Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Superior Court 7/1/08 - RANDOLPH D. DAHL SR. AND MARY K. DAHL v. AMERIQUEST MORTGAGE COMPANY, et al.

RANDOLPH D. DAHL SR. AND MARY K. DAHL v. AMERIQUEST MORTGAGE COMPANY, NATIONAL REAL ESTATE INFORMATION SERVICES and INSURANCE SOLUTIONS CONCEPT, INC.
No. 1333 WDA 2007 2008 PA Super 142 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 7/1/2008
Appeal from the Judgment entered June 25, 2007, in the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County, Civil, at A.D. No. 01-10951.
Before: MUSMANNO, POPOVICH and HUDOCK, JJ.
Opinion by: HUDOCK, J.
This is an appeal from the trial court’s final judgment entered in this case. We affirm.

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Appellants raise the following issues on appeal:

1. Did the Trial Court err in dismissing [Appellants’] RESPA claim against [Ameriquest] by determining as a matter of law that the settlement escrow account created to make payment of hazard insurance on [Appellants’] property was not covered by RESPA?

2. Did the Trial Court err in dismissing [Appellants’] RESPA claim against [NREIS] by determining as a matter of law that NREIS was not a “servicer” of the mortgage as defined by RESPA?

Appellees also argue that Appellants’ failure to file a post-trial motion under Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 227.1(c)(2) waives all issues on appeal.7 Rule 227.1(c) provides that:

(c) Post-trial motions shall be filed within ten days after
(1) verdict, discharge of the jury because of inability to agree, or nonsuit in the case of a jury trial; or
(2) notice of nonsuit or the filing of the decision in the case of a trial without jury.


Pa.R.C.P. 227.1(c). However, in this case, there was no trial on the merits of the RESPA claims. Appellants challenge the trial court’s dismissal of their RESPA claims against Appellees; Appellants do not make claims involving issues raised during a trial or which must be presented to the trial court through post-trial motions in order to be preserved. DiGregorio v. Keystone Health Plan East, 840 A.2d 361, 365 (Pa. Super 2003) (holding that a motion for post-trial relief “may not be filed pursuant to an order disposing of a motion for summary judgment or other motion relating to a proceeding other than trial”). Thus, Appellants have not waived their RESPA claims by failing to file a post-trial motion. Therefore, Ameriquest’s motion to quash is denied.

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