No Stay + No Bond = No Lis Pendens Says Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals

Sikora Law obtained its 32^nd appellate victory (now on 25 different real estate title and escrow subjects) in an Opinion focused on lis pendens.  Clinton v. Home Investment Fund V, LP, 2020-Ohio-4555 (1st Dist.).  Plaintiffs filed a quiet title action, seeking to confirm that a mortgage originally granted in favor of Huntington National Bank and its nominee MERS, and later assigned to Home Investment Fund, had been extinguished in a prior foreclosure case.  The trial court granted summary judgment in Plaintiffs’ favor, and rejected the mortgagee’s primary argument that MERS should have been named in the prior foreclosure case, in addition to Huntington.  After final judgment by the trial court, the mortgagee filed an appeal, but did not seek a stay of the trial court’s judgment or post a supersedeas bond.
After the mortgagee filed its appeal, the Plaintiffs sold the property, and our firm filed a Motion to Dismiss the Appeal as Moot.  The mortgagee vigorously opposed dismissal, arguing that the validity of the Huntington/MERS mortgage had not been finally determined, and that lis pendens continued during the appeal, preventing the parties’ dispute from becoming moot.  The Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the mortgagee’s arguments and dismissed the appeal.
To review the Clinton Opinion issued by Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals, click here.
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