Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Iowa Federal Judge OKs MERS' Recording Fee Dodge; Nixes Class Action Suit Filed On Behalf Of Counties Throughout State
In Sioux City, Iowa, the Sioux City Journal reports:
A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit that claimed a national electronic mortgage registry company was enabling banks to avoid paying Iowa mortgage registration fees.
U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett said in his ruling, filed Tuesday, that Iowa law does not support the claims raised by Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond, who in March filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Sioux City on behalf of all 99 Iowa counties against MERSCORP Holdings Inc., Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., known as MERS, and several large banks and mortgage companies.
Raymond had contended that MERS has allowed banks subscribing to the company's service to skirt Iowa's public information and recording laws by trading mortgages through an electronic registry that lists MERS as the mortgage holder, even though the banks are buying and selling the mortgages. The MERS electronic system tracks changes in ownership so that each buyer doesn't have to record the transaction.
Raymond cited Iowa law that requires a document called an assignment of mortgage to be filed in the county recorder's office when a mortgage is sold. The MERS system enables banks to avoid that practice and the payment of accompanying filing fees, the lawsuit said.
Bennett ruled that none of the Iowa statues cited in the lawsuit imposes a requirement on the party assigning a mortgage or receiving an assignment to record the transaction.
"What the county seeks, on its own behalf and of the putative class of Iowa counties, under the guise of construction of recording statutes, is an extension of those statutes that completely changes the meaning of the statutes, but the courts have no power to grant such an extension," Bennett wrote in his ruling.
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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