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VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM FROM THE BENCH Hawaii Federal Court Upholds MERS' Interest Rights Merscorp Holdings, Inc., recently announced that a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Hawaii upheld the right of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., (MERS) to assign interests in mortgages. In a June 18 decision in Pascual v. Aurora Loan Services, U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright dismissed the plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint asserting that Aurora violated the state's non-judicial foreclosure statute by foreclosing without a valid assignment of the mortgage. Seabright found that the plaintiffs granted and conveyed to MERS the power of sale, which MERS was then allowed to assign to Aurora, the foreclosing party in the case. The case was dismissed on this basis. "Indeed, this court has already rejected numerous borrowers' claims challenging MERS' authority to assign, on behalf of a lender, the mortgage," Seabright wrote. "Judge Seabright said it plainly: MERS' role in the mortgage lending process is clear and unambiguous," said Janis L. Smith, Merscorp Holdings' VP of corporate communications. "Moreover, this has been affirmed by numerous courts around the United States, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals." KNOW THIS Foreclosure-related sales in Honolulu during the first quarter carried a discount of 31% on average, earning the Hawaiian capital a spot on RealtyTrac's rankings of the "10 best beach towns for foreclosure bargains." IN THE NEWS Idaho rank: 29 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate RateRate may 2012 1.99%2.85% 7.8% year ago 2.55%2.64% 8.8% percent point change -22.1%8.0% -11.4% Top County LINCOLN COUNTY 90+ Day Delinquency Rate may 2012 Foreclosure Rate 5.29%6.81% year ago 6.45%3.46% percent point change -17.9%96.8% Top Core-Based Statistical Area BOISE CITY-NAMPA, ID 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate may 2012 2.27%2.97% year ago 3.06%3.07% percent point change -26.0%-3.4% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the May 2012 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary May 2012 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. Illinois rank: 3 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate RateRate may 2012 3.22%6.80% 8.6% year ago 3.43%6.39% 9.7% percent point change -6.2% 6.4%-11.3% Top County LOGAN COUNTY 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate may 2012 3.06%9.44% year ago 4.85%7.68% percent point change -36.9%23.0% Top Core-Based Statistical Area KANKAKEE-BRADLEY, IL 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate may 2012 4.51%8.28% year ago 4.61%7.58% percent point change -2.0%9.2% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the May 2012 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary May 2012 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. FHFA Resists Transfer Taxes in Illinois and Files Suit The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) filed suit in late June against Illinois tax officials for imposing what the agency says are unlawful taxes on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Several Illinois counties have attempted to collect transfer taxes from the GSEs, and some have threatened to reject future property transfers from the enterprises if they do not pay the state and county transfer taxes. "FHFA must resist when local governments impose unlawful tax-raising programs on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that, in turn, create a cost for taxpayers across the country," the FHFA said in a press statement. The FHFA conceded that "[f]ederal law does provide for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay real estate taxes on the value of properties they hold." However, it reinforced that federal law "does not sanction taxes tied to the transfer of properties." The suit filed in a district court in Illinois references Fannie Mae's charter, which states the enterprise "shall be exempt from all taxation now or hereafter imposed by any State, territory, possession, Commonwealth, or dependency of the United States, or by the District of Columbia, or by any county, municipality, or local taxing authority." Freddie Mac's charter includes similar stipulations. However, despite these exemptions, Illinois officials have demanded transfer fees from both enterprises. A letter from the Dekalb County, Illinois' Office of the Clerk and Recorder in April stated that the GSEs "have claimed an exemption as a government entity which is factually erroneous." The letter went on to demand the GSEs pay transfer fees accumulated over the past five years and warned that, "[m]oving forward, we have notified agents that effective immediately, all documents where taxes are not paid from your entity will be rejected." "Because Congress has expressly exempted the Enterprises and the Conservator from all state and local taxation with a single exception that is inapplicable here, the Enterprises are immune from liability for those taxes," countered the FHFA in its court filing. 87