MILLER, Judge.

Izell and Raven Reese filed the underlying lawsuit against Provident Funding Associates, LLP ("Provident"), seeking damages for wrongful foreclosure.1 Both parties sought summary judgment, which the trial court granted in favor of Provident and denied in favor of the Reeses. On appeal, the Reeses contend that the trial court erred in granting Provident's motion for summary judgment on the wrongful foreclosure claim, and in denying the Reeses' cross-motion for summary judgment on that issue, because (1) Provident's June 2009 foreclosure notice did not comply with the requirements of OCGA § 44-14-162.2; and (2) Provident's notice of default did not comply with the terms of the security deed. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this case with direction to the trial court to enter summary judgment in favor of the Reeses.

(Footnotes omitted.) ChoicePoint Svcs. v. Graham, 305 Ga.App. 254, 255, 699 S.E.2d 452 (2010).

So viewed, the evidence shows that on July 23, 2004, the Reeses executed a promissory note (the "Note") in exchange for a $650,000 loan from Provident in order to purchase real property in Roswell, Georgia. The loan was secured by a deed conveying Provident and its nominee an interest in the property and a power of sale in the event of a default (the "Security Deed"). Pursuant to the Security Deed, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. ("MERS"), acting solely as the nominee for Provident and its successors and assigns, was designated as the grantee of the Security Deed.2 After Provident funded the loan, Provident sold and delivered the Note to Residential Funding Company, LLC ("RFC"). Although RFC succeeded Provident as the holder of the Note, Provident nevertheless remained as the loan servicer, retaining the right to collect payments and perform all other mortgage loan servicing functions authorized by the Security Deed.

In January 2009, the Reeses defaulted on their loan, and on February 13, 2009, Provident sent the Reeses a notice of default as required by the terms of the Security Deed. The Reeses failed to cure their default within 30 days, and on June 3, 2009, Provident, through its attorneys, sent a letter notifying the Reeses that Provident was commencing foreclosure proceedings. On July 7, 2009, Provident held a non-judicial sale of the property. Provident purchased the property and subsequently filed a dispossessory action against the Reeses to evict them from the property.3

On July 30, 2009, the Reeses filed a complaint against Provident, alleging wrongful foreclosure. Provident filed a motion for summary judgment on the grounds that it had full authority to foreclose on the property and that it had done so properly. The Reeses filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, contending that (i) Provident failed to comply with the Security Deed terms requiring that the Reeses be given notice that they had a right to bring a court action to assert the non-existence of default or any other defense to acceleration and sale; and (ii) the notice of foreclosure provided by Provident did not include information on the "secured creditor," which violated OCGA § 44-14-162.2. Following a hearing on the parties' motions, the trial court denied the Reeses' cross-motion for summary judgment on the wrongful foreclosure claim and granted Provident's motion for summary judgment on that issue. The trial court's order specifically found in pertinent part that Provident's notice of foreclosure "was in keeping with... OCGA § 44-14-162.2," and that the Reeses could not sustain a claim for wrongful foreclosure. We disagree.

1. The Reeses contend that the trial court's decision was erroneous because Provident's June 2009 foreclosure notice did not comply with the requirements of OCGA § 44-14-162.2. Specifically, the Reeses argue that Provident was not the "secured creditor" for purposes of sending the notice, and that the identity of the secured creditor was never revealed. This case is one of first impression in a Georgia appellate court. The inquiry is whether the provisions of OCGA § 44-14-162.2(a) require that a notice of foreclosure disclose the identity of the secured creditor. Upon considering the statute in its entirety, as well as the legislative intent, we conclude that the statute does require that the notice properly identify the secured creditor and reflect that the notice is being sent by the secured creditor or by an entity with authority on behalf of the secured creditor.

(Punctuation omitted; emphasis supplied.) "Where a foreclosing creditor fails to comply with the statutory duty to provide notice of sale to the debtor in accordance with OCGA § 44-14-162 et seq., the debtor may either seek to set aside the foreclosure or sue for damages for the tort of wrongful foreclosure." (Citation omitted.) Roylston, supra, 290 Ga.App. at 559(1)(b), 660 S.E.2d 412.

Here, it is undisputed that at the time Provident sent the June 3, 2009, notice of the foreclosure sale, it was not the secured creditor. Provident admitted that it was not the holder of the Note, and the record reflects that MERS, and not Provident, was the grantee of the Security Deed until June 24, 2009. Rather, RFC was the secured creditor, i.e., owner of the loan, and Provident was merely the loan servicer. It is also undisputed that Provident made misrepresentations in the contents of the notice of foreclosure sale. First, the notice misidentified Provident as the holder of the Note and the Security Deed. Second, the notice misidentified Provident as the "Lender," rather than as the loan servicer. Indeed, the notice made no mention whatsoever of RFC, the secured creditor, resulting in a complete failure to properly reflect that the notice was sent by, or on behalf of, the proper secured creditor.

At first glance, if you read the first or second sentence of OCGA § 44-14-162.2(a) in isolation, it may seem unambiguous. However, a statute must be viewed "as a whole to construe all parts of a statute together to make all its parts harmonize[.]" (Citation and punctuation omitted.) ALLTEL Ga. Communications v. Ga. Public Svc. Comm., 270 Ga. 105, 107(1), 505 S.E.2d 218 (1998).4 Following the general legal principles of statutory construction, the ambiguity of the statute is highlighted when it is applied in the context of the facts of this case, where a notice is sent by a third party other than the secured creditor and that third party misrepresents the identity of the true secured creditor. In that situation, it becomes unclear whether the plain language of OCGA § 44-14-162.2(a) requires the notice to reflect both the identity of the secured creditor giving the notice, as well as the person or entity with the full authority to negotiate, amend, and modify the mortgage.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Moore v. Moore-McKinney, 297 Ga.App. 703 706(1), 678 S.E.2d 152 (2009); see also Mason v. Home Depot U.S.A., 283 Ga. 271, 277-278(3), 658 S.E.2d 603 (2008) ("It is always the duty of a court, in construing a statute, to ascertain and give full effect to the legislative intent[.]") (citation and punctuation omitted).

A persuasive discussion of the legislature's intent is set out by the Northern District of Georgia in Stubbs v. Bank of America, 844 F.Supp.2d 1267, 1271 (N.D.Ga.2012) (originally filed in state court and removed to the Northern District of Georgia based on diversity jurisdiction), which held as follows:

These 2008 amendments included the following clause added to OCGA § 44-14-162: "The security instrument or assignment thereof vesting the secured creditor with title to the security instrument shall be filed prior to the time of sale in the office of the clerk of the superior court in the county in which the real property is located." OCGA § 44-14-162(b); see Ga. L. 2008, Act 576, § 1. OCGA § 44-14-162.2(a) was also amended to require the secured creditor to send the pre-foreclosure notice 30 days prior to sale (rather than 15) and to require that this notice "shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the individual or entity who shall have full authority to negotiate, amend, and modify all terms of the mortgage with the debtor." See Ga. L. 2008, Act 576, § 2. As stated in Stubbs,

Stubbs, supra, at 1270-1271 (citing Ga. L. 2008, Act 576). We agree with the federal court that the intent of the 2008 amendments was transparency in the foreclosure process. As such, this Court concludes that the true identity of the secured creditor must be included in the notice of foreclosure sale. Nothing in OCGA § 44-14-162.2(a) would preclude the identification of both the secured creditor and the entity with the authority to negotiate, amend, and modify the mortgage.

The Northern District's analysis in Stubbs is compelling, and although not controlling, is persuasive authority in analyzing the very same Georgia statute that we interpret in this case. Notably, the circumstances in this case are nearly identical to those presented in Stubbs, where

(Punctuation omitted.) Id. at 1271. Like the notice in Stubbs, the notice in this case was sent by the loan servicer, rather than the secured creditor. While a loan servicer may be permitted to send the notice on behalf of the secured creditor,6 Provident's fatal mistake was in sending a notice that failed to properly identify the secured creditor. Although the notice disclosed that Provident had the "authority to negotiate, amend and modify all terms of the Note and Security Deed[,]" such "is materially different from disclosing that [the loan servicer] has full authority to modify on behalf of a creditor,... within whatever guidelines that creditor may have imposed." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Id. at 1272. This is especially so when the notice fails to ever identify the true secured creditor. The notice in this case contained material misrepresentations, and we agree with the federal court's sentiment that "[s]ending a foreclosure notice that misidentifies the secured creditor violates the spirit and intent of OCGA § 44-14-162.2." (Punctuation and emphasis omitted.) Id.7

Indeed, a debtor has a right to know which entity has the authority to foreclose, and there should be no confusion about the identity of that entity. The practical ramifications are troubling if it were otherwise. For example, in a case such as the instant one, where the debtor knows that the loan servicer is no longer the holder of the note or the security deed, it is certainly conceivable that the debtor could be misled or confused by, or simply disregard, a notice of foreclosure which is sent by an entity different from the secured creditor, and which fails to properly identify the secured creditor. The misrepresentation in this case illustrates how transparency can be obfuscated in the Georgia foreclosure process. Finally, a notice that discloses the true identity of the secured creditor is a simple requirement, and one that does not impose an undue burden upon the banks or other entities authorized to send the notice of foreclosure sale.

Foreclosure is typically a very important event for all parties involved. No one disputes that a bank must be able to foreclose on its properties for non-payment of the mortgage per the contract, and our conclusion today does not impede this process. As Provident's notice of foreclosure failed to comply with the requirements of OCGA § 44-14-162.2, insofar as it failed to properly identify the secured creditor, and in fact misidentified the secured creditor, the foreclosure was invalid, see OCGA § 44-14-162(a), and the Reeses are entitled to summary judgment on this ground. We therefore reverse the decision below and remand this case with direction to enter summary judgment in favor of the Reeses.

2. In light of our holding in Division 1, we need not consider the Reeses' remaining enumeration of error.

Judgment reversed and case remanded with direction.

PHIPPS, MIKELL, and DOYLE, P.JJ., concur.

ANDREWS, BLACKWELL and BOGGS, JJ., dissent.

BLACKWELL, Judge, dissenting.

I respectfully dissent. In clear and certain terms, the General Assembly has identified the necessary contents of a statutory notice of foreclosure, including the person whose identity must be disclosed therein. According to OCGA § 44-14-162.2(a), the statutory notice must disclose the identity of the "individual or entity who shall have full authority to negotiate, amend, and modify all terms of the mortgage with the debtor." The statute says nothing at all about any requirement that the notice identify any other person. To the extent that Provident had "full authority to negotiate, amend, and modify all terms of the mortgage with the debtor," something that the Reeses do not really dispute in this case, the content of the notice complied with the statutory requirements.1

The majority concludes, however, that OCGA § 44-14-162.2 requires not only the identification of the person having "full authority to negotiate, amend, and modify all terms of the mortgage with the debtor," but also the identification of the "secured creditor" itself, at least in a case in which these persons are not one and the same. As I understand its opinion, the majority relies not so much on the words of the statute to reach this conclusion, but instead upon Stubbs v. Bank of America, 844 F.Supp.2d 1267 (N.D.Ga.2012). That reliance is misplaced. In Stubbs, the court looked to the caption of Ga. L. 2008, p. 576, which amended OCGA § 44-14-162.2.2 From the caption of this legislation, the court found that its "clear purpose" was "to increase transparency and clarity in what can otherwise be a quite bewildering process," and it concluded that this legislative purpose would best be served by construing OCGA § 44-14-162.2(a) to mean that the notice must disclose not only the identity of the person identified in the text of the statute, but the identity of the secured creditor as well.3 See id. at 1271(IV)(A). The decision in Stubbs, and our decision today, amount to a judicial rewriting of OCGA § 44-14-162.2. Because the courts are without authority to rewrite a statute, I respectfully dissent. See Frazier v. Southern R. Co., 200 Ga. 590, 593(2), 37 S.E.2d 774 (1946) ("[Appellate courts] must frequently construe the language of a statute, but such courts may not substitute by judicial interpretation language of their own for the clear, unambiguous language of the statute, so as to change the meaning.").

I am authorized to state that Judge Andrews and Judge Boggs join in this dissent.