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  • BELL, KENNETH S vs. EQUIFIRST CORPORATION 3 document preview
  • BELL, KENNETH S vs. EQUIFIRST CORPORATION 3 document preview
  • BELL, KENNETH S vs. EQUIFIRST CORPORATION 3 document preview
  • BELL, KENNETH S vs. EQUIFIRST CORPORATION 3 document preview
  • BELL, KENNETH S vs. EQUIFIRST CORPORATION 3 document preview
  • BELL, KENNETH S vs. EQUIFIRST CORPORATION 3 document preview
  • BELL, KENNETH S vs. EQUIFIRST CORPORATION 3 document preview
  • BELL, KENNETH S vs. EQUIFIRST CORPORATION 3 document preview
						
                                

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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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 2 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 3 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 4 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 5 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 6 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 7 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 8 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 9 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. Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 10 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, Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 11 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 12 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 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-726-7007 305-376-8800 Page 13 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