In Ocwen Loan Services v. Quinn, a decision rendered in October of 2016, but recently approved for publication at 2016 N.J. Super. LEXIS 167 (App. Div. 2016), the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed the ruling of the Superior Court, Passaic County, granting summary judgment in favor of a plaintiff-mortgagee and against defendants who both held a life estate in the subject property. (The New Jersey Supreme Court denied certiorari on Feb. 7, 2017.)
In so doing, the court found that, although the defendants did not sign the plaintiff’s mortgage, their life estates were subordinated based on the principles of replacement and modification, as well as the equitable principles recognized by the court in Sovereign Bank v. Gillis, 432 N.J. Super. 36 (App. Div. 2013).
