Gerald Degasparre v. Fay Servicing, LLC

Syllabus

The plaintiff, Gerald Degasparre, appealed from a Superior Court judgment in favor of the defendants, Fay Servicing, LLC and Citibank, N.A., as Trustee of NRZ Pass-Through Trust VI, that granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, denied the plaintiff's motion to amend his complaint, and denied the plaintiff's motions to strike four affidavits submitted by the defendants. On appeal, the plaintiff advanced several arguments challenging the hearing justice's ruling on the motion for summary judgment. Principally, the plaintiff argued that the hearing justice erred when he found that the defendants properly mailed the plaintiff a notice of foreclosure counseling, as required by G.L. 1956 § 34 27 3.1, before initiating foreclosure proceedings on the plaintiff's home. As to the other motions before the hearing justice, the plaintiff alleged on appeal that (1) the hearing justice erred in denying his motion to amend because the amended claims were not futile, as the hearing justice stated and (2) the hearing justice incorrectly determined that the defendants' affidavits were all supported by sufficient personal knowledge to be admissible.<br><br>The Supreme Court first held, as a matter of law, that the defendants sufficiently demonstrated that the notice of foreclosure counseling was mailed in accord with § 34-27-3.1. The Supreme Court further held that the hearing justice did not abuse his discretion when ruling on the other motions.<br><br>Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.