Dyck-O'Neal, Inc. v. Hendrick

The issue we address in this case is whether a trial court’s reservation of jurisdiction in a final judgment of foreclosure to enter a deficiency judgment precludes a party from filing a separate action at law to recover a deficiency when the foreclosure court has neither granted nor denied the deficiency judgment. Our answer to this question is “no.”

The relevant facts are not in dispute. Appellees were defendants in a foreclosure action in which the plaintiff included in its complaint a request that the trial court reserve jurisdiction to award a deficiency judgment, if appropriate. The…