On October 9, the Washington Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision and remanded a case with an extensive procedural history over a mortgage servicer’s attempts to foreclose on a deed of trust after the respondent stopped making payments and filed for bankruptcy in 2008. The bankruptcy court discharged the debt in 2009, and the respondent made no further payments. In 2018, the deed’s beneficiary transferred its interest to the servicer, which then initiated a nonjudicial foreclosure. The respondent replied by filing an action to quiet title and initially secured a summary judgment, with the trial court ruling that the six-year statute of limitations began with the bankruptcy discharge, barring enforcement of the note and foreclosure.

The state supreme court found this legal ruling was in error and determined the servicer was entitled to equitable relief, noting the company’s appeals were timely. The court found the lower courts’ repeated denials based on legal error, prompt actions by the servicer, and a divisional split in appellate decisions led it to its conclusion: The trial court abused its discretion by applying the wrong legal standards and failed to consider the surrounding circumstances. The state supreme court then reversed the lower court’s denial of the servicer’s motion and remanded to vacate the quiet title judgment.