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.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
MERS' Role In Non-Judicial Oregon Foreclosures Now In Hands Of State Supremes
In Salem, Oregon, the Statesman Journal reports:
The Oregon Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday about whether a mortgage-industry database can stand in for lenders on real estate deeds under Oregon law — and in effect trigger out-of-court foreclosures.
The court’s responses in a pair of actions will be awaited by lenders and homeowners facing foreclosures.
The central question in both actions is whether Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems can be considered a “beneficiary” under a 1959 law governing real estate deeds in Oregon. The national database was launched in 1997 to track home mortgage loans — about two-thirds of the nation’s loans are covered by it — but it does not lend or collect money itself.
The Oregon Court of Appeals decided July 18 that individual lenders — not the national system — must file deed assignments with counties before they can begin out-of-court foreclosures. The decision would compel lenders to file each change of ownership of a loan.
Coupled with new state legislation during the 2012 session, it put a halt to most out-of-court foreclosures.
Based on how the 1959 Oregon Trust Deed Act defines “beneficiary,” the database “cannot be a beneficiary under any circumstances,” said Jeff Barnes, a California lawyer representing Rebecca Niday, who is challenging a foreclosure action brought by GMAC Mortgage.
Only the lender or a successor can be a “beneficiary” under the law, Barnes said. “What MERS does is provide a service,” he said, but it has limited legal powers.
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The justices are considering similar questions put to them by the U.S. District Court in Portland, which has four other foreclosure cases before it. The federal court is seeking how the Oregon Supreme Court interprets the 1959 state law.
A month after the Oregon Court of Appeals decision, which reversed a judgment against Niday in Clackamas County Circuit Court, the Washington Supreme Court decided a case against the national database.
But the Oregon Supreme Court will have to decide based on Oregon law, and justices had plenty of questions for the lawyers Tuesday.
“Our goal is not to figure everything out today, but to get information from you so that we can figure everything out later,” Chief Justice Thomas Balmer said.
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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