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96 Rhode Island Affirms MERS Right to Assign e Supreme Court of Rhode Island continued the recent trend nationwide of affirming the legitimacy of Mortgage Elec- tronic Registration Systems' (MERS) role as mortgagee, including its authority to assign a mortgage. In Ingram v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., the plaintiffs maintained that the mortgage assignment to MERS was void and its subsequent assign- ment to Deutsche Bank was also invalid, giving the bank no right to foreclose when he subsequently defaulted on the mortgage. e court relied on previous case law to conclude that the contract explicitly granted the power of sale to MERS and its successors and the "assignee of MERS acquired all the rights which MERS possessed and therefore possessed the right to exercise the power of sale." "e court's ruling is consistent with previous decisions upholding MERS' role as mortgagee and validating its authority to as- sign mortgages it holds," said MERSCORP Holdings VP for corporate communications Janis Smith. e system, which was designed to elimi- nate the need and administrative expense for paper assignments of various mortgage-relat- ed rights as much as possible, has been under attack in state courts. e victory is the latest in a string of challenges to the validity of foreclosure proceedings by MERS assignees across the nation. IN THE NEWS Illinois Bank Becomes the 14th to Fall This Year e fallout of the financial crisis caught up to another bank the last weekend of July, resulting in a shutdown by federal regulators. e Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced the closure of Chicago-based GreenChoice Bank. e recently shuttered bank is the second to fall in Illinois in the past two months and the 14th FDIC-insured institution to close so far this year. GreenChoice, which had a reputation in the region for its work in making its operations more sustainable and environmentally friendly, was brought down by losses as a result of rising defaults following the financial meltdown, with "no reasonable prospect that the institution will become adequately capitalized" again, OCC said in a statement. OCC's release also said the bank "had experienced substantial dissipation of assets and earnings due to unsafe and unsound practices." To protect customers, GreenChoice's deposits—totaling an estimated $71 million as of Q1—have been assumed by Providence Bank in South Holland, Illinois, according to FDIC. Providence has also agreed to purchase $67.7 million of GreenChoice's assets, with the remaining assets held by FDIC. FDIC estimates its Deposit Insurance Fund will take a $14.2 million hit as a result of the latest collapse. Vermont RANK: 8 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate JUNE 2014 1.62% 2.40% 3.7 YEAR AGO 1.59% 3.50% 4.5 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 1.5% -31.5% -0.8 Top County GRAND ISLE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JUNE 2014 1.64% 5.40% YEAR AGO 1.66% 5.81% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -1.2% -7.0% Top Core-Based Statistical Area RUTLAND, VT 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JUNE 2014 2.02% 3.87% YEAR AGO 2.21% 4.85% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -8.5% -20.2% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the June 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary June 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Illinois RANK: 7 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate JUNE 2014 2.34% 2.67% 6.8 YEAR AGO 3.09% 4.28% 9.2 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -24.4% -37.6% -2.4 Top County HANCOCK COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JUNE 2014 5.51% 6.50% YEAR AGO 2.94% 5.51% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 87.5% 18.0% Top Core-Based Statistical Area LINCOLN, IL 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JUNE 2014 3.20% 5.81% YEAR AGO 3.59% 6.41% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -10.9% -9.4% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the June 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary June 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Illinois Re/Max Professionals 630.768.5175 Office 630.768.5175 Cell edjrsellsreos@wearepros.com 484 W. Boughton Rd., Suite C Bolingbrook, IL 60440 Follow my listing on Twitter: twitter.com/Ed_Lukasik_Jr Edward Lukasik Jr. Broker/ Owner The median home price in Rhode Island rose 5.26 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. KNOW THIS STATE OF AFFAIRS: NORTHEAST/MIDWEST »

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