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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM FROM THE BENCH Federal Court in Washington Dismisses Wrongful Foreclosure Suit A federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington ruled in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), and other defendants, MERS' parent company Merscorp Holdings, Inc., announced recently. In Ukpoma v. U.S. Bank, the judge dismissed the plaintiff's nine-count complaint alleging wrongful foreclosure and violations of the state's Consumer Protection Act (CPA). The plaintiff's wrongful foreclosure claim was based on the argument that MERS cannot act as a beneficiary of a deed of trust under Washington law and thus, any assignments of the deed of trust by MERS to other entities were void. The plaintiff cited Bain v. Metropolitan Mortgage Group, Inc., when making her argument. "Contrary to plaintiff's assertions, securitization of the note through the MERS system did not extinguish the security interest evidenced by the deed of trust," wrote Judge Thomas Rice, who further noted U.S. Bank is currently in possession of the original note and deed of trust. "Thus, by virtue of being in possession of the note, U.S. Bank is the lawful owner. Its right to receive payment on the note does not depend upon any assignment of the note from MERS." The judge also dismissed the plaintiff's CPA claim, stating the plaintiff's only alleged injury was the difficulty in determining who actually owned her loan, and the plaintiff failed to explain how the difficulty led to actual injury to her business or property. "At bottom, plaintiff simply has not been injured by MERS's involvement with her loan," Rice wrote. All other claims were dismissed as well. "Unconvinced, Judge Rice explained in detail why a borrower's attempts to halt a non-judicial foreclosure using the Bain decision and claims against MERS will not be successful," said Jason Lobo, director of corporate communications for Merscorp. "We continue to emphasize that struggling borrowers are better served by working with their mortgage servicers and seeking appropriate financial counseling than by attempting to use the judicial system to avoid valid foreclosures." Advertising Index NATIONAL SOUTHEAST Auction.com 1, 26 Clayton26 CMBA's Western Secondary Market Conference 38 CSC19 Dimont & Associates First American Mortgage Services 3 C4 Five Star Conference and Expo 26, 43, 69-73 Five Star Default Title Coalition 74 FORCE 59 Hudson & Marshall 23 IndiSoft31 ISGN28 Keystone Asset Management Legal League 100 FLORIDA Florida Dreams Realty Group, Adriana M. Aleman 85 GEORGIA Acre Group, Michele Calloway 86 Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage, Marc Oppenheimer86 TENNESSEE Village Real Estate Services, Kristy Hairston 106 MIDWEST ILLINOIS Elite REO, Angela Robinson 89 17 50-51, 63 MINNESOTA Lender Processing Services 15 MinnesotaREO.com96 LOGS Network 13 SOUTHWEST M&M Mortgage Services 21 Mortgage Contracting Services 17 COLORADO RE/MAX Alliance & the Haas Team, Zac Brown 81 RE/MAXC3 Safeguard Properties 7 ServiceLinkC2 Stewart Lender Services US Best Repair Service 41 8 Vacant Property Specialists 5 Gaston & Sheehan Realty, Michelle Sheehan 108 Team 21 Asset Management, Samantha Roper 107 Texas Property Brokers, Cheryl Murphy 107 34 Wingspan Portfolio Advisors TEXAS WEST CALIFORNIA Carter & Associates Realtors, Gary Carter Home Alliance Realty, Lisa G. Lopez 78 RE/MAX Partners, Dave Larsen NEW JERSEY 77 Essex & Harvey, Joyce Essex NORTHEAST 77 WASHINGTON 99 The Marliss Gruver Group RE/MAX Four Seasons, Marliss Gruver109 VERBOSITY "U.S. banks have been largely successful over the last three years in adapting to a host of legislative and regulatory challenges that have raised costs and increased operational complexity. In spite of these changes, U.S. banks' operating results have continued to improve. ... We regard stricter bank regulation as generally positive for creditors, despite the ongoing difficulties faced by banks in boosting equity returns." —Fitch Ratings 111

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