Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Wright et al

Filing 37

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER granting motion summary judgment 25 in part. Mailed notice(drw, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST
COMPANY, as TRUSTEE FOR THE
REIGSTERED HOLDERS OF NEW
CENTURY HOME EQUITY LOAN TRUST,
SERIES 2005-B, ASSET BACKED PASSTHROUGH CERTIFICATES,

No. 11 C 5820
Judge James B. Zagel

Plaintiff,
v.
LAVERNE WRIGHT, CITY OF CHICAGO,
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
In this mortgage foreclosure case, the bank has filed a motion for summary judgment.
All of the facts alleged in the motion are conceded to be true by the defendant except for one.
The bank says it is owed $106,946.19 plus interest of $11.80 per day after 14 November 2011
along with attorneys’ fees and costs of $1,612.00. The fact that is disputed is the amount of the
debt itself which Defendant says is $102,307.35. Since the disputed amount is over $4000, I
cannot award the amount sought by the bank. Instead, I will enter an order based on the lower
amount admitted by Defendant. The bank is directed to recalculate the interest per day.
On the conceded facts, Defendant offers four "extenuating circumstances" in opposition
to the motion. All of them are extenuating, in one sense or another, but none of them is a
defense sufficient to defeat the legal right of the bank to collect. The current mortgage crisis, the
fact that mortgage loans are now written for lower interest rates, the fact that the bank refused a
"re-modification," and the results of various class actions against banks do not offer legal
grounds for defense. The last ground is an explanation for why the mortgage was not paid, that
tenants are not paying their rent which is an understandable reason why Defendant has not kept

up with the mortgage. It doesn't provide a ground for relief. It is the defendant who accepted the
tenants. It was not the bank's decision to trust them. Indeed, when the payment of rent stops or
declines precipitously, the bank usually has a good reason to refuse any further modification.
The motion for summary judgment for the lower agreed amount is granted. The bank
must provide recalculations of interest due within seven days, and an appropriate order of
judgment will be entered shortly thereafter. The bank will notify the court if it wishes to proceed
further with respect to larger amount it claims.

ENTER:

James B. Zagel
United States District Judge

DATE: December 27, 2012

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