Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. v. Widow(er), Heir(s) and/or Creditors of the Estate of Beryl E. Rowland

Syllabus

The defendants A and T, the sole heirs of the estate of their grandmother, the decedent, appealed from the trial court's judgment denying their motion to open the judgment of foreclosure by sale rendered for the plaintiff on certain real property owned by the decedent. The defendants claimed that the trial court abused its discretion by denying their motion to open without holding a hearing. Held: The defendants had standing to appeal to this court from the trial court's denial of their motion to open, as, although they were not named individually in the foreclosure action, the plaintiff designated the heirs of the decedent as party defendants to the foreclosure action and, therefore, the defendants were parties to the underlying action pursuant to statute (§ 52-69). The trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the motion to open without holding a hearing, the defendants having failed to assert that a good defense existed at the time the judgment of foreclosure by sale was rendered as required by statute (§ 52-212) and failed to comply with the mandate of § 52-212 (c) that the motion to open be verified by the oath of the complainant or the complainant's attorney. Argued November 18, 2024—officially released April 1, 2025