Again, the Michigan Court of Appeals has held that a mortgagor who fails to redeem property from a properly held foreclosure sale has no standing to bring an action related to the property or the foreclosure absent a clear showing of fraud or irregularity in the foreclosure itself.
In Baron v Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC, an unpublished opinion, the mortgagor filed a multi-count lawsuit after a mortgage foreclosure. As it pertained to the foreclosure process itself, the lawsuit claimed the mortgagor did not receive notice of the foreclosure and that the loan was not in default.
Regarding the first claim, the defendants presented the affidavits of posting and publishing. The court of appeals held that the mortgagor’s bare denial that he received notice in an untimely affidavit was not sufficient to create an issue of fact.
Regarding the second claim, the court held that the record contained evidence provided by the mortgagee that the loan was in default and the mortgagor did not present any contradictory evidence sufficient to create an issue of fact.
Mortgagors attempting to challenge a foreclosure sale have a significant evidentiary burden to overcome.