The court below concluded that Dwayne and Beverly Bush fail in their amended complaint to state any claim upon which relief can be granted,1 and the court awarded judgment on the pleadings to one defendant and dismissed the others. The Bushes appeal, contending that they, in fact, state several claims upon which relief can be granted. Although we review de novo a determination that a pleading fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, Sherman v. Fulton County Bd. of Assessors , 288 Ga. 88, 89 701 SE2d 472 2010, we find ourselves unable in this case to undertake such a review because we cannot ascertain the precise nature of the claims that the Bushes assert, which we must do, of course, before we can determine whether relief can be granted upon those claims. The court below, we think, also was in no position to determine the extent to which the Bushes state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and before ruling upon the motions for judgment on the pleadings and to dismiss, it should have, we think, required the Bushes to replead and provide a more definite statement of their claims. We vacate the judgments below and remand for the court to do just that.2 Although the pleadings in this case are difficult in many respects to understand, we can discern that the Bushes borrowed nearly $800,000 from First Horizon Home Loan Corporation in February 2006, and in connection with this loan, they gave a promissory note and a security interest in their DeKalb County home to the lender. Several years later, in the second half of 2009, the Bushes filed a number of papers, some of which purport to cancel the security interest in their home, and some of which are utterly nonsensical, with the clerk of the Superior Court of DeKalb County and apparently sent copies of some of these papers to First Horizon, among others.3 Around the same time, the Bushes defaulted, it seems, on their obligation to repay the loan, and in January 2010, the Bank of New York Mellon —to which the security interest in their home had been assigned in the meantime —notified the Bushes that it intended to foreclose upon the security interest.4 The Bushes then sent a letter to First Horizon, in which they offered to pay more than $800,000 to First Horizon upon presentment of their original promissory note, and the Bushes allegedly deposited that amount with an “escrow agent” and notary public, who informed First Horizon that she was in receipt of those funds and would pay them over to First Horizon upon presentment of the original note.5 First Horizon apparently did not accept this offer, and on February 23, 2010, the “escrow agent” executed an affidavit, in which she averred that First Horizon had not accepted the offer, that the chief executive officer of First Horizon “is now in DEFAULT without recourse,” and that First Horizon and its agents had “agreed, by their actions, to Treble Damages separately and equally totaling $2,340,000.00.” The next day, the Bushes, now represented by counsel, filed this lawsuit, naming the Bank of New York, its law firm, an agent of its law firm, the servicer of their loan, and a lawyer for the servicer as defendants.6
In their original complaint, the Bushes alleged that First Horizon had engaged in unspecified “fraudulent activities,” that First Horizon had accepted a settlement and satisfaction of their loan pursuant to the terms of an unspecified notice dated September 3, 2009, that the Bushes had disputed their default in writing to First Horizon based on this settlement and satisfaction of their loan, that they subsequently offered more than $800,000 to First Horizon in satisfaction of their loan through their “escrow agent,” that the assignment of the security interest in their home to the Bank of New York was not of record,7 and that the Bushes had disputed in writing that they owed any obligation to the Bank of New York. Although the nature of the claims asserted in the original complaint is difficult to understand,8 the original complaint appears to assert that one or more of the defendants violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC § 1692 et seq., the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974, 12 USC § 2601 et seq., the Georgia Commercial Code, OCGA § 11-3-603, the statutory requirement that an assignment of a security deed must be recorded before the assignee can exercise its power of sale, OCGA § 44-14-162 b, and the settlement and satisfaction to which First Horizon allegedly had agreed. In their original complaint, the Bushes sought an injunction against the foreclosure of their home and an order compelling First Horizon, which was not named as a defendant, to produce the original promissory note and accept their tender of $800,000 in satisfaction of the loan. A few days later, the court below entered a temporary restraining order, which enjoined the defendants from foreclosing the security deed.
