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IN RE SCHWARTZ | MASS. BK Court Re-Opens Case “The fact that it had possession of the mortgage instrument did not render Deutsche the mortgagee and thus it lacked the power to sell the property”

IN RE SCHWARTZ | MASS. BK Court Re-Opens Case “The fact that it had possession of the mortgage instrument did not render Deutsche the mortgagee and thus it lacked the power to sell the property”


UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
CENTRAL DIVISION

In re:
SIMA SCHWARTZ
Debtor

SIMA SCHWARTZ
Plaintiff

v.

HOMEQ SERVICING, AGENT FOR
DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST
COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE and
DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL
COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE
Defendants

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

After the plaintiff, Sima Schwartz, presented her case in chief during the first day of the trial in
this adversary proceeding, upon oral motion of the defendants, HomEq Servicing and Deutsche Bank
National Trust Company, as Trustee, I granted judgment on partial findings in favor of the defendants
on all counts of the complaint, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(c), made applicable to this proceeding by
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7052. Ms. Schwartz then moved for a new trial as a result of which judgment was
vacated on count I of the complaint only. Schwartz v. HomEq Servicing (In re Schwartz), 2011 WL
1331963 (Bankr. D. Mass. Apr. 7, 2011). In count I, Ms. Schwartz alleges that the May 24, 2006
foreclosure sale of her home by Deutsche was invalid because Deutsche did not own the mortgage on
the property at the relevant time.1 I reopened the trial so that the defendants could present their case
with respect to that count, which they did on June 1, 2011. Based on the evidence and legal
submissions presented by the parties, my findings of fact, conclusions of law and order are set forth
below.

Jurisdiction and Standing

Core jurisdiction over this case is conferred upon the bankruptcy court by 28 U.S.C.
§ 157(b)(2)(G) and (O). See Atighi v. DLJ Mortg. Capital, Inc. (In re Atighi), 2011 WL 3303454, at
*3 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2011). Ms. Schwartz’s standing to seek relief is based on her property
interest in light of the alleged wrongful foreclosure. Brae Asset Fund, L.P. v. Kelly, 223 B.R. 50, 56
(D. Mass. 1998).

Legal Framework

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 244, § 14 establishes the procedure for a mortgagee to foreclose a
mortgage by exercise of the statutory power of sale. The statute provides that prior to a foreclosure
sale a notice of the sale must appear weekly for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper either
published in or generally circulated in the city or town where the property is located. The
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has recently clarified that a foreclosing mortgagee must hold
the mortgage as of the date that the first notice of sale is published. U.S. Bank Nat. Ass’n v. Ibanez,

The Defendants’ Case

It is undisputed that Deutsche was not the original mortgagee of the mortgage on Ms.
Schwartz’s home, so it must prove that the mortgage was assigned to it prior to the date when the first
foreclosure notice was published. As discussed in the memorandum and order on the plaintiff’s
motion for a new trial, while the evidence established that an assignment of the mortgage from
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”) to Deutsche was executed on May 23,
2006, the day before the foreclosure sale, this assignment, being well after the notice of foreclosure
sale was first published, did not confer on Deutsche the power to foreclose on May 24. The Supreme
Judicial Court in Ibanez, however, offered an alternative method for a party to acquire sufficient rights
in a mortgage to qualify to foreclose:

Where a pool of mortgages is assigned to a securitized trust, the executed agreement
that assigns the pool of mortgages, with a schedule of the pooled mortgage loans that
clearly and specifically identifies the mortgage at issue as among those assigned, may
suffice to establish the trustee as the mortgage holder.

Ibanez, 458 Mass. at 651.

With this in mind, the defendants introduced into evidence at trial all of the agreements
tracking the transfer of Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan from its originator, First NLC Financial
Services, LLC (“First NLC”), to Deutsche, complete with the necessary schedules of the pooled
mortgage loans specifically identifying her mortgage as being among those transferred. The
defendants argue that these agreements, together with other evidence introduced by them, establish that
Deutsche was the holder of the mortgage well in advance of the first publication of the notice of sale.
At trial, Ronaldo Reyes, a Deutsche vice president, testified that he had management
responsibility over the administration of the Morgan Stanley Home Equity Loan Trust 2005-4 (the
“Trust”) and that Deutsche had always been the trustee of the Trust. He testified that in his capacity
as vice president he had access to the books and records of the Trust and was qualified to authenticate
and testify about the documents admitted into evidence by the defendants. During the course of his
testimony, Mr. Reyes authenticated executed copies of each of the agreements discussed below, and
demonstrated that Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan was included on the mortgage loan schedules
attached as exhibits to several of the agreements. Mr. Reyes testified that each was used in the
ordinary course of Deutsche’s business as trustee of the Trust.

The following documents were admitted into evidence: (i) the mortgage on Ms. Schwartz’s
home; (ii) the original promissory note executed by Ms. Schwartz, which Mr. Reyes noted was
endorsed in blank by First NLC; (iii) the Amended and Restated Mortgage Loan Purchase Agreement
(the “Loan Purchase Agreement”) dated as of September 1, 2005 by and between Morgan Stanley
Mortgage Capital, Inc. (“MS Mortgage Capital”) and First NLC; (iv) the Assignment and Conveyance
Agreement dated September 29, 2005, by and between First NLC and MS Mortgage Capital; (v) the
Bill of Sale dated November 29, 2005 by and between MS Mortgage Capital and Morgan Stanley ABS
Capital I Inc. (“MS ABS Capital”); and (vi) the Pooling and Servicing Agreement (the “PSA”) dated
as of November 1, 2005 by and among MS ABS Capital, HomEq Servicing Corporation, JPMorgan
Chase Bank, National Association, First NLC, LaSalle Bank National Association and Deutsche. Mr.

Findings of Fact2

1. On July 22, 2005, Ms. Schwartz refinanced the mortgage loan on her property at 23 Sigel Street,
Worcester, Massachusetts, executing a promissory note in the amount of $272,000 payable to First
NLC and a mortgage securing her obligation under the note naming MERS, solely as nominee for
First NLC, its successors and assigns, as mortgagee.

2. The mortgage, which was duly recorded at the Worcester District Registry of Deeds, includes the
statutory power of sale under Mass. Gen. Laws. ch 183, § 21 which is invoked by reference to the
statute and which permits a mortgagee to foreclose a mortgage by public auction sale of the
property upon the mortgagor’s default in performance or breach of any conditions thereof.

3. On May 3, May 10 and May 17, 2006, a notice of foreclosure sale was published in the Worcester
Telegram and Gazette stating that “Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, as Trustee,” the
“present holder” of the mortgage, intended to foreclose the mortgage by public sale of Ms.
Schwartz’s property on May 24, 2006.

4. On May 23, 2006, Liquenda Allotey, described as a vice president of MERS, executed an
Assignment of Mortgage for the purpose of assigning the mortgage from MERS to “Deutsche Bank
National Trust Company, as Trustee.”

5. Deutsche, in its capacity as trustee of the Trust,3 conducted the foreclosure sale as scheduled on
May 24, 2006, bid in its mortgage debt and purchased the property.

6. In its answer, Deutsche admitted that a foreclosure deed conveying the property to itself was
recorded on October 13, 2006. There has been no evidence presented of any subsequent
conveyance of the property and hence I find that Deutsche remains the record owner of the Sigel
Street property.

7. As she testified on the first day of trial, Ms. Schwartz continues to reside in the Sigel Street
Property.

8. The original promissory note executed by Ms. Schwartz was endorsed in blank by an officer of
First NLC.

9. The original mortgagee as identified in the mortgage on Ms. Schwartz’s home was MERS, as
nominee for First NLC, its successors and assigns.

10. In accordance with Section 2 of the Loan Purchase Agreement, First NLC agreed to sell “Mortgage
Loans” to MS Mortgage Capital.

11. The Loan Purchase Agreement defines a “Mortgage Loan” as
An individual Mortgage Loan which is the subject of this Agreement, each Mortgage
Loan originally sold and subject to this Agreement being identified on the applicable
Mortgage Loan Schedule, which Mortgage Loan includes without limitation the
Mortgage File, the Monthly Payments, Principal Prepayments, Liquidation Proceeds,
Condemnation Proceeds, Insurance Proceeds, Servicing Rights and all other rights,
benefits, proceeds and obligations arising from or in connection with such Mortgage
Loan, excluding replaced or repurchased mortgage loans.

12. On September 29, 2005, by way of the Assignment and Conveyance Agreement, First NLC sold,
transferred, assigned, set over and conveyed to MS Mortgage Capital “all right, title and interest of,
in and to the Mortgage Loans listed on the Mortgage Loan Schedule attached hereto as Exhibit A.”

13. Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan was listed on the exhibit attached to the Assignment and Conveyance Agreement.

14. First NLC, therefore, transferred all of its right, title and interest in Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan
to MS Mortgage Capital on November 29, 2005.

15. By the Bill of Sale dated November 29, 2005, MS Mortgage Capital, as the “Seller,” transferred to
MS ABS Capital “all the Seller’s right, title and interest in and to the Mortgage Loans described on
Exhibit A attached hereto.”

16. Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan was listed on Exhibit A to the Bill of Sale.

17. MS Mortgage Capital, therefore, transferred its entire interest in Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan to
MS ABS Capital on November 29, 2005.

18. Section 2.01 of the PSA, which was dated November 1, 2005, provides that the MS ABS Capital,
as “Depositor,”

concurrently with the execution and delivery hereof, hereby sells, transfers, assigns, sets
over and otherwise conveys to [Deutsche] for the benefit of the Certificateholders,
without recourse, all the right, title and interest of the Depositor in and to the Trust
Fund, and the Trustee, on behalf of the Trust, hereby accepts the Trust Fund.

19. The “Trust Fund” includes all of the mortgage loans listed on an attached mortgage loan schedule.

20. Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan was listed on the mortgage loan schedule attached to the PSA.

21. While the PSA provides that the mortgage loans were transferred from MS ABS Capital to
Deutsche, “concurrently with the execution and delivery hereof” on November 1, 2005, the Bill of
Sale provides that MS ABS Capital did not acquire the mortgage loans until November 29, 2005.
The November 2009 PSA indicates, however, that the transaction in which MS ABS Capital would
transfer the loans to Deutsch, as trustee of the Trust, would not be consummated until November
29, 2005, which is defined as the “Closing Date.” Therefore, MS ABS Capital transferred Ms.
Schwartz’s mortgage loan to Deutsche, as trustee of the Trust, on the Closing Date of November
29, 2005, which is the same date as the Bill of Sale by which MS ABS Capital acquired the loan
from MS Mortgage Capital.

22. Section 2.01(b) of the PSA provides that if

any Mortgage has been recorded in the name of Mortgage Electronic Registration
System, Inc. (“MERS”) or its designee, no Assignment of Mortgage in favor of the
Trustee will be required to be prepared or delivered and instead, the applicable Servicer
shall take all reasonable actions as are necessary at the expense of the applicable
Originator to the extent permitted under the related Purchase Agreement and otherwise
at the expense of the Depositor to cause the Trust to be shown as the owner of the
related Mortgage Loan on the records of MERS for the purpose of the system of
recording transfers of beneficial ownership of mortgages maintained by MERS.

23. Thus MS ABS Capital did not assign to Deutsche the mortgage on Ms. Schwartz’s home in
connection with the transaction through which it transferred Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan
pursuant to the PSA.

24. In the chain of transactions by which Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan was sold, initially by First
NLC to MS Mortgage Capital, next by MS Mortgage Capital to MS ABS Capital and finally by
MS ABS Capital to Deutsche, the seller sold all of its right, title and interest in the mortgage loans
being transferred. However, as the mortgage itself was originally in the name of MERS as
mortgagee, and not First NLC, First NLC never held legal title to the mortgage and could not have
transferred such title to MS Mortgage Capital. Consequently, neither MS ABS Capital nor
Deutsche, as successors to First NLC and MS Mortgage Capital, obtained legal title to the
mortgage. This is consistent with § 2.01 of the PSA quoted above.

25. As of November 29, 2005, the Closing Date defined in the PSA, MERS continued to hold legal
title to the mortgage on Ms. Schwartz’s home as nominee for First NLC, its successors and assigns.

26. MERS continued to hold legal tile to the mortgage until May 23, 2006, when it assigned the
mortgage to Deutsche.

27. The custodial log establishes that Deutsche received Ms. Schwartz’s mortgage loan documents,
including the promissory note and mortgage instrument, on September 15, 2005 (presumably in
anticipation of the November loan sale), and retained custody of these documents until March 27,
2006, when they were sent to HomEq. The custodial log indicates that the documents were sent
to HomEq for servicing and lists the reason for the transfer as “foreclosure.” According to the
custodial log, the loan documents were returned to Deutsche on May 24, 2006, the day of the
foreclosure sale.
Conclusions of Law

In In re Marron, 2011 WL 2600543, at *5 (Bankr. D. Mass. June 29, 2011), I held that where a
loan was secured by a mortgage in the name of MERS, even when the loan itself changed hands
several times, MERS remained the mortgagee in its capacity as nominee for the original lender, its
successors and assigns.4 As MERS was the mortgagee, it had the authority to assign the mortgage to
the foreclosing entity. In this case too, while Ms. Schwartz’s loan passed from hand to hand, MERS
remained the mortgagee throughout. While MERS held only bare legal title to the mortgage on
behalf of Deutsche, the successor to First NLC, until it assigned the mortgage to Deutsche on May 23,
2006, only MERS had the authority to foreclose.

Having determined that MERS, and not Deutsche, held legal title to the mortgage on Ms.
Schwartz’s home mortgage as of May 3, 2006, when the notice of the foreclosure sale of her home was
first published, it follows that Deutsche did not have the right to exercise the statutory power of sale
and to foreclose the mortgage. See, e.g., Novastar Mortgage, Inc. v. Safran, 79 Mass. App. Ct. 1124,
948 N.E.2d 917 (2011) (finding, in a post-foreclosure eviction proceeding, that the foreclosing entity
had the burden to prove its title to the property by establishing that the mortgage had been assigned to
it by MERS “at the critical stages of the foreclosure process.”). By publishing notice of the
foreclosure sale when it was not the mortgagee, Deutsche failed to comply with Mass. Gen. Laws ch.
244, § 14, and thus its foreclosure sale is void. Ibanez, 438 Mass. at 646-47.5 A declaratory
judgment to that effect shall enter on count I of the complaint.

SO ORDERED.

At Worcester, Massachusetts this 22nd day of August, 2011.

By the Court,
Melvin S. Hoffman
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge

Footnotes:

1 The complaint is unclear as to the relief Ms. Schwartz seeks as a result of the allegedly invalid
foreclosure. In addition to the allegation that the defendants did not own the mortgage, Ms. Schwartz
alleges that she was damaged by the foreclosure sale, which “was conducted fraudulently, in bad faith”
and to her detriment. I previously found that Ms. Schwartz failed to produce any evidence of the
defendants’ intent to defraud her. In addition, Ms. Schwartz failed to establish the extent of her
damages or that the foreclosure sale was conducted in bad faith. Though Ms. Schwartz does not
expressly request a declaratory judgment as to the validity of the foreclosure, based on the allegation of
invalidity in the complaint, and the parties’ arguments in the course of trial, I will consider count I of
the complaint to be a request for a declaratory judgment that the foreclosure sale was invalid.

2 Any finding of fact which should more properly be considered a conclusion of law, and vice versa,
shall be deemed as such.

3 The documents pertaining to the foreclosure sale identify Deutsche as “Deutsche Bank National
Trust Company, as Trustee” without identifying the trust.

4 The sophisticated financial minds who wrought the MERS regime sought to simplify the process of
repeatedly transferring mortgage loans by obviating the need and expense of recording mortgage
assignments with each transfer. No doubt they failed to consider the possibility of a collapse of the
residential real estate market, the ensuing flood of foreclosures and the intervention of state and federal
courts. Professor Alex Tabarrok of George Mason University has observed “[t]he law of unintended
consequences is when a simple system tries to regulate a complex system.” Alex Tabarrok, The Law
of Unintended Consequences, Marginal Revolution (Jan. 24, 2008, 7:47 am),
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/01/the-law-of-unin.html.

5 Deutsche presented sufficient evidence to prove that either it or HomEq, its agent, had possession of
both the Schwartz mortgage and promissory note as of May 3, 2011. The note was endorsed in blank,
which gave Deutsche the right to enforce the note. The fact that Deutsche had possession of the
mortgage, however, is irrelevant to its status as mortgagee. While a promissory note endorsed in
blank may be enforced by the party in possession of the note, this is not the case with a mortgage.
“Like a sale of land itself, the assignment of a mortgage is a conveyance of an interest in land that
requires a writing signed by the grantor.” Ibanez, 458 Mass at 649. Deutsche had not received a
written assignment of the mortgage from MERS prior to May 3, 2011. The fact that it had possession
of the mortgage instrument did not render Deutsche the mortgagee and thus it lacked the power to sell
the property.

[ipaper docId=62936911 access_key=key-2nbd5rwuz8zw839qwzpe height=600 width=600 /]

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FALSE STATEMENTS | Maiden Lane Asset-Backed Securities Trust 2008-1

FALSE STATEMENTS | Maiden Lane Asset-Backed Securities Trust 2008-1


By Lynn E. Szymoniak, ESQ

False Statements

Lender Processing Services
Maiden Lane ABS 2008-1

Action Date: June 16, 2011
Location: New York, NY

Who Else Relied on Mortgage Assignments From Lender Processing Services to Foreclose?

In the past few weeks, Fraud Digest has reported on NovaStar, Bear Stearns and WaMu Trusts. These trusts almost always do not have the critical loan documents needed to foreclose so they turned to Lender Processing Services to manufacture mortgage assignments for them.

Like these trusts, Maiden Lane Asset-Backed Securities Trust 2008-1 (“Maiden Lane”) most often uses Mortgage Assignments from LPS to foreclose.

Maiden Lane is “a special purpose vehicle consolidated by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.” Maiden Lane was put together by some of the best and the brightest in banking – but when it came to seeing that the mortgage files contained the critical documents, Maiden Lane was no better than Countrywide or WaMu or Long Beach.

And to facilitate foreclosures, Maiden Lane uses Mortgage Assignments – that also purport to assign the NOTE – from Lender Processing Services. These Assignments were most often made in 2009 – and filed in 2009 and 2010.

Here is a partial list of Mortgage Assignments to Maiden Lane ABS Trust 2008-1. Note in particular the number of MERS titles claimed by LPS employees Greg Allen and Liquenda Allotey.

From Hillsborough County, Florida Official Records:

Instrument#: 2010265459
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp., by Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 7-20-2009

Instrument #: 2010072578
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Solstice Capital Group, Inc., by Liquenda Allotey, VP
Date of Assignment: 7-20-2009

Instrument #: 2009383278
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Bravo Credit, by Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 11-2-2009

Instrument #: 2009316873
Assignor: MERS as nominee for GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Inc., by Christine Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 9-14-2009

Instrument #: 2009314046
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Bayrock Mortgage Corp. by Liquenda Allotey, VP and Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 9-16-2009

Instrument #: 2009043801
Assignor: MERS as nominee for GreenPoint Mortgage Funding by Greg Allen, VP and John Cody, VP
Date of Assignment: 1-13-2009

Instrument #: 2009017120
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Bravo Credit by Christine Anderson, VP and Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 12-9-2008

From Lee County, Florida Official Records:

Instrument #: 2009000111365
Assignor: MERS, by Liquenda Allotey, VP
Date of Assignment: 4-20-2009

Instrument #: 2009000033548
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Amerimortgage Bankers, LLC by Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 1-12-2009

From Palm Beach County, Florida Official Records:

Instrument #: 20080419438
Assignor: MERS as nominee for First Guaranty Financial Corp., d/b/a Phoenix Funding by Liquenda Allotey, VP and Mathew Casey, VP
Date of Assignment: 10-15-2008

Instrument #: 20080435965
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Geneva Mortgage Corp. by Liquenda Allotey, Assistant Secretary and Christine Anderson, VP
Date of Assignment: 11-11-2008

Instrument #: 20090055586
Assignor: MERS as nominee for American Home Mortgage Acceptance, Inc. by Liquenda Allotey, VP and Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 1-20-2009

Instrument #: 20090076228
Assignor: MERS as nominee for AMPRO Mortgage by Liquenda Allotey, VP and Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 2-3-2009

Instrument #: 20090096176
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Equifirst Corp. by Liquenda Allotey, VP and Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 2-24-2009

From Martin County, Florida Official Records:

Instrument #2132924
Assignor: MERS as nominee for GE MoneyBank by Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 2-4-2009

From Broward County, Florida Official Records:

Instrument #108479192
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Bravo Credit by Greg Allen, VP
Date of Assignment: 2-6-2009

Instrument #108878042
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Hometown Mortgage Services, Inc. by Greg Allen, VP
and Liquenda Allotey, VP
Date of Assignment: 9-9-2009

Instrument # 108819366
Assignor: MERS as nominee for Home Loan Center, Inc. d/b/a Lendingtree Loans by Greg Allen, VP and Liquenda Allotey, VP
Date of Assignment: 8-24-2009

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Posted in STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUDComments (0)

False Statements: R.K. Arnold, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems

False Statements: R.K. Arnold, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems


False Statements

R.K. Arnold
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems

Action Date: November 18, 2010
Location: WASHINGTON, DC

As the many problems (frauds) are exposed regarding documents used by mortgage-backed trusts in foreclosures, some revelations stand out. Literally millions of foreclosures by mortgage-backed trusts hinge on a Mortgage Assignment signed by an officer of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (“MERS”) showing that the mortgage in question was transferred to the trust by MERS. The “MERS officer” who signs the Mortgage Assignment is actually most often an employee of a mortgage servicing company that is paid by the trust.

MERS itself has only 50 employees and they are not involved in signing mortgage assignments to trusts. These servicing company employees sign as officers of MERS “as nominee for” a particular mortgage company or bank. They are not employees of the mortgage companies or employees of the original named lender, but their titles on the Mortgage Assignment belie this and typically read: “Linda Green, Vice President, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for American Brokers Conduit.”

MERS president R.K. Arnold testified in Senate testimony earlier this week that there are over 20,000 MERS “certifying officers.” To become a MERS certifying officer, a mortgage servicing company employee need only complete an online form and pay $25.00. Because of the concealment of the actual employer on the Mortgage Assignments, it is easy enough for Courts, and homeowners, to believe that they are examining a document prepared by the lender that sold the mortgage to the trust, when, in fact, the signer was a servicing company clerk paid by the trust itself.

The representative of the GRANTOR is, in truth, a paid employee of the GRANTEE. In hundreds of thousands of cases, the authority is, therefore, misrepresented. It is now also coming to light that in tens of thousands of cases, the individuals signing these forms did not even sign their own names. The documents were made to look official because other mortgage servicing company employees signed as witnesses and then all four “signatures” were notarized by yet another mortgage servicing company employee. The titles were false, the signatures were forged, the “witnessing” was a lie, as was the notarization. Despite all of these false statements, the BIGGEST LIE on these documents is that the trust acquired the mortgage on the date stated plainly on the Mortgage Assignment. In truth, no such transfers ever took place as represented by these MERS certifying officers (or their stand-in forgers). The date chosen almost always corresponds not to an actual transfer, but to the date roughly corresponding to the time the loan went into default. The Mortgage Assignment was prepared only to provide “proof” that the trust owned the mortgage. Until courts require Trusts to come forward with actual proof that they acquired the mortgages in question, specifying whom they paid and how much they paid for each such trust-owned mortgage, the actual owner of these mortgages will never be known.

In response to the exposure of the widespread fraud in the securitization process, the American Bankers Association issued a statement essentially saying that Mortgage Assignments were unnecessary. Investors and regulators were told, however, that the trusts owned the mortgages and notes in each pool of mortgages and that valid Assignments of Mortgages had been obtained. Where the proof of ownership put forth by the trusts is a sworn statement by a MERS “certifying officer” who had no knowledge whatsoever of the transactions involved and did not even review documents related to the transactions, such proof of ownership should be deemed worthless by the Courts. Other litigants are not allowed to manufacture their own evidence and offer it as proof at trial – there should be no exception for mortgage-backed trusts.

In particular, where the “MERS Certifying Officer” is actually an employee of the law firm hired to handle the foreclosure, such documents should be stricken and sanctioned. “MERS Certifying Officers” should be the next group required to testify before Congress. Here are the statistics for one Florida county, Palm Beach County, regarding the number of Mortgage Assignments filed by Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems: January, 2009: 1,164; February, 2009: February, 2009: 1,230; March, 2009: March, 2009: 1,113. An examination of just one day’s (March 31, 2009) filed Mortgage Assignments reveals that the signers of these Assignments are the very same mortgage servicing company employees who signed the “no-actual knowledge” Affidavits that triggered the national scrutiny: Jeffrey Stephan from Ally, Erica Johnson-Seck from IndyMac, Crystal Moore from Nationwide Title Clearing, Liquenda Allotey from Lender Processing Services, Denise Bailey from Litton Loan Services, Noriko Colston, Krystal Hall, and other well-known professional signers from the mortgage servicing industry. The most frequent signers from that particular day were two lawyers, associates in the law firm representing the trusts, who signed as Assistant Secretary for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems.


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Posted in STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUDComments (7)

False Statements: Scott Anderson, Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., Law Offices of Marshall Watson, New Century Mortgage Corp., Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC

False Statements: Scott Anderson, Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., Law Offices of Marshall Watson, New Century Mortgage Corp., Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC


False Statements

Scott Anderson
Deutsche Bank National Trust Co.
Law Offices of Marshall Watson
New Century Mortgage Corp.
Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC

Action Date: October 21, 2010
Location: St. Petersburg, FL

On October 21, 2010, in St. Petersburg, Florida, Circuit Court Judge Anthony Rondolino dismissed the plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint in a foreclosure action, Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., et al. v. Donnie J. Decker, et al., Case No. 09-20548-CI-13, 6th Judicial Circuit, in and for Pinellas County, Florida.

The complaint was brought by Deutsche Bank as trustee for a mortgage-backed trust, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Capital, Inc., under a Pooling & Servicing Agreement dated May 1, 2001. The original complaint was dismissed due to chain-of-title problems.

The amended complaint included an Assignment from New Century Mortgage Corp. to the plaintiff that was executed on February 17, 2010 by Scott Anderson in his capacity as an Executive Vice President of Residential Loan Servicing for Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC through its authority as Attorney-In-Fact for New Century Mortgage Corporation. Regarding this Assignment, Judge Rondolino commented as follows:

“There is nothing about this assignment which would support a determination at the pleading stage that it is invalid. On the other hand, should evidence be presented at a summary judgment hearing that New Century Mortgage Corporation, LLC became the subject of a bankruptcy proceeding which resulted in a liquidation order, the validity of this assignment would be called into question. Then, absent specific proof that Ocwen had authority from either the bankruptcy court or the liquidation trustee, this disposition of New Century’s (the debtor in bankruptcy) asset there would be a disputed material fact precluding a summary judgment. These concerns however are not ripe at this time…”

In closing, Judge Rondolino warned the plaintiff and its counsel, the Law Offices of Marshall Watson, that any new complaint must be verified, in accordance with the revised Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.

Judge Rondolino then warned very plainly, “If it is thereafter determined that the verification was not based on an appropriate investigation or that the allegations were false, the Plaintiff and the person who signed the verified complaint will be subject to sanctions which may include dismissal of the action with prejudice, assessment of fees and costs, monetary or incarcerative sanctions and referral to the State Attorney for prosecution pursuant to F.S. 837.”

Rondolino’s concerns arose in part because the Assignment came after the foreclosure action was filed. Plaintiff’s law firm is one of four law firms under investigation by the Florida Attorney General for using forged and fraudulent documents in foreclosure actions.

Scott Anderson of Ocwen has been named in foreclosure opinions of Brooklyn Judge Arthur M. Schack as an individual who signs using many different job titles. The trust in this case had a closing date in 2001, but according to the Anderson Assignment, acquired Decker’s non-performing loan in February, 2010. These same or similar facts have been presented in hundreds of foreclosure cases across the country.

Almost every major robo-signer, including Liquenda Allotey, China Brown, Linda Green, Alfonzo Greene, Korell Harp, Bethany Hood and John Kennerty have signed as Attorney-In-Fact for New Century Mortgage Corporation in 2009 and 2010 to transfer mortgages to securitized trusts that closed years earlier.

Judge Rondolino’s opinion lays a blueprint for other judges to follow when presented with mortgage assignments that appear to have been specially created to facilitate foreclosures. It is the first opinion in Florida to warn of possible “incarcerative sanctions.” (Five different versions of the “Scott Anderson” signature are posted in the “Pleadings” section of this web site.)

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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUDComments (2)

False Statements| Bank of America, Florida Default Law Group, Law Offices of David Stern, Lender Processing Services, Litton Loan Servicing, Cheryl Samons, Security Connections, Inc.

False Statements| Bank of America, Florida Default Law Group, Law Offices of David Stern, Lender Processing Services, Litton Loan Servicing, Cheryl Samons, Security Connections, Inc.


False Statements

Bank of America
Florida Default Law Group
Law Offices of David Stern
Lender Processing Services
Litton Loan Servicing, LP
Cheryl Samons
Security Connections, Inc.

Action Date: October 10, 2010
Location: Charlotte, NC

On October 8, 2010, Bank of America announced it was extending its suspension of foreclosures to all 50 states. A review of the documents used by Bank of America to foreclose readily shows why this was the only appropriate action for Bank of America. In thousands of cases, Bank of America has used Mortgage Assignments specially prepared just for foreclosure litigation. On these assignments, the identity of the mortgage company officer assigning the mortgage to BOA is wrongly stated. Who has signed most frequently as mortgage officers on mortgage assignments used by BOA to foreclose? Regular signers include the “robo-signers” from Lender Processing Services in both Alpharetta, Georgia and Mendota Heights, Minnesota. LPS employees Liquenda Allotey, Greg Allen, John Cody and others, using dozens of different corporate titles, sign mortgage assignments stating BOA has acquired certain mortgages. When the mortgages involved originated from First Franklin Bank, BOA used Security Connections, Inc. in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Employees Melissa Hively, Vicki Sorg and Krystal Hall also signed for many different corporations for BOA. Litton Loan Servicing in Houston, Texas, a company owned by Goldman Sachs, also produced documents as needed by BOA, usually signed by Denise Bailey, Diane Dixon or Marti Noriega signing as officers of at least a dozen different mortgage companies and banks. BOA also has used mortgage assignments signed by Cheryl Samons, the office administrator for the Law Offices of David Stern, who has admitted to signing thousands of mortgage documents each month with no actual knowledge of the contents. On other cases, employees of the law firm Florida Default Law Group have signed for BOA, using various titles, including claiming to be Vice Presidents of Wells Fargo Bank, all while failing to disclose they actually worked for Florida Default. in most of these cases, BOA is acting as Trustee for residential mortgage-backed securitized trusts. These trusts are claiming to have acquired the mortgages in 2009 and 2010, even though the trusts deadline for acquiring mortgages was often in 2006 and 2007. In hundreds of cases, the mortgage assignments presented by BOA are actually signed months AFTER the foreclosure actions were commenced. At least 50 trusts using BOA as Trustee are involved in using these fraudulent documents. Each trust has between $1.5 billion and $2 billion of mortgages. The BOA documents have been used in thousands of cases, pending and completed, for at least three years. This massive problem cannot be “fixed” in 90 days, but a nationwide suspension of foreclosures is a good, responsible beginning.


© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, florida default law group, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, fraud digest, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., Lender Processing Services Inc., Litton, LPS, Lynn Szymoniak ESQComments (2)


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