DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FOURTH DISTRICT U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR MEB LOAN TRUST IV, Appellant, v. STEVEN D. GROB, DOROTHY M. GROB, THE RIVER HOMEOWNERS ASSOCATION, INC., RENEE A. HAY a/k/a RENEE HAY, and BARRY F. HAY, Appellees. No. 4D21-1456 [August 3, 2022] Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Donald W. Hafele, Judge; L.T. Case No. 502020CA008537XXXXMB. David Rosenberg and Jarrett Cooper of Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC, Boca Raton, for appellant. Joseph J. Huss and Benny A. Ortiz of Krinzman Huss Lubetsky Feldman & Hotte, Fort Lauderdale, for appellees Steven and Dorothy Grob. J. Michael Burman of Reid Burman Lebedeker Xenick Pepin, West Palm Beach, for appellee Renee Hay. ON MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION KUNTZ, J. Steven D. Grob, Dorothy M. Grob, and Renee Hay, move for clarification of our opinion issued on March 30, 2022. We grant the motion for clarification in part, withdraw our prior opinion, and issue this opinion in its place. U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee for MEB Loan Trust IV, appeals the circuit court’s order granting the Appellees’ 1 motion to dismiss U.S. Bank’s foreclosure complaint. We reverse. Background After there was a default in payment on a home equity line of credit, secured by a mortgage, U.S. Bank, as trustee for MEB Loan Trust IV, filed suit. U.S. Bank alleged that the mortgage was assigned to MEB Loan Trust IV by the original lender and that the “plaintiff has standing to enforce its rights and obligations under the HELOC, including the right to foreclose the subject HELOC and Mortgage.” 2 Further, Specialized Loan Servicing LLC was the servicer of the HELOC and the mortgage. As servicer, Specialized Loan signed the verification to the foreclosure complaint.3 Finally, a copy of the original loan documents, endorsed in blank, was attached to the complaint. The Appellees moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that “the HELOC is a nonnegotiable instrument that can only be enforced by its owner.” The Appellees stated that “[s]ince this action was brought by the servicer, on behalf of the trustee for the owner of the debt, this action cannot be maintained and must be dismissed.” The circuit court granted the motion and dismissed the complaint. Analysis U.S. Bank argues the circuit court erred when it dismissed the complaint for lack of standing. U.S. Bank asserts the allegations within the complaint establish standing. The Appellees respond that the circuit court correctly found U.S. Bank lacked standing and that the “discreet issue before this Court is whether a loan servicer, on behalf of the owner of a non-negotiable instrument, can bring an action to enforce the non- negotiable instrument.” 1 Renee Hay was a mortgagor under the mortgage securing payment of a home equity line of credit, which Bruce B. Hay executed. The Grobs are the current record owners of the encumbered property. 2 A “HELOC” is a home equity …
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