HSBC Bank USA v. Kirkland Townsend

HAMILTON, Circuit Judge;

dissenting.

I view the district court’s judgment of' foreclosure as final under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Rather than dismiss the appeal, I would affirm on the merits. Under long-established finality principles, a foreclosure judgment is final if it (a) settles the merits and the total amount of the debt, (b) identifies the property to be sold to satisfy the judgment, and (c) orders the priority of competing claims to the sale proceeds. See, e.g., Whiting v. Bank of the United States, 38 U.S. (13 Pet.) 6, 15, 10 L.Ed. 33 (1839), and cases following it.

The judgment of…