Barrasso v. New Century Mortgage Corporation, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-010-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 15-P-1458 Appeals Court WILLIAM T. BARRASSO, JR. vs. NEW CENTURY MORTGAGE CORPORATION & others.[1] No. 15-P-1458. Suffolk. October 20, 2016. – February 8, 2017. Present: Hanlon, Sullivan, & Blake, JJ. Real Property, Mortgage, Record title. Mortgage, Foreclosure, Real estate, Assignment. Assignment. Contract, Assignment, Modification. Negotiable Instruments, Assignment, Note. Practice, Civil, Summary judgment. Estoppel. Civil action commenced in the Land Court Department on March 30, 2012. The case was heard by Howard P. Speicher, J., on a motion for summary judgment. Glenn F. Russell, Jr., for the plaintiff. Roger Soun for the defendants. SULLIVAN, J. The plaintiff, William T. Barrasso, Jr., brought this quiet title action, alleging that two mortgages on his condominium unit constitute a cloud on his title. See G. L. c. 240, § 6. He claimed that the encumbrances should be stricken from the land records because the original mortgagee no longer exists and the identity of any present mortgagee cannot be ascertained. A judge of the Land Court awarded summary judgment to the defendants, determining that U.S. Bank, National Associates (U.S. Bank), holds the first mortgage as trustee for the C-BASS Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Certificates Series 2007-SP2 and that Deutsche Bank National Trust Company (Deutsche Bank) holds the second mortgage as trustee for the New Century Home Equity Loan Trust Series 2005-C, Asset-Backed Pass-Through Certificates. We affirm those portions of the judgment entered in favor of the defendants dismissing the claims asserted by Barrasso and granting affirmative relief to U.S. Bank. We vacate the portion of the judgment granting Deutsche Bank affirmative relief in the form of a declaration as to the validity of its title. Background. We set out the facts in the summary judgment record viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Cuddyer v. Stop & Shop Supermkt. Co., 434 Mass. 521, 522 (2001). On or about September 16, 2005, Barrasso purchased unit 315 of the Walnut Place Condominium, located at 8 Walnut Street in Peabody (property), for $ 264,000. To finance the purchase, Barrasso obtained two loans from New Century Mortgage Corporation (New Century), memorialized with two promissory notes and secured by two mortgages on the property. The larger of the two notes is in the amount of $ 211,200 (first note), and the smaller is in the amount of $ […]