Real Property — Mortgages – Foreclosure – Forgery – Legal Defense

In re Foreclosure of Rivera (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-16-0562, 10 pp.) (Chris Dillon, J.) Appealed from Mecklenburg County Superior Court (Eric Levinson, J.) N.C. App. Unpub.

Holding: Since forgery is a legal – rather than equitable – defense to a mortgage foreclosure, respondents were not required to institute a separate action to put their defense forward; instead, the trial court was required to rule on respondents’ forgery defense before allowing foreclosure to proceed.

We reverse the trial court’s order and remand for further proceedings.