FRANCISCA VALDES v. DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, Etc.
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledDecember 1, 2021
Docket3D21-1823
StatusPublished
📰 News Coverage: Read the LAWS.com news report on this case
Full Opinion
Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed December 1, 2021.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D21-1823
Lower Tribunal No. 15-28190
________________
Francisca Valdes,
Appellant,
vs.
Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, etc.,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Antonio
Arzola, Judge.
Marrero, Chamizo, Marcer Law, LP, and Julio C. Marrero, for
appellant.
Lapin & Leichtling, LLP, and Jan Timothy Williams, for appellee.
Before FERNANDEZ, C.J., and LOGUE and BOKOR, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Finding no preliminary basis for reversal, we summarily affirm the
order on appeal. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.315(a). The initial brief references
possible violations of the federal CARES Act and various state executive
orders on foreclosure. None of the claims relate to conduct at the
foreclosure sale. See Venezia v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 306 So. 3d
1096, 1097 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020) (“[T]he law is well established that an
objection to a foreclosure sale must be directed toward conduct that
occurred at, or was directly related to, the foreclosure sale.”) (citing
IndyMac Fed. Bank FSB v. Hagan, 104 So. 3d 1232, 1236 (Fla. 3d DCA
2012). Accordingly, the trial court correctly denied the motion.
More troubling than the baseless grounds for appeal, however, is the
fact that Valdes cites to cases purportedly for support of its position that,
instead, appear to support the opposite result without any explanation. The
record in the trial court and before us reflects that the original foreclosure
sale was set in 2018. Such sale was cancelled and reset multiple times
because of two unsuccessful bankruptcy petitions and a failed attempt at
removal to federal court. 1 However, with no apparent irony, Valdes objects
to the reset foreclosure sale while citing to a case that explains that the
1
The remand order explains not only the insufficiency of the removal in the
instant case, but also lists other examples of Valdes’s counsel’s “patently
frivolous” removals in other cases.
2
CARES Act “does not, by its terms, prohibit a servicer from moving to reset
an already scheduled foreclosure sale.” Landau v. RoundPoint Mortg.
Serv. Corp., 925 F.3d 1365, 1370 (11th Cir. 2019). Valdes provides no
support or argument as to how the CARES Act or the various executive
orders referenced (pertinent portions of which having either gone into effect
after the initial sale date or expired prior to the date on which the sale
finally occurred) apply to her sale, which was reset from an initial sale date
in 2018. Additionally, it appears that Valdes may have abandoned her
objection to the sale and waived the basis for this appeal by not showing
up to the August 10, 2021, hearing on the objection and by representing to
opposing counsel the evening before the hearing that “upon review of
Plaintiff’s July 7, 2021 Response…our office will be filing tonight a Notice of
Withdrawal of the relief sought mooting the hearing tomorrow.”
Because we summarily affirm the order on appeal, the motion to
dismiss is denied as moot. We retain jurisdiction for resolution of the
pending order to show cause, and for purposes of determining entitlement
to and, if appropriate, amount and scope of sanctions. Pursuant to section
57.105(1)(b), Florida Statutes, and Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure
9.410, Valdes’ counsel, Julio C. Marrero, Esq., shall show cause in writing
within 10 days why this Court should not impose sanctions, including but
3
not limited to an award of appellate fees and costs against both appellant
and attorney Julio C. Marrero, Esq., for the filing of a frivolous appeal and
for misrepresenting or failing to address the Court with full candor
regarding: the status of the reset sale dates, Valdes’s counsel’s failure to
appear at the hearing on the objection to sale before the trial court, and the
representation that the objection would be withdrawn the day before the
trial court’s hearing thereon.
4