This opinion is subject to revision before final publication in the Pacific Reporter 2018 UT 58 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF UTAH BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., Appellant, v. LORAINE SUNDQUIST and JOHN DOE/JANE DOE/ OCCUPANT DOUG KAHLER, an individual, Appellees. No. 20170014 Filed October 5, 2018 On Direct Appeal Third District, Salt Lake The Honorable Judge Bruce C. Lubeck No. 110408730 EV Attorneys: Daniel S. Volchok, Washington, D.C., Brian E. Pumphrey, Richmond, VA, Robert H. Scott, Salt Lake City, for appellant Tyler Ayers, Draper, J. Kent Holland, Sandy, Scott C. Borison, Frederick, MD, for appellees JUSTICE PEARCE authored the opinion of the Court, in which CHIEF JUSTICE DURRANT, ASSOCIATE CHIEF JUSTICE LEE, JUSTICE HIMONAS, and JUSTICE PETERSEN joined. JUSTICE PEARCE, opinion of the Court: INTRODUCTION ¶ 1 Location, location, location are, at least according to Lord Harold Samuel, the three things that matter most in real estate. Location is also the thing that matters the most in this case. The National Bank Act authorizes a national bank to perform certain fiduciary functions if the law of the state where the national bank is located permits competing entities to engage in those activities. In 2013, a majority of this Court opined that the word “located” was BANK OF AMERICA v. SUNDQUIST Opinion of the Court unambiguous. With the benefit of more focused briefing we conclude that, as used in the Act, located lends itself to at least two plausible meanings. Because we find Congress’s use of the word ambiguous, we must defer to the “not unreasonable” interpretation the Comptroller of the Currency has assigned to the word located. Applying that definition, we overturn the decision we reached when this case was before us on interlocutory review. We reverse and remand for further proceedings. BACKGROUND ¶ 2 Loraine Sundquist purchased a home in Utah. At the time of the purchase, she executed a deed of trust, in Utah, naming Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) as beneficiary. The deed of trust named an attorney as trustee. ReconTrust Company, N.A. (ReconTrust) later replaced the attorney as trustee. ¶ 3 Sundquist fell behind on her payments. ReconTrust elected to sell the property. The beneficial interests were then assigned to the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA). ReconTrust, acting as the trustee on the deed, auctioned the property. Bank of America, which later acquired FNMA’s interest in the property, asserts that ReconTrust was located in Texas while it acted as the trustee. 1 FNMA won the auction and ReconTrust conveyed the property to FNMA. ¶ 4 After the sale, Sundquist refused to leave. FNMA brought this action, seeking an order forcing Sundquist from her home. FNMA also asked for damages allegedly arising out of her decision to stay in the property after it had been sold. The district court entered an eviction order. ¶ 5 Sundquist petitioned for interlocutory review. We granted the petition, which we resolved in Federal National Mortgage Ass’n v. Sundquist (Sundquist I), 2013 UT 45, 311 P.3d 1004. In ...
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