The past few months have seen a wave of more than four dozen favorable rulings for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. At least two rulings didn’t bode well for the electronic registry.
Plaintiffs who originally obtained a $107,000 loan through American Mortgage Network Inc. in March 2006 filed a lawsuit against MERS and Fannie Mae to quiet title in their favor and declare a foreclosure sale null and void. Setha and Yoy Sam allege that an assignment of the mortgage interest is invalid, the note is current or satisfied, and proper notice of foreclosure was never filed.
A Rhode Island superior court judge on Dec. 20 denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case, noting in his decision that the if the allegations in the complaint are proven to be true, then they state a claim for relief.
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, affirmed a lower court dismissal of several claims in a lawsuit filed by several plaintiffs who had loans serviced by Aurora Loan Services LLC.
However, the wholesale dismissal of a quite title claim was reversed by the Eighth Circuit because assignments from MERS to Aurora were either unrecorded or executed by individuals lacking the legal authority to do so.
A recent ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington announced by MERS found that MERS involvement in a trust deed executed by Kevin E. and Sheena Kullman did not prevent the note-holder from initiating the non-judicial foreclosure process or cause injury to the borrowers — an element that is needed for a Consumer Protection Act claim. A recent decision in the case Bain v. Metropolitan Mortgage Group was cited by the judge.
A similar conclusion was reached by the same judge in Judy Lynott’s lawsuit against MERS; U.S. Bank, N.A.; and JPMorgan Chase, N.A.
“Here, plaintiff’s claims arise from a fundamental misunderstanding of the law,” the judge wrote in the Lynott decision. “U.S. Bank is the beneficiary of the deed because it holds plaintiff’s note, not because MERS assigned it the deed.”
On Dec. 14, a decision from the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada affirmed the trial court decision in favor of MERS in the case Ashley v. MERS, et al. On the same day, the same three-justice panel ruled in favor of MERS in Sanchez v. OneWest Bank, FSB, et al.
In White v. Citibank, N.A., a Georgia Superior Court judge found the borrower’s claim that the loan documents were defective and the assignment of the security deed executed by MERS was faulty to be “meritless.”
MERS announced that rulings were issued in its favor during November in the following cases.
Case Title | Decision Date | Case Number | Court |
Connell v. CitiMortgage | Nov. 13 | Case No. 1:11-cv-00443-WS-C | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama |
Henry v. Arizona Trust Deed Corporation | Nov. 2 | Case No. 2:12-cv-01055-JAT | U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona |
The Fidelity Land Trust Company v. Centex Home Equity Company | Nov. 2 | Case No. 8:12-CV-2309-T-27TBM | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida |
Pfaeffle v. MERS | Nov. 16 | Case No. CV-2011-0000068 | District Court of the Fifth Judicial District of the State of Idaho |
Seward v. Fremont Investment & Loan | November | Case No. CV-2012-1078 | District Court of the Seventh Judicial District of the State of Idaho |
Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Bank of America, N.A., et al. | Nov. 30 | Case No. 11-4363-BLSI | Commonwealth of Massachusetts Superior Court |
Jones v. Bank of America | Nov. 6 | Case No. 2:12-cv-11608-VAR-MJH | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan |
Minneweather v. Wells Fargo Bank | Nov. 19 | Case No. 2:12-cv-13391-AC-MAR | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan |
Cabacoff v. Wells Fargo | Nov. 5 | Case No. 12-cv-56-PB | U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire |
Giroux v. FNMA | Nov. 15 | Case No. 211-2011-CV-00299 | The State of New Hampshire Judicial Branch Superior Court |
U.S. Bank National Association v. Madero | Nov. 15 | Index No. 102965/08 | Supreme Court of the State of New York |
Bank of America v. Bowers | November | Case No. CVÂ 2011-12-6967 | The Court of Common Please, Summit County, Ohio |
Delaney v. Bank of New York Mellon | Nov. 9 | Case No. CV 100030 | Crook County Circuit Court, Oregon |
Equivest, LLC v. Alexander | November | Case No. NC 2009-0676 | Rhode Island Superior Court |
Crum v. WMC Mortgage Corporation | Nov. 14 | Case No. 3:11-cv-02029-N | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas |
Morlock LLC v. Bank of New York Mellon | Nov. 30 | Case No. 4:12-cv-01585 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas |
The following MERS cases saw favorable judgments issued in October and prior.
Case Title | Decision Date | Case Number | Court |
Campbell v. California Reconveyance Company | Oct. 25 | 2:11-cv-00180-DGC | U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona |
Milani v. One West Bank | Oct. 17 | 11-15378 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit |
Stevens v. BAC Home Loans Servicing | Oct. 23 | 1:12:cv-00644-ODE | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia |
Crutcher v. CitiMortgage | Sep. 20 | 1:12-cv-00455-JOF | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia |
Van Kirk v. Bank of America Corporation | Oct. 1 | 1:11-cv-00621-BLW-REB | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
Purdy v. Aegis Wholesale Corporation | Sep. 26 | 1:11-cv-00640-EJL-REB | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
Gilbert v. Bank of America | Sep. 26 | 1:11-cv-00272-BLW-CWDGS | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
Homeyer v. Bank of America, N.A. | Sep. 17 | 1:12-cv-0021-EJL-CWD | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
Showell v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP | Sep. 17 | 4:11-cv-00489-CWD | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
Williams v. Bank of America, N.A. | Sep. 17 | 1:11-cv-00383-BLW-REB | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
Ohlsen v. Bank of America, N.A. | Sep. 18 | 1:11-cv-00357-BLW-REB | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
Cordero v. America’s Wholesale Lender | Oct. 15 | 1:12-cv-00099-CWD | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
O’Banion v. Select Portfolio Services, Inc. | Oct. 9 | 1:09-cv-00249-EJL-CWD | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho |
Cutts v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC | Oct. 24 | CV-2012-4495 | District Court of the Seventh Judicial District of the State of Idaho |
CitiMortgage v. Barabas | Oct. 4 | 48S04-1204-CC-00213 | Indiana Supreme Court |
Metlife Home Loans v. Hansen | Oct. 2 | 106,846 | Court of Appeals of the State of Kansas |
Marron v. HSBC Bank | Sep. 26 | 4:11-cv-40191-NMG13 | U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts |
Allemon v. Countrywide Home Loans | Oct. 25 | Case No. 2:11-cv-15400-PDB-MKM | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan |
Ethridge v. Countrywide Home Loans | Oct. 16 | Case No. 2:12-cv-10705-NGE-LJM | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan |
Vollmar v. Federal National Mortgage Association | Oct. 11 | 2:12-cv-11119-BAF-DRG | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan |
Oppong-Agyei v. Chase Home Finance | Oct. 24 | File No. 19HA-CV-11-3026 | State of Minnesota District Court First Judicial District |
Edelstein v. Bank of New York Mellon | Sep. 27 | 57430 | SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA |
Haischer v. MERS | Sep. 17 | 2:11-cv-01786-GMN -RJJ | U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada |
Medina v. Quality Loan Service Corporation | Oct. 25 | 2:12-cv-00428-KJD-PALJ | U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada |
Wellington v. MERS | Oct. 30 | 2:12-CV-00541-KJD-VCF | U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada |
Bank of New York v. Alderazi | Oct. 17 | Index No. 21739/08 | Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division |
Montgomery County v. MERS | Oct. 19 | 2:11-cv-06968-JCJ-VCF | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
MERS v. Ditto | Sep. 26 | Docket No. 12-0058, Docket No. 11208, Item 129323 | Chancery Court for Hamilton County, Tennessee |
Robeson v. MERS | Oct. 26 | 02-10-00227-CV | Supreme Court of Texas |
Huml v. MERS | Oct. 25 | 3:12-cv-00146-DCGS | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas |
Kramer v. Fannie Mae | May 15 | 1:12-cv-00276-SS | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas |
Richard v. CIT Group | July 21 | 4:12-cv-00848-SS | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas |
Bridges v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, et al. | Sep. 21 | 1:12-cv-00635-SS | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas |