RICHARD W. STORY, District Judge.
This case comes before the Court on Plaintiff'S Motion for Summary Judgment [24]. After a review of the record, the Court enters the following Order.
This case arises out of a loan made by Branch Banking and Trust Company ("BB&T" or "Plaintiff") to Julius T. Morgan ("Plaintiff") on March 11, 2008, with an original principal amount of $1,643,624.83. (Pl.'s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ("SOMF"), Dkt. [24-1] ¶ 1.) Defendant signed a promissory note and executed a security deed and security agreement granting Plaintiff a security interest in certain real property. (
On January 10, 2011, Defendant executed the Forbearance Agreement. (Aff., Ex. C, Dkt. [27], at 19-26.) Under its terms, Defendant was to make current the interest due and then continue to make monthly interest-only payments with a final payment of all principal, accrued interest, bank fees, costs, and expenses due by June 10, 2011. (
Plaintiff sent to Defendant a letter, dated November 7, 2011, informing Defendant that due to his failure to make the final payment, Plaintiff intended to hold a foreclosure proceeding to sell the property for which Plaintiff held a security deed. (Aff., Ex. E, Dkt. [27], at 31-34.) A foreclosure sale was held on at the Bibb County Courthouse on December 6, 2011. (SOMF, Dkt. [24-1] ¶ 18.) A Final Order Confirming Foreclosure Sale was entered by the Superior Court of Bibb County on July 10, 2013, confirming the sale for $1,300,000.00. (Aff., Ex. F, Dkt. [27], at 36-38)
Plaintiff filed a deficiency action against Defendant in the Superior Court of Newton County. (SOMF, Dkt. [24-1] ¶ 26.) The Superior Court denied summary judgment on all issues. (
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 requires that summary judgment be granted "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." "The moving party bears `the initial responsibility of informing the . . . court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.'"
The applicable substantive law identifies which facts are material.
Finally, in resolving a motion for summary judgment, the court must view all evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.
Plaintiff seeks to recover the outstanding principal balance of $221,633.78, interest of $113,405.94, and costs and fees of $23,558.96. It also seeks to recover ongoing interest of $52.330198 per day for each day after June 10, 2016, through the date of judgment. Finally, Plaintiff seeks to recover statutory attorney's fees pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 13-1-11.
"[A] plaintiff seeking to enforce a promissory note establishes a prima facie case by producing the note and showing it was executed. Once that prima facie case has been made, the plaintiff is entitled to judgment as a matter of law unless the defendant can establish a defense."
Defendant raises the defense of waiver in his brief. (Br. in Opp'n to Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J., Dkt. [29], at 10-12.) This affirmative defense, however, was not raised prior to this brief. It does not appear in Defendant's Affirmative Defense and Answer [10]. Defendant has therefore waived this defense.
Since Defendant's liability has been established, the Court must now decide whether Plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence from which the amount of damages owed may be determined on a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff relies on three main sources of evidence in its calculation of damages: the affidavit of Trisha Wixson ("Wixson Affidavit"), a loan history, and a loan calculator. Defendant contests the admissibility of all three as well as arguing that they do not prove substantively the amount of damages owed. The Court first addresses the admissibility of Plaintiff's evidence before turning to the amount of damages owed.
Defendant first argues that the Wixson Affidavit is inadmissible because it is not based on the affiviant's personal knowledge as required by Rule 56(c)(4). The Wixson Affidavit states that it is based on "facts that are personally known to me to be true and correct." (Aff., Dkt. [24-2] ¶ 1, at 28.) As an Asset Manager with the BB&T Business Loan Recovery Department, she is familiar with the files maintained by Plaintiff. (
Defendant next contests the admissibility of two of the documents relied upon by Wixston in her affidavit. As to the loan history, the Court finds that it is admissible under rule 803(6) and thus may be relied upon in ruling on Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment. For a business record to be admitted into evidence, Rule 803(6) requires:
Fed. R. Evid. 803(6). Plaintiff has met all of these requirements for the loan history. The loan history is "a contemporaneous detail of BB&T's internal accounting." (Aff., Dkt. [24-2] ¶ 29, at 36.) This record, made at the time of the events recorded in the ordinary course of business, satisfies the requirements of Rule 803(6) through the affidavit of Wixson, who is "the custodian/keeper of records for BB&T with respect to this matter." (
Defendant first argues that the loan history is untrustworthy because it is inconsistent with the damages currently claimed by Plaintiff. For example, according to the loan history, the principal balance on the loan is $0.00, not the $211,633.78 claimed here. (Aff., Ex. G, Dkt. [24-2], at 86.) These inconsistencies, however, are explained in the Wixson Affidavit. The loan history is a document of BB&T's internal accounting, and it does not necessarily reflect the amounts actually owed. Following standards set forth by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, a private organization designated by the SEC to set accounting standards for public companies, BB&T charged off the principal remaining after application of foreclosure proceeds. (Aff., Dkt. [24-2] ¶¶ 29.x, 29.xvii, at 40, 43.) Internal accounting procedures following accounting standards similarly explain why the loan history fails to show interest accruing after the loan was placed on non-accrual status. (
Defendant next argues that the loan history is untrustworthy because the fees and charges listed are not supported by the underlying loan documents. The Wixson Affidavit, however, explains each of these fees and charges. (
Finally, Defendant argues that the loan calculator is inadmissible because it was generated solely to prove damages in anticipation of litigation and lacks underlying business records to substantiate the amounts owed that it lists. Although there are inconsistencies between the amounts listed on the loan calculator and the loan history, the Wixson Affidavit, which details the differences between the internal accounting procedures shown in the loan history and the actual accounting described in the loan calculator, provides sufficient explanation for these differences. As to Defendant's argument that the loan calculator is inadmissible as a business record due to its preparation solely for the purpose of litigation, the Court finds that the document is admissible as a demonstrative exhibit. The underlying loan documents provide the substantive information, and the loan calculator merely compiles that information. It may therefore be used in determining damages at summary judgment.
Once Plaintiff "introduced the Note and established a prima facie right to judgment on the Note, the burden shifted to [Defendant] to produce evidence showing a different amount owed and thereby creating a jury issue."
Plaintiff is entitled to recover the outstanding principal balance of $221,633.78. At the point in which Defendant stopped making payments, the unpaid balance was $1,521,633.78. (Aff., Dkt. [24-2] ¶ 29.vii, at 39; Aff., Ex. H, Dkt. [24-2], at 86.) Plaintiff foreclosed on the Property on December 6, 2011, in the amount of $1,300,000.00. (Aff., Dkt. [24-2] ¶¶ 20-23, at 34-35.) Applying the foreclosure proceeds to the principal balance
Plaintiff is also entitled to recover $113,405.94 in accrued interest. When the note was placed on non-accrual status on October 31, 2011, accrued interest totaled $17,329.72. (
Plaintiff is also entitled to recover costs and fees totaling $23,558.96. Because Defendant failed to pay property taxes on the Property, Plaintiff paid them on his behalf, which the Security Deed entitled it to do. (
Finally, Plaintiff is entitled to recover additional interest that will accrue between June 10, 2016, the date in which this motion was filed, and the date of judgment. (Aff., Ex. A, Dkt. [27], at 6 (providing that after default, interest accrues at a rate of prime rate plus 5% until judgment).) Thus, Plaintiff is entitled to recover interest in the amount of $52.330198 per day from June 10, 2016, to February 15, 2017. (
Thus, Plaintiff is entitled to recover a total of $371,681.23.
The Forbearance Agreement states:
(Aff., Ex. C, Dkt. [27] ¶ 20, at 24.) Since Defendant did not pay all his obligations, Plaintiff is entitled to statutory attorneys' fees so long as it complied with O.C.G.A. § 13-1-11.
Plaintiff was required to send to Defendant, after maturity of the obligation, notice in writing that it intended to enforce the provisions relative to payment of principal and interest as well as payment of attorney's fees but that Defendant has ten days from receipt of the notice to pay both principal and interest without attorney's fees. O.C.G.A. § 13-1-11(a)(3). On November 7, 2011, Plaintiff sent to Defendant an acceleration notice and notice of foreclosure sale. (Aff., Ex. E, Dkt. [27], at 31-32.) This letter informed Defendant that Plaintiff intended to enforce its right to collect statutory attorney's fees but that Defendant could avoid paying them by paying the total principal and interest owed within ten days. (
While compliance with § 13-1-11(a)(3) is a mandatory condition precedent to the recover of statutory attorney's fees, "Georgia case law requires only substantial compliance . . . ."
While Defendant does not contest that all five of these elements of substantial compliance were met, he claims that the notice failed to identify the particular indebtedness to which the notice applied. The notice referred to a "Promissory Note dated March 10, 2011 held by Branch Banking and Trust Company ("Lender") made by J T Morgan to Branch Banking and Trust Company in the original principal amount of $1,643,624.83, as secured by a Georgia Security Deed and Security Agreement from J T Morgan recorded in Deed Book 7799, Page 111, Bibb County." (Aff., Ex. E, Dkt. [27], at 31.) The note was in actuality signed on March 11, 2008. (Aff., Ex. A, Dkt. [27], at 8.)
Defendant is correct that the notice must sufficiently identify the relevant debt, but this notice did so. Although the date stated was incorrect, the notice properly identified the original principal amount and the record location of the Security Deed securing the debt. This was sufficient to identify the debt to Defendant. Additionally, after receiving the letter, "Defendant called Plaintiff's counsel and told him `that [Defendant] was prepared to keep [the] [P]roperty' along terms previously communicated to Plaintiff directly." (Br. in Opp'n to Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J., Dkt. [29], at 6.) This conduct supports the conclusion that Defendant in fact knew which debt was involved. Notice therefore substantially complied with § 13-1-11(a)(3).
Under § 13-1-11(a)(2), Plaintiff is entitled to attorney's fees that amount to "15 percent of the first $500.00 of principal and interest owing on such note or other evidence of indebtedness and 10 percent of the amount of principal and interest owing thereon in excess of $500.00." As stated above, Defendant owes $221,633.78 in principal and $126,488.49 in interest. Thus, Plaintiff is entitled to recover $34,837.23 in attorney's fees.
In accordance with the foregoing, Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [24] is