Shauneille Sharifa (Morton) v. Wells Fargo/ASC

This is an appeal from the trial court’s denial of a motion to recuse and award of summary judgment.  Plaintiff-homeowner took out a loan secured by a deed of trust on a parcel of real property.  After defaulting on the loan, plaintiff and defendant-bank entered into a loan modification agreement.  Plaintiff, however, again defaulted on the loan, and, after she failed to make the required acceleration payments, defendant initiated foreclosure proceedings pursuant to the deed of trust.  The real property ultimately was sold at foreclosure for less than the balance owed on the loan.  Plaintiff then sued defendant for breach of contract and wrongful foreclosure.  Defendant moved for summary judgment.  Plaintiff never responded to defendant’s motion for summary judgment.  Three days prior to the hearing on the summary judgment, plaintiff filed a motion for a change of venue, which the trial judge treated as a recusal motion pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B and which, following a hearing, he denied.  The trial court subsequently granted defendant’s summary judgment motion and dismissed plaintiff’s claims with prejudice.  Plaintiff appeals both the trial court’s denial of the motion to recuse and its granting of the motion for summary judgment.  We affirm.