Charles D. Finch v. U.S. Banik, N.A.

Summary

The court vacated the judgment requiring U.S. Bank to discharge its mortgage and remanded for judgment in the Bank’s favor. It overruled prior precedent to the extent it treated filing a foreclosure complaint as accelerating a note when the lender lacked the statutory right to accelerate, holding that failure to comply with the mortgage-notice statute makes a foreclosure action premature and does not ordinarily preclude a later action based on a new default and valid notice. The court also held that the appeal remained justiciable despite the recorded discharge.