Massa, J.
Shannon Barabas had two mortgages on her Madison County home. The second mortgagee foreclosed on the property without notice to the first. The first mortgagee sought to intervene and obtain relief from the foreclosure judgment, but the trial court denied its motion. We reverse.
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Citimortgage brought its motion to intervene under Indiana Trial Rule 24(A), alleging that it had an interest in this case sufficient to entitle it to intervene as of right. We agree.
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Taken together, MERS’s rights under the terms of the Barabas mortgage and MERS’s own rules indicate that the parties intended to designate MERS as an agent of the lender. [Footnote omitted.] This agency relationship conferred various rights upon MERS, including rights that constitute protected property interests sufficient to entitle MERS—and Citimortgage standing in the shoes of MERS—to meet the first requirement for intervention of right.
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There is little dispute as to the remaining two requirements for intervention. As to the first, if the default judgment is permitted to stand, Citimortgage’s interest would be destroyed entirely. Thus, it is certain that resolution in Citimortgage’s absence will “impair” its interest.
As to the second, Irwin expressly disclaimed its interest in the debt that now belongs to Citimortgage. Since filing that disclaimer, Irwin has taken no part in the litigation. The remaining parties, Sanders and ReCasa, are actively advocating against Citimortgage’s interest. No current party is representing Citimortgage’s interest.
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Here, the default judgment was entered on September 16, 2008. Citimortgage filed its motion to intervene thirteen months later, on October 23, 2009. This delay, although considerable, was attributable to ReCasa’s failure to provide Citimortgage (or its agent MERS) with notice of the foreclosure suit. It would be both unfair and inconsistent with the purpose of the timeliness requirement to deny Citimortgage’s right to intervene under these circumstances. Thus, we find that Citimortgage’s motion to intervene was timely.
The Default Judgment Is Void as to Citimortgage
Citimortgage brought its motion for relief from judgment under Trial Rule 60(B)(6), alleging that the default judgment was void for lack of personal jurisdiction because it had no notice of the foreclosure proceeding. We agree.
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Conclusion
On these facts, we hold that the trial court’s denial of Citimortgage’s motion to intervene and obtain relief from the foreclosure judgment was based on a misinterpretation of the law and thus an abuse of discretion. We therefore reverse that ruling and remand with instructions to grant the motion to intervene and amend the default judgment to provide that ReCasa took the Madison County property subject to Citimortgage’s lien.
Dickson, C.J., Rucker, and David, JJ., concur.