Petition of Minnesota Housing Finance Agency

Summary

The Minnesota Supreme Court held that a holder of a sheriff’s certificate of sale waives the right to contest a junior creditor’s redemption by receiving the redemption money and failing to return it as soon as administratively possible. Because the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency received the redemption check and did not return the money, it accepted the redemption and waived its challenge. The court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. A holder of a sheriff's certificate of sale accepts redemption money, and waives the right to contest the junior creditor's redemption, when it receives the redemption money and fails to return it as soon as administratively possible.
2. MHFA waived its right to contest Creative's redemption because it received the redemption money and did not return it as soon as administratively possible.
3. Additional fact-finding was unnecessary because the record established that MHFA never returned the redemption money.

Questions Presented

1. When does a holder of a sheriff's certificate of sale from a mortgage foreclosure waive the right to contest a junior creditor's redemption?
2. Did MHFA accept the redemption money, and thereby waive its right to challenge Creative's redemption, by receiving the money and failing to return it as soon as administratively possible?
3. Was remand for additional fact-finding necessary to determine whether MHFA returned the redemption money as soon as administratively possible?

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded