RODNEY DOTSON v. ZUCKER, GOLDBERG & ACKERMAN, et al.

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NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-4457-04T54457-04T5

RODNEY DOTSON,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

ZUCKER, GOLDBERG & ACKERMAN;

EMC MORTGAGE CORPORATION; JOEL

ACKERMAN; FRANCIS GAMBARDELLA;

NANCY TRUESDALE; RICHARD HABER;

JANINE GETLER; and TANEISHA INGRAM,

Defendants-Respondents.

________________________________________

 

Submitted June 6, 2006 - Decided August 9, 2006

Before Judges Wefing and Graves.

On appeal from Superior Court of New

Jersey, Law Division, Essex County,

No. ESX-L-1225-05.

Appellant submitted a pro se brief.

Zucker, Goldberg & Ackerman, attorneys

pro se and for the remaining respondents

(Richard P. Haber, of counsel and on the

brief).

PER CURIAM

Plaintiff appeals from a trial court order entered on April 29, 2005. After reviewing the record in light of the contentions advanced on appeal, we affirm.

We do not find it necessary to set forth in detail the complex procedural history to this matter. The dispute between the parties arises out of a mortgage foreclosure proceeding which defendant attorneys commenced on behalf of their clients with regard to property at 543 Highland Avenue, Newark, owned by plaintiff. Final judgment of foreclosure was entered on May 2, 2001, in favor of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc.

A series of disputes developed between the parties as plaintiff resisted attempts to secure possession of the premises. He filed a petition with the United States Bankruptcy Court in September 2003 under chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code, triggering an automatic stay. 11 U.S.C.S. 362.

Thereafter, the parties negotiated a settlement, the terms of which were incorporated in an order of the bankruptcy court entered February 9, 2004. The terms of the settlement called for plaintiff to pay $220,000 within six months, either by repurchasing the premises, refinancing the mortgage or selling the property to a third party. It also called for plaintiff to pay $1,000 a month for use and occupancy. The order entered included among its provisions the following language:

It is further ordered, adjudged and decreed that in the event Debtor does not tender the sum of $220,000 to Secured Creditor by July 30, 2004 Secured Creditor will automatically obtain relief from the automatic stay with prospective relief to complete the eviction without further application by secured creditor or further order of this court; and

It is further ordered adjudged and decreed that the Debtor will make no further applications to any court, and will not in any way contest the foreclosure, eviction, stay relief or prospective relief

Plaintiff was unable to complete the financial steps necessary for him to raise the needed funds. The parties dispute the reason for that inability, but that dispute is not material to the issue before us. Plaintiff filed a motion in the bankruptcy court to enforce litigant's rights, contending that defendants had frustrated his ability to consummate the settlement. The bankruptcy court denied that motion.

Thereafter, plaintiff filed this action in the Chancery Division, in which he sought damages based upon his contention that defendants breached the settlement agreement entered in the bankruptcy court. Plaintiff has appealed from the trial court order dismissing his complaint.

 
We find no merit to plaintiff's contention that he should be allowed to relitigate in state court claims arising out of a settlement negotiated in bankruptcy court and memorialized in an order of that court and which have already been denied by that court. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E).

The order under review is affirmed.

(continued)

(continued)

3

A-4457-04T5

August 9, 2006

 


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