Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC v. Carla Nagle Blevins Robertson

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals affirmed a default judgment declaring that Carla Nagle Blevins Robertson owned the disputed property and that reverse mortgage deeds of trust were void. The court held that Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC failed to establish a prima facie meritorious defense under the Craddock standard because its motion for new trial contained only conclusory assertions that it was a bona fide mortgagee without actual or constructive notice. The court therefore affirmed the trial court’s denial of the motion for new trial.

Holdings

1. A defaulting party seeking a new trial must establish that the failure to answer was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference, that the motion sets up a meritorious defense, and that granting a new trial would not delay or injure the plaintiff.
2. A motion for new trial must allege facts that would constitute a legal defense to the plaintiff's claim and must support those allegations with affidavits or other evidence establishing prima facie that the defendant has the defense.
3. RMF failed to establish a prima facie bona fide-mortgagee defense because its motion did not allege supporting facts showing that it lacked actual or constructive notice of Robertson's claim to the property.

Questions Presented

1. Whether RMF was entitled to a new trial under the Craddock standard after the default judgment.
2. Whether RMF's motion for new trial set up a prima facie meritorious defense by alleging that RMF was a bona fide mortgagee without actual or constructive notice of Robertson's ownership claim.

Disposition

affirmed