Wachovia Bank of Delaware v. Bunche

Full title: WACHOVIA BANK OF DELAWARE, N.A., Plaintiff, v. ARMAE LLC CURTIS J. BUNCHE…

Court: Superior Court of Delaware, New Castle County

Date published: Jan 29, 2010

C.A. No. 09L-08-080 FSS (Del. Super. Ct. Jan. 29, 2010)

Opinion

C.A. No. 09L-08-080 FSS.

January 29, 2010.

ORDER

FRED S. SILVERMAN, Judge

1. Plaintiff noticed its motion for summary judgment in this mortgage foreclosure, to be heard January 11, 2010. The motion features Defendants' failure to provide a verified answer, as required by law.¹

1 The motion actually is one for judgment by default. But, substantively that is a distinction without a difference.

2. Shortly before the hearing on January 11, 2010, Plaintiff's counsel called-in sick, and he failed to appear at the hearing. Defendants also failed to appear, but without explanation or request to be excused from the hearing. Under the circumstances, the court might have granted the motion as unopposed.

3. On January 11, 2010, the court denied Plaintiff's motion, without prejudice. The court gave Plaintiff leave to re-notice its motion. The court also indicated:

When the Plaintiff re-files the motion, the court expects to see a verified answer, as required by Delaware law. If Mr. Bunche relies on the papers he filed so far, the court will have little choice but to grant the bank's motion and the foreclosure will move forward.

4. The bank re-noticed its motion for February 5, 2010. In response, Plaintiff filed an assortment of documents, including: a letter from him to the Federal Bureau of Investigation; several documents captioned "Request for Production of Document"; "Notice Of Fraud And Intent To Litigate"; and so on.

5. Based on the complaint and its attachments, a verified answer was required under 10 Del. C. § 3901(a).

6. Defendants have not filed a verified answer. Moreover, it does not appear that Mr. Bunche's responses to the complaint and motions for summary judgment were filed in good faith. They are either frivolous or vexatious.

In light of the above, the court finds that a hearing on Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment would not help decide the motion. Further, it is apparent from the papers, including the lack of a verified answer, that Plaintiff is entitled to relief, and Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.