIRST CORPORATION; RESIDENTIAL
FUNDING COMPANY, LLC; and, RESIDENTIAL
FUNDING CORP,
Defendants.
/
NOTICE OF HEARING
TO U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR RAMP 2006ECF2;
EQUIFIRST CORPORATION;
RESIDENTIAL FUNDING COMPANY, LLC; and,
RESIDENTIAL FUNDING CORP
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on Wednesday, the 13th day of April, 2022, at 8:30 a.m.,
or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard, the undersigned will bring on to be heard:
DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS COMPLAINT
INJTS ENTIRETY AS TO ALL DEFENDANTS:
MOTION FOR ENTRY OF COURT’S DEFAULT;
MOTION FOR ENTRY OF DEFAULT FINAL JUDGMENT;
USBANK’S RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR ENTRY OF DEFAULT
JUDGMENT;
AND,
OBJECTION TO MOTION FOR DEFAULT
(THIRTY (30) MINUTES RESERVED)
in the above styled cause before the Honorable Judge Terence R. Perkins, in Courtroom 401,
Flagler County Courthouse at 1769 E. Moody Boulevard, Building 1, Bunnell, Florida 32110.
PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.
Ifyou are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost
to you, to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact the Court Ad trator at 125 E. Orange Avenue, Ste. 300, Daytona Beach,
Florida 32114, (386) 256-6096; 1-800- 3771 (TDD) or 1-800-955-8770, in 2 working days of your receipt of this Notice of Hearing;
if you are hearing impaired, call 1-800-955-8771.
Electronically Received in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court - Flagler County, Florida - 04/05/2022 02:43 PM
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
1 HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Notice of Hearing
will be furnished via Florida E-Portal Notification to all parties of record in this action on this 4th
day of April, 2022.
/S/ Patricia K. Herman
PATRICIA K. HERMAN, ESQUIRE
Florida Bar No: 0113018
Law Office of Patricia K. Herman, P.A.
1631 Rock Springs Road, #305
Apopka, Florida 32712-2229
407/688.8082
407/688.8085 (Facsimile)
Email: lopkhpa@gmail.com
Service Email: service2lopkhpa@gmail.com
Attorney for Plaintiffs
Ifyou are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost
to you, to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact the Court Adi trator at 125 E. Orange Avenue, Ste. 300, Daytona Beach,
Florida 32114, (386) 256-6096; 1-800-955-8771 (TDD) or 1-800-955-8770, in 2 working days of your receipt of this Notice of Hearing;
if you are hearing impaired, call 1-800-955-8771.
Exhibit B
Page 1
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, SEVENTH
JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR
FLAGLER COUNTY, FLORIDA
CASE NO: 2022-CA-000080
KENNETH BELL, SR., and
ALENA BELL
Plaintiffs,
vs.
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
AS TRUSTEE FOR RAMP 2006ECF2;
EQUIFIRST CORPORATION; RESIDENTIAL
FUNDING COMPANY, LLC; and
RESIDENTIAL FUNDING CORP.,
10
Defendants.
11
12 kOe RK eK kk kk ok Ok ok kk Ok OK
13
14 VIRTUAL ZOOM
HEARING BEFORE: HONORABLE TERENCE R. PERKINS
15
DATE TAKEN: APRIL 13, 2022
16
TIME: 8:52 a.m. - 9:06 a.m.
17
PLACE: VIRTUAL ZOOM
18
REPORTED BY: KRISTIN DWYER, RPR
19 COURT REPORTER AND
NOTARY PUBLIC
20
21
22
23
24
25
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APPEARANCES:
PATRICIA K. HERMAN, ESQUIRE
OF: Law Office of Patricia K. Herman, PA
1631 Rock Springs Road, #305
Apopka, FL 32712
lopkhpa@gmail.com
(407) 688-8082
APPEARING ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFF VIA
VIDEOCONFERENCE
BETH A. NORROW, ESQUIRE
OF Greenberg Traurig, PA
777 South Flagler Drive, Suite 300
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
10 norrowb@gtlaw.com
(561) 650-7926
11
APPEARING ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT VIA
12 VIDEOCONFERENCE
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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PROCEEDINGS
kk
Ok kk
THE CLERK: All right. The next case we
have is 2022-CA-80, Kenneth Bell v. Equifirst
Corporation, et al.
THE COURT: All right. So let me have
counsel make their appearance. We'll start
first with plaintiff's counsel.
MS. HERMAN: Good morning, Your Honor
10 Patricia Herman for Kenneth and Alena Bell
11 THE COURT: And defense?
12 MS. NORROW: Good morning, Your Honor
13 This is Beth Norrow on behalf of U.S. Bank as
14 Trustee.
15 THE COURT: All right. Good morning,
16 counsel. Welcome. So we've got five minutes
17 and I have like four hearings scheduled here.
18 What motion do you want to take up first?
19 There's a motion to dismiss. There's a motion
20 for default. And we've got a bunch of
21 different things. I was thinking the motion to
22 dismiss is probably where we ought to start,
23 maybe.
24 MS. HERMAN: I listed that first on the
25 notice, Your Honor. I think that would be
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appropriate.
THE COURT: Okay. All right. So,
Ms. Norrow, it's your motion.
MS. NORROW: Thank you, Your Honor. This
is a quiet title case to release a mortgage --
to cancel and release a mortgage.
But the admissions by the plaintiffs, I
need to get out in front first; that they
signed the mortgage, that they received
10 $220,000 to purchase the property, and that the
11 mortgage was granted in favor of Equifirst.
12 The mortgage has been in foreclosure since
13 2008. Judgment was entered in favor of the
14 borrowers on the grounds that plaintiff failed
15 to establish standing at the time the complaint
16 was filed. And that is currently on appeal, so
17 the foreclosure case is still open.
18 The complaint fails to state a cause of
19 action either for declaratory relief releasing
20 the mortgage or for a quiet title action. I'll
21 address the declaratory relief first.
22 The pleading standard, of course, to test
23 the sufficiency of a complaint when it's a
24 declaratory action is whether or not the
25 plaintiff is even entitled to a declaration of
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rights at all. That is, there needs to be some
sort of an ambiguity on the instrument itself
that they are asking the Court to make a
declaration as to. There must be a dispute as
to the construction of the instrument.
None of that has been set forward here.
In fact, there's no ambiguity, no vagueness, no
uncertainly at all alleged with respect to the
mortgage. The amount is undisputed. Execution
10 is undisputed. The property description is
11 undisputed. The address is undisputed. And
12 the mortgage itself is valid.
13 So the only thing that has been alleged in
14 the complaint that could possibly explain the
15 request for release of the mortgage is this
16 prior foreclosure action, which is still going
17 on in the Court of Appeals.
18 But Florida courts have consistently said
19 that an unsuccessful foreclosure action does
20 not render a mortgage invalid. And if that was
21 plaintiff's basis, then the cause of action is
22 premature because the foreclosure action is
23 still going on to begin with.
24 But, as a matter of law, an unsuccessful
25 foreclosure action does not render a mortgage
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unenforceable. And I cited three cases that
support that. And it's 2010-3 SFR Venture, LLC
v. Garcia at 149 So.3d 123. It's a 4th DCA
case which specifically says dismissal of a
prior foreclosure action does not render a
mortgage unenforceable.
The other two cases are Bartram and
Singleton, which are probably very familiar to
this Court. Which is that, it stands for the
10 proposition that each and every payment that's
11 due under a mortgage is a whole separate cause
12 of action. So even if the borrowers were
13 successful in their foreclosure action that's
14 currently pending, they're still subject to
15 about another 359 foreclosure actions, if
16 that's -- if those were the payments that they
17 missed.
18 But the absence of any sort of ambiguity,
19 vagueness, or uncertainly precludes the Court
20 from making any sort of a decision as to
21 declaratory relief. No request for declaratory
22 relief has been sufficiently stated, no cause
23 of action, so the Court cannot issue a default
24 judgment. The Court needs to dismiss the case.
25 As to the quiet title action, the pleading
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standard in general is the plaintiff must have
a claim to title and there must be some sort of
a cloud on title. Cloud on title is an invalid
claim by the defendants. There is no invalid
claim by the defendants at this point, at least
not alleged in this complaint.
Section 65.061 of Florida Statutes says
that grounds for a quiet title case as toa
mortgage requires a defective instrument. And
10 in this case, the borrowers do not allege that
11 the mortgage is defective.
12 So regardless of who was able to enforce
13 the mortgage, which is not in front of the
14 Court today, it's the mortgage itself in this
15 case is not defective, nor is it alleged to be
16 defective, so they cannot establish a quiet
17 title cause of action based on the mortgage.
18 And, in fact, a valid mortgage is not even
19 a cloud on title. That is the Kaan, K-A-A-N,
20 v. Wells Fargo case. That is a Southern
21 District of Florida case from 2013. But it
22 says: Voluntarily dismissal of a mortgage
23 assignee's earlier foreclosure action does not
24 invalidate a note and mortgage. Rather, the
25 note and mortgage remain a valid and
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enforceable lien against the mortgagor's
property and did not constitute a cloud on
title, properly supporting the quiet title
claim. The other case with, basically, the
same holding is the Dorta v. Wilmington Trust
case. That's 2014 WL 1152917 Middle District
of Florida, same thing.
So the existence of the mortgage is not a
cloud on title, a valid mortgage is not a cloud
10 on title, and foreclosure is not a claim to
11 title. Foreclosure not being the claim to
12 title, is set forth in the Roy v. Matheson
13 case, 263 So.2d 604. That is, foreclosure
14 proceedings do not divest a mortgagor of title
15 until the filing of a certificate of title.
16 That is not alleged to have happened in the
17 foreclosure --
18 THE COURT: Ms. Norrow, you've got about a
19 minute. You've got about another minute.
20 MS. NORROW: Okay. The only other
21 allegation in the case is that
22 defendants [sic], you know, have requested
23 the -- have alleged that the defendants have
24 not transacted business in the state of
25 Florida. That's utterly irrelevant, because
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they obviously transacted business at the time
that the mortgage was in effect and -- which is
still in effect. But at the time mortgage was
executed and that's undisputed.
THE COURT: Okay. Ms. Herman, response?
MS. HERMAN : Thank you, Your Honor. Your
Honor, I filed the quiet title action pursuant
to 65.061. Under section sub 2 for grounds, it
specifically states there's two ways that you
10 can bring a quiet title action. One way is if
11 there is a defect in the mortgage or something
12 of that nature, which Attorney Norrow has just
13 laid out.
14 But the first part of the statute comes
15 from the reach of the Court. When a person or
16 corporation, not the rightful owner of land,
17 has any conveyance or other evidence of title
18 thereto or asserts any claim or pretends to
19 have any right or title thereto which may cast
20 a cloud on the title on the real owner. Or
21 when any person or corporation is the true and
22 equitable owner of the land -- and it goes on
23 to talk about if there's a defect in the actual
24 documents.
25 I'm filing it on the fact that U.S.
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National Bank Association [sic] is one of the
defendants that is pretending to have any
right, title, or claim thereto. In essence of
that, when those grounds are met, there is a
prima facie case of quiet title.
It sounds to me that Attorney Norrow is
stating that they are not pretending to have
any right, but that they do actually have a
right. Because she's claiming that they have a
10 right to foreclose on the actual property based
11 upon the mortgage that is filed.
12 And if that is the fact, then I guess what
13 would happen is U.S. Bank would then file in
14 this court whatever it is they prove to show
15 they are not pretending to have a right, that
16 they actually do have an actual right thereto
17 I believe with all the arguments and the
18 paperwork and the case law that's cited by
19 Counsel, that that action goes in my favor to
20 show the Court that my complaint is pled fine
21 It's understood. It's been argued to and it's
22 argued in defense, as if we're here for summary
23 judgment.
24 So I believe that my complaint does state
25 a cause of action. According to Chapter 65,
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you only need to allege if the owner of the
property feels that there is somebody who is
asserting a claim or pretends to have a claim
to the title thereto that does not have one.
That is what this particular verified complaint
for quiet title is for.
THE COURT: Ms. Herman, the simple
question. So I remember this case quite
vividly. I don't think I've ever had so many,
10 what I'll call, hearings that were actually
11 trials on an issue. I mean, it went on and on
12 and on and on. I remember it quite well.
13 At the end of the day, what I found is
14 that the bank was not able to support their
15 argument of standing based on their failure to
16 either call the right people or to overcome the
17 hearsay exceptions that were claimed at the
18 time of the trial in the case.
19 So as a result, I found that they didn't
20 prove that they had standing and they couldn't
21 foreclose. And that was the final judgment
22 that I entered in that regard.
23 So let's assume that the 5th District
24 Court of Appeal reverses that, for any reason.
25 Like I said, there were four separate trials in
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the case that went on and on. So let's just
assume that they reversed that. How does that
affect your action here to quiet title?
MS. HERMAN: Your Honor, it doesn't affect
my action, because you felt -- you ordered that
because the bank's representative stated that
they did not have any knowledge of the pooling
and servicing agreement and all of that.
That's a separate issue.
10 The issue that's always been before this
11 Court, as my representation of the Bells -- and
12 I'm the second attorney into this case. The
13 first attorney that filed it was Philip Karle.
14 He did make the same argument. And it was --
15 he did not appear at the motion for summary
16 judgment.
17 But that argument was that U.S. Bank --
18 it's not a matter of not having standing. They
19 do not own this note. They did not have the
20 ability to file a lawsuit in the state of
21 Florida in 2008. They only came into this
22 state to conduct business in 2018. There was
23 never any way, shape, or form that they had any
24 type of association to this particular note.
25 It goes beyond just a simple lack of
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standing. They are a stranger to the entire
transaction. That is what has been argued from
the immediate time when the faulty foreclosure
complaint that was filed without an assignment,
without anything that would prove any kind o