HP FORECLOSURE SOLUTION LLC V DOROTHY ZALEWSKI

Court of Appeals, State of Michigan
ORDER
HP FORECLOSURE SOLUTION LLC V DOROTHY ZALEWSKI
Docket No. 378953
LC No. 2025-216687-AV
Brock A. Swartzle
Presiding Judge
Michael J. Kelly
Mariam S. Bazzi
Judges
Plaintiff’s motion for immediate consideration is GRANTED.
Pursuant to MCR 7.205(E)(2), in lieu of granting the application for leave to appeal, the
Court VACATES the November 24, 2025 circuit court order dismissing defendant’s appeal, VACATES
the July 24, 2025 judgment of possession entered by the district court, and REMANDS to the district court
for further proceedings not inconsistent with this order. The district court erred by applying res judicata
to conclude that no triable issues remained, and the circuit court erred by dismissing defendant’s appeal
rather than correcting this clear error. Finality is an indispensable requirement of res judicata, Kosiel v
Arrow Liquors Corp, 446 Mich 374, 379-380; 521 NW2d 531 (1994), and a decision does not become
final until “all appeals have been exhausted or when the time available for an appeal has passed,” Bryan
v JPMorgan Chase Bank, 304 Mich App 708, 716; 848 NW2d 482 (2014) (quotation marks and citation
omitted). As applied in this case, the district court erred by giving preclusive effect to a non-final order
entered in Oakland Circuit Court Case No. 2024-210718-CH, and the district court erred by concluding
that plaintiff was entitled to a judgment of possession on the basis of res judicata. We note that, on appeal,
defendant argues that the summary proceedings should be dismissed pending finality in LC No. 2024-
210718-CH. We leave it to the district court to address this argument in the first instance on remand.
This order is to have immediate effect. MCR 7.215(F)(2).
We do not retain jurisdiction.
_______________________________
Presiding Judge
A true copy entered and certified by Jerome W. Zimmer Jr., Chief Clerk, on
Date

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