DAVIS v. ONEWEST BANK FSB (2019)

Julia Davis, the widow of the titleholder (Herbert Davis), signed a reverse mortgage as co-borrower. She did not sign the promissory note for the loan. OneWest Bank sought to foreclose after Mr. Davis's death, which would have dispossessed Mrs. Davis from her homestead.

Based on our decisions involving similar documents and issues, we reverse the final judgment of foreclosure and remand the case to the trial court for the entry of an involuntary dismissal of the case in favor of Mrs. Davis. OneWest Bank, FSB v. Palmero, 283 So.3d 346 , 2019 WL 1783727 (Fla. 3d DCA April 24, 2019) (en banc); OneWest Bank, N.A. v. Leek-Tannenbaum, 283 So.3d 366 , 2019 WL 2166944 (Fla. 3d DCA May 15, 2019); Smith v. Reverse Mortg. Sols., Inc., 200 So. 3d 221, 225 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016); and Edwards v. Reverse Mortg. Sols., Inc., 187 So. 3d 895, 896 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016).¹

Reversed and remanded, with instructions.

Although I am constrained by the authority of precedent, neither distinguishable upon legal principle nor material fact, to concur, the concerns expressed in my dissenting opinion in OneWest Bank, FSB v. Palmero, 283 So.3d 346, 2019 WL 1783727 (Fla. 3d DCA April 24, 2019) (Miller, J., dissenting) (discussing the majority's abandonment of long-standing, controlling principles of law) remain.

FOOTNOTES

1.   The Palmero and Leek-Tannenbaum opinions are pending on post-opinion motions; the Smith and Edwards cases are not.

PER CURIAM.

SCALES, J., concurs.