A Florida couple who missed 66 monthly mortgage payments on their Naples property have been involved in a legal dispute with their bank for nearly 17 years.
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who → miss → years
During the dispute, the husband, Gregory Brian Myers, agreed to deposit $5,000 every month while he and his wife challenged the bank's attempt to take possession of the property.
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he → agree → property
Years later, Myers accused the bank of breaking that agreement.
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Myers → accuse → agreement
However, on Monday a US federal appeals court rejected his challenge and upheld an earlier decision dismissing his lawsuit.
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court → reject → lawsuit
According to the
court records available on Justia, the dispute began in 2009, when US Bank took legal action against Myers and his wife, Barbara Ann Kelly, over unpaid mortgage instalments.
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Bank → accord → instalments
A Florida court eventually ruled in the bank's favour after finding that the couple had failed to make 66 monthly payments.
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couple → rule → payments
Both Myers and Kelly challenged that decision.
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Myers → challenge → decision
The property had originally been purchased by Kelly, who took out a mortgage to pay for it.
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who → purchase → it
She later added Myers as a joint owner.
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She → add → owner
US Bank National Association, acting on behalf of a mortgage-backed securities trust, held the mortgage on the property.
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Association → act → property
Why Myers agreed to deposit $5,000 every month
After the Florida court allowed the bank to proceed with foreclosure, Myers and Kelly appealed the decision.
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Myers → agree → decision
Foreclosure is the legal process through which a lender can take and sell a property when mortgage payments are not made.
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payments → take → property
While their appeals were pending, Myers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Maryland.
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Myers → pende → Maryland
This temporarily stopped the bank from moving ahead with certain actions to recover the property.
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This → stop → property
US Bank then asked the bankruptcy court for permission to continue the foreclosure proceedings.
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Bank → ask → proceedings
The bank wanted to proceed with the couple's appeals and sell the property if the earlier judgment was upheld.
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judgment → want → property
In November 2016, Myers and the bank reached an agreement.
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Myers → reach → agreement
The appeals could continue, but the bank could not sell the property until both had been finally decided in its favour.
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both → continue → favour
As part of the arrangement, Myers had to deposit $5,000 every month into a court account in Maryland.
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Myers → have → Maryland
He later claimed that he had deposited a total of $70,000.
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he → claim → 70,000
The agreement also explained what would happen to that money.
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what → explain → money
If the bank won the appeals, it could receive the deposited amount.
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it → win → amount
However, the bank would have to count that money towards the debt owed by Myers or Kelly.
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bank → have → Myers
In 2018, a Florida appeals court ruled against the couple and upheld the earlier foreclosure decision.
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court → rule → decision
This meant that the appeals which had prevented the bank from selling the property were over.
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which → mean → property
Why the husband sued the bank again
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husband → sue → bank
Despite the 2018 ruling, the dispute did not end.
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dispute → end → ruling
In 2024, Myers filed another lawsuit after the bank attempted to schedule a sale of the Naples property.
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bank → file → property
He claimed that the bank's actions went against the agreement reached in 2016.
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actions → claim → 2016
He also accused the defendants of fraud and alleged that his constitutional rights had been violated.
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rights → accuse → fraud
However, the federal district court found that his initial complaint did not clearly explain which of the people or organisations he had sued were responsible for the alleged wrongdoing.
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he → find → wrongdoing
The court allowed him to revise his complaint.
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him → allow → complaint
Myers then filed a new version, naming several differently identified US Bank entities and Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Acceptance Corp.
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Myers → file → entities
This time, his allegations included breach of contract, constructive fraud and violations of a federal law governing debt collection practices.
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allegations → include → practices
The court rejected his claims.
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court → reject → claims
One important reason was that the 2016 agreement had never promised to stop the bank from selling the property permanently.
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agreement → promise → property
Instead, it had only prevented a sale while the couple's appeals were pending.
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appeals → prevent → sale
Since those appeals had ended in 2018, the court found that the bank's later attempt to proceed with foreclosure did not break the agreement.
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attempt → end → agreement
The court also found that Myers had not provided enough facts to support his fraud allegation.
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Myers → find → allegation
What the October 19 court ruling said
Myers challenged the dismissal of his lawsuit, arguing that the lower court had not properly considered his claims.
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court → say → claims
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
