Bradley scored a significant victory in the Tennessee Supreme Court on November 14, 2024. In a long-awaited decision, the Tennessee Supreme Court clarified a long-standing inconsistency in Tennessee law with its opinion in Terry Case v. Wilmington Trust. In addition to ushering in a sea change concerning constitutional standing in the state —

The Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Coan v. Championship Property, LLC has significant implications for mortgage lenders, servicers, and foreclosure sale purchasers. The decision settles a contested issue: May trial courts require borrowers to make escrow-style payments pending a final judgment in a foreclosure or eviction dispute? Although the full extent of the ruling

In a less-than-thousand-word opinion, the Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida put foreclosure cases across Florida in jeopardy. Namely, in all foreclosure cases in which a borrower is deceased, unless the legal representative of the borrower’s estate is joined as a defendant — as opposed to a guardian ad litem or the heirs of

The Alabama Supreme Court recently issued a major published decision on circumstances in which a residential borrower can challenge a mortgage foreclosure sale. In Littlefield v. Smith, the court elevated the bona fide purchaser doctrine to central importance, holding that it limits the grounds for borrowers to bring many post-sale challenges if a third

Bradley’s Bankruptcy Basics: The Automatic Stay and the “Why” Behind the Warnings: What Happens Once a Debtor Files for Bankruptcy?Many creditors have been warned of the need to halt collection efforts once they are put on notice that a debtor has filed for bankruptcy. However, the “why” behind this warning, mainly the automatic stay, is often misunderstood or disregarded. Since violations of the automatic stay can have serious ramifications, it is crucial that creditors

South Carolina Ruling Gives Lenders Flexibility on When to Foreclose in Face of Borrower LitigationIn a ruling that will provide guidance on when lenders must raise a foreclosure counterclaim in a borrower lawsuit, the South Carolina Court of Appeals in Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Estate of Patricia Ann Owens Houck has held that foreclosure was not a compulsory counterclaim in a borrower’s suit alleging errors in origination.

Florida Homestead Exemption Applies Only to U.S. Citizens and Permanent ResidentsA bankruptcy judge in the Middle District of Florida recently sustained a Chapter 7 trustee’s objection to a non-Florida resident debtor’s attempted claim of the Florida homestead exemption. Although the debtor had lived in her Florida home for more than 20 years, she was not a United States citizen or a permanent resident with a

Landlords Again Successfully Challenge the CDC’s Authority to Ban Residential EvictionsEarlier this year, the Eastern District of Texas invalidated — commerce clause grounds — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) ability to halt residential evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, in Tiger Lily, LLC v. U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted another win to

New York Clarifies Mortgage Loan Acceleration and De-Acceleration: Starting and Stopping the Limitations ClockOn February 18, 2021, the New York Court of Appeals’ consolidated resolution of four cases that answered two critical questions concerning the application of the statute of limitations in New York mortgage foreclosure actions: What constitutes a valid acceleration such that the six-year “clock” is started and what actions constitute a valid “de-acceleration” of a

Although the COVID-19 Pandemic Persists, So Does the ConstitutionLandlords in the state of Texas won a battle over their ability to conduct residential evictions when a federal court struck down the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) broad eviction moratorium last Thursday. On February 25, Judge John Barker of the Eastern District of Texas granted summary judgment in favor of a group of landlords