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84 Georgia RANK: 37 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate AUGUST 2015 2.15% 0.81% 5.9 YEAR AGO 2.82% 1.01% 7.1 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -23.8% -19.4% -1.2 Top County UPSON COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate AUGUST 2015 3.97% 3.38% YEAR AGO 4.57% 2.51% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -13.1% 34.8% Top Core-Based Statistical Area THOMASTON, GA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate AUGUST 2015 3.97% 3.38% YEAR AGO 4.57% 2.51% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -13.1% 34.8% 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 August 2015 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary August 2015 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. IN THE NEWS MERS Wins Federal Court Battles Over Deed of Trust in Georgia, New York, and Texas ree federal courts have ruled in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), dismissing borrowers' suits to quiet title and affirming MERS' authority to assign the mortgage lien, according to an announcement from MERSCORP Holdings. e plaintiffs in the cases of Bradley v. Branch Banking Trust (BB&T) (Georgia), Garza v. Flagstar Bank, FSB (Texas), and McCarty v. Bank of New York (New York) all sued MERS and other financial companies, attempting to avoid foreclosure based on claims that MERS could not hold or assign a security instrument. e plaintiffs in the Bradley and Garza cases further claimed that the mortgage or deed was unenforceable because the note and IN THE NEWS RESPA Claims Cited by Foreclosure Defendants Fall Flat in Florida Homeowners using the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA) as a shield to foreclosure saw their claims fall flat in Florida court in recent months. At least two cases decided by the United States District Court Southern District of Florida ended with the court siding against the homeowners and for the servicers, giving financial firms a bit more room when inter- preting a significant part of RESPA. Essentially, two cases – Russel v. Nationstar and O'Brien v. Seterus – tested the limits of a provision in RESPA, which requires servicers to respond to all written requests from borrowers who ask for information on their loans, including servicing information and payment schedules. In Russel v. Nationstar, a borrower facing foreclosure claimed that Nationstar failed to provide a complete profile of the homeowner's loan payment history. is report largely stemmed from the fact that the loan was previously transferred from another servicer. To retrieve the payment history, the borrower filed a series of qualified written requests to the servicer asking multiple times for their complete payment history, which dated back to a previous financial institution. Because Nationstar did not provide an entire listing of each payment made to the prior servicer, the borrowers claimed their request for information under RESPA had not been met. e court sided with Nationstar, noting that all of the borrower's responses were met and that the loan had not been delinquent at any time before Nationstar took over the servicing component. Based on the provisions outlined in RESPA, the court sided with the servicer and agreed Nationstar complied with the law by responding to each interrogatory issued by the borrower. In O'Brien v. Seterus, borrowers claimed that the their rights under RESPA had been denied when the servicer in this case failed to respond in detail to the borrower's inquiry on why the property facing foreclosure was under the microscope through a series of drive-by inspections. e court sided with Seterus, not- ing that the servicer sent a 52-page response, including a basic explanation as to why drive- by inspections had taken place. e takeaway from both cases is that borrowers expecting to use the response requirement highlighted for financial firms in RESPA as a shield are at risk of overreaching – especially when the lender has a complete recording all of its responses and is found in good faith to have responded to the applicable questions. Brock & Scott Expands Operations and Presence in Florida Brock & Scott, a default servicing law firm with operations in seven states across the Southeast, has announced the expansion of its services within the state of Florida with the addition of Ron Wolfe and his team from the office of Ronald R. Wolfe & Associates. Ron Wolfe and his associates from the Tam- pa office joined Brock & Scott's existing Florida Default Services and Real Estate Practice Areas on October 2, completing the acquisition. With the addition of the Tampa office, Brock & Scott can provide enhanced coverage and service to their clients in the state of Florida. "We are pleased that Brock & Scott will be retaining our attorneys, staff and Tampa presence as part of their acquisition process," managing partner Ron Wolfe said. "is event presents a unique and positive opportunity for our team to be part of a multi-state and multi- practice model where we feel the industry continues to move towards in default servicing. Our core values and approach to client service align very well with Brock & Scott which will make this transition very seamless." Brock & Scott has been a leader in default servicing in the Southeast since the firm's founding in 1998 with 15 offices across Mary- land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- lina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. e firm provides a comprehensive suite of practice area offerings covering foreclosure, bankruptcy, eviction, litigation, REO, loss mitigation, and collection services. "Brock & Scott looks forward to continu- ing the same expert level of service and quality performance in Florida for those clients cur- rently working with Ron Wolfe and his team," said Greg Scott, founding partner of Brock & Scott. "We are also very excited to add some- one of Ron's caliber and industry experience to our executive leadership team as a Managing Partner. He has built up an impressive list of reputable and established clients, many that we currently have active relationships with across our other states."

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