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Owens v. Bank of Am. N.A.

The state court had jurisdiction over the appellant's counterclaim regardless of the amount in controversy.

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After foreclosing upon and then purchasing real property formerly owned by Brian Owens, Bank of America National Association initiated dispossessory proceedings in state court against Owens “and all others.” Owens, who lived elsewhere and leased the premises out to a tenant, filed an answer and counterclaim for damages, alleging that the foreclosure was unlawful. Following a bench trial at which Owens appeared, the court granted a writ of possession to the Bank and dismissed Owens’s counterclaim. Owens filed this pro se appeal, contending that: 1 the trial court erred in not addressing his counterclaim, wherein he asserted that the Bank had violated foreclosure law by disregarding a “bad title issue”; 2 the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the dispossessory action because the damages sought on his wrongful foreclosure counterclaim exceeded the jurisdictional limits of the state court; and 3 the trial court ignored a new federal law intended to protect tenants following foreclosure.

We apply a de novo standard of review to legal issues decided by the trial court, and factual findings made by the trial court shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous.1 The appellant has the burden of affirmatively showing error by the record.2 Owens has failed to carry this burden, so we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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