FDN has obtained another borrower victory in Florida by having a summary judgment of foreclosure vacated. The Judge in the Brevard County Circuit Court has entered an Order, on motion of the borrower which was prepared, filed, and argued in person by Jeff Barnes, Esq., vacating and setting aside a Final Summary Judgment of Foreclosure and enjoining any foreclosure sale. The Motion set forth that the Judgment was void as there was no proof of legal standing.

The Complaint, filed by the Law Offices of David J. Stern, P.A., alleged that the Plaintiff was the holder and owner of the note and mortgage by an assignment “to be filed”. No such assignment was ever filed, and thus Plaintiff Deutsche Bank fraudulently represented to the Court that it had proper legal standing to foreclose when in reality it did not. The threshold hurdle of proof of legal standing to foreclose under Florida law was recently highlighted by the Florida Second District Court of Appeal in the BAC Funding decision which was recently discussed on this website.

The same day that the hearing took place on the Brevard County Motion, FDN attorney Jeff Barnes, Esq. was presented with yet another case filed by the same attorney from the Stern law office for the same client (Deutsche Bank as “Trustee” of a securitized mortgage loan trust) with the same problem (no assignment or proof of VALID ownership of the Note and Mortgage) but filed in Manatee County, Florida with a summary judgment having been entered in favor of Deutsche Bank despite no assignment ever having been filed. A Motion has thus been filed to seek vacatur of the Stern Summary Judgment entered in this separate proceeding.

FDN litigates foreclosure cases throughout the State of Florida as well as in 27 other states, assisted by local counsel. The consistent pattern which is emerging, as to Deutsche Bank, is a misrepresentation of ownership of the Note and Mortgage (or “Deed of Trust” as it is called in non-judicial states other than Georgia, which terms the instrument a “Security Deed”); lack of valid ownership interest in these instruments and the rights attendant thereto; and a failure to produce competent evidence of any ownership (meaning that meritless MERS assignments are not “competent”). This pattern is present in numerous states with different law Firms. Deutsche Bank thus continues to be an entity whose representations must be carefully examined in any foreclosure attempt, because there is a high probability that one or more of its representations are false.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com