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The Big Lie: MERS Mortgages in Massachusetts by Jamie Ranney, Esq.

The Big Lie: MERS Mortgages in Massachusetts by Jamie Ranney, Esq.


This is a repost from a previous post dated 11/30/2010

by Jamie Ranney, Esq.
Jamie Ranney, PC
4 Thirty Acres Lane
Nantucket, MA 02554
jamie@nantucketlaw.pro
508-228-9224

This memo will focus on MERS-designated mortgages in Massachusetts.

In this author’s opinion two (2) things are evident after a survey of Massachusetts law.

First, MERS cannot be a valid “mortgagee” under Massachusetts law and thus MERS designated mortgages are invalid in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This is because MERS-designated mortgages by definition “split” the security instrument (the mortgage) from the debt (the promissory note) when they are signed. This “split” invalidates the mortgage under Massachusetts law. Where the security interest is invalid upon the signing of the mortgage, MERS cannot occupy the legal position of a “mortgagee” under Massachusetts law no matter what language MERS inserts into their mortgages that purports to give them the legal position of “mortgagee”. Since MERS-designated mortgages are invalid at their inception, it follows logically therefore that MERS mortgages are not legally capable of being recorded in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by its Registers of Deeds.

Second, even if a MERS-designated mortgage were found to be a valid security instrument in Massachusetts, each and every assignment of the mortgage and note “behind” a MERS-designated mortgage must be recorded on the public land records of the Commonwealth in order to comply with the Massachusetts recording statute at M.G.L. c. 183, s. 4 which requires that “conveyances of an estate” be recorded to be valid. A mortgage is a “conveyance of an estate” under Massachusetts law. Since MERS-designated mortgages exist for the primary purpose of holding “legal” title on the public land records while the “beneficial” interest is transferred and sold multiple times (and a mortgage cannot exist without a note under Massachusetts law), MERS-mortgages unlawfully avoid recording fees due the Commonwealth for the transfer(s) of interests under MERS-designated mortgages.

“If you tell a lie that’s big enough, and you tell it often enough, people will believe you are telling the truth, even when what you are saying is total crap.”1

Continue reading below…

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Action Alert – Facing foreclosure in Massachusetts? Please call your reps asap – the vote is 5/16/2012!

Action Alert – Facing foreclosure in Massachusetts? Please call your reps asap – the vote is 5/16/2012!


via: BOSTON67

Jamie Ranney, Esq. vs FRAUDclosures

There is a bill pending in the Massachusetts Legislature called H-04083 that is designed to provide more requirements that lenders work with  borrowers to provide real loan modifications before they can commence foreclosure and to hold lenders accountable where they unlawfully foreclose.  Unfortunately, the bill suffers from some substantial weaknesses which I have tried to remedy with edits and amendments.

The bill is scheduled to be voted on – THIS WEDNESDAY MAY 16, 2012 – so your immediately action is needed.

I would ask that you take the time to immediately contact your state representative and state senator, ask them to stand up for  the homeowners and borrowers of the commonwealth and request that they amend H-04083 to include these changes and amendments.  You can email the edits and comments directly to your state rep and state senator.

Their contact list can be found here: http://www.malegislature.gov/People/FindMyLegislator

Please email the following amendments and a memo explaining them:
Bill H-04083 edits    Memo RE H-04083 amendments and edits

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Abigail C. Field: Assessing Schneiderman’s Task Force Gamble

Abigail C. Field: Assessing Schneiderman’s Task Force Gamble


Abigail Field-

My latest for FireDogLake. For even more confirmation that the Feds aren’t interested in bank accountability, regardless of the State half of the task force’s intentions, see Congressman Brad Miller on why he’s not the task force Executive Director and Richard Eskow on the obviousness of the problem. 

As people increasingly realize that the mortgage settlement was an enforcement fraud, attention’s turned to the “new“ joint Federal/State task force that’s supposed to make the settlement into a “down payment,” by delivering much more. And so far people don’t like what they see, and are saying so. What’s striking about the resulting PR push back, however, is that it just highlights how banker-fraud-friendly our federal government is.

For example, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman penned a Daily News Op-Ed in which he pitches “More than 50 attorneys, investigators and analysts have already been deployed to support our investigations, with many more on the way” as somehow adequate to deliver on that “down payment” promise when the Savings and Loan crisis took over 1,000 and Enron alone took over 100. Not only hasn’t the federal government corroborated AG Schneiderman’s claim of “many more on the way”; “many more” than 50+ doesn’t sound like anywhere near the 1,000+ needed to approach the ballpark of accountability.

[REALITY CHECK]

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The Bankers’ Subversion of the Rule of Law, Notary and Land Records edition

The Bankers’ Subversion of the Rule of Law, Notary and Land Records edition


Abigail C. Filed-

Hi

For the next couple of weeks, I’m one of the David Dayen subs at FireDogLake–no one person could fill his shoes–and this post ran there earlier today. This version is slightly updated but essentially the same.

One way to see the double standard at the heart of the foreclosure fraud—one set of laws for the bailed out banks, one for the rest of us—is to focus on the role of notaries public, and then consider that role in light of what our Supreme Court said about notaries in 1984, in a case called Bernal v. Fainter, Secretary of State of Texas.

First, let’s recap the role of notaries in the foreclosure fraud crisis: Notaries are the people who verify that someone actually is who they say they are when that person signs a document. Because banks and their agents industrialized “Document Execution” as part of their foreclosure business model, notaries did not do their jobs. Notaries’ failure to verify identities has been so complete that many people will sign as one person, say, “Linda Green.” Notaries have also been told to sign documents using one name, and then notarize their own “surrogate” signature. “Well, what’s the big deal?” bank defenders say. Beyond the fact that there’s no “business convenience” exception to following the rule of law, consider Bernal.

Bernal involved Texas’s requirement that all notaries be citizens; lawful permanent resident aliens need not apply. Bernal challenged the Constitutionality for the citizenship requirement. To rule on the question, the Court had to consider what notaries did, and whether or not what notaries did was so political, so central to representative democracy, that limiting being a notary to citizens was rational. In finding that notaries were important but not political officers of the state, the Court made some observations of note.

[REALITY CHECK]

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Richard (RJ) Eskow: The White House And Mortgage Fraud: So Far It’s All Talk, No Action

Richard (RJ) Eskow: The White House And Mortgage Fraud: So Far It’s All Talk, No Action


HuffPO-

The Obama Administration worked for months on a deal that would have let America’s biggest banks off the hook for a crime wave of runaway mortgage fraud. All they had to do in return was pledge a negligible sum of money, to be paid by their shareholders and not themselves, and which they would dispense themselves. In return, crooked bankers received immunity from prosecution – and even from investigation.

After the deal came under attack from a number of its allies, the Administration settled with the banks anyway. But it promised millions of wronged homeowners – and the nation as a whole – that it would move “aggressively” to investigate criminal misdeeds and prosecute bankers and anyone else who broke the law.

That was then, this is now. Two and half months later the Administration hasn’t even started to take the inadequate steps it promised it would take. The clock is running out on the statute of limitations and there’s no sign that the Administration has lifted a finger to investigate criminal bankers.

Talk vs. Action …

[HUFFINGTON POST]

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Obama’s mortgage unit is AWOL … NY AG Eric Schneiderman should quit this fraud

Obama’s mortgage unit is AWOL … NY AG Eric Schneiderman should quit this fraud


What we have learned so far: Whenever dealing with the banks and or with the government, they are from the same mold. We cannot tell any difference.

This “mortgage task force group” thing is also NO Different than that MERS system…There are no employees!

NY Daily News-

On March 9 — 45 days after the speech and 30 days after the announcement — we met with Schneiderman in New York City and asked him for an update. He had just returned from Washington, where he had been personally looking for office space. As of that date, he had no office, no phones, no staff and no executive director. None of the 55 staff members promised by Holder had materialized. On April 2, we bumped into Schneiderman on a train leaving Washington for New York and learned that the situation was the same.

Tuesday, calls to the Justice Department’s switchboard requesting to be connected with the working group produced the answer, “I really don’t know where to send you.” After being transferred to the attorney general’s office and asking for a phone number for the working group, the answer was, “I’m not aware of one.”

The promises of the President have led to little or no concrete action.

Read more:  [NY DAILY NEWS]

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In RE: BAILEY | MA BK Court “the Court cannot determine whether Washington Mutual owned the Mortgage at the time it executed the Assignment to Wells Fargo”

In RE: BAILEY | MA BK Court “the Court cannot determine whether Washington Mutual owned the Mortgage at the time it executed the Assignment to Wells Fargo”


via- Leagle

IN RE BAILEY

In re: CARMEN M. BAILEY, Chapter 13, Debtor, CARMEN M. BAILEY, Plaintiff,

v.

WELLS FARGO BANK, NA, Defendant.

Case No. 09-44760-HJB, Adversary Proceeding No. 09-4190.

United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts, Central Division.

April 10, 2012.


MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
HENRY J. BOROFF, Bankruptcy Judge.
Before the Court are the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment on the debtor’s claim that the defendant’s prepetition foreclosure of her residence was void under Massachusetts law because the defendant did not provide proper notice of the foreclosure and did not hold the mortgage on the property at either the time it sent notice of the foreclosure or at the time of the foreclosure sale. Although many of the discrete arguments raised in the motions are determinable on summary judgment, for the reasons that follow, remaining issues of material fact preclude the entry of summary judgment for either party.
I. FACTS AND POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES
Most of the facts relevant to this case are not disputed.1 In 1992, the Debtor obtained a loan from Shawmut Mortgage Company (“Shawmut Mortgage”) in the amount of $104,000, secured by a mortgage (the “Mortgage”) on her condominium located in Hudson, Massachusetts (the “Property”).2 In 2008, the Debtor fell behind on her mortgage payments, and Wells Fargo Bank, NA (“Wells Fargo”), representing itself as the holder of the Mortgage, commenced its foreclosure process against the Property by filing a petition under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act with the Land Court Department of the Massachusetts Trial Court (the “Land Court”) on August 26, 2009. See Bailey I, 437 B.R. at 724.3
On September 22, 2009, Harmon Law Offices, P.C. (“Harmon”), the law office retained by Wells Fargo to foreclose on the Mortgage, mailed both a Notice of Foreclosure Sale and a Notice of Intention to Foreclose Mortgage and of Deficiency After Foreclosure of Mortgage (the “Foreclosure Notices”) to the Debtor by both certified mail, return receipt requested, and by first class mail. Aff. of Kristin A. Hedvig in Supp. of Wells Fargo Bank, NA’s Mot. for Summ. J. 2 ¶¶ 9, 10 & Exs. A, B, Oct. 6, 2011, ECF No. 63. The certified mailings were returned to Harmon as “unclaimed,” but the first class mailings were not returned as undeliverable. Id. at 2 ¶¶ 9, 10.
The Debtor says that she received none of the Foreclosure Notices until well after the foreclosure sale was concluded. She did not find the slip left by the post office indicating that a certified letter was waiting to be claimed until some weeks after the sale, as the notice had been attached to her seldom-used front door and not left in the condominium complex’s common mailbox area. Pl.’s Aff. in Supp. of Cross-Mot. for Summ. J. 1-2 ¶¶ 3, 4, 6, Nov. 7, 2011, ECF No. 68. She claims not to have received the first class mailings due to an illness that prevented her from walking to the common mailbox area. Id. at 2 ¶ 7.
On October 23, 2009, Wells Fargo conducted a foreclosure sale at which the Property was sold to a third-party buyer (the “Foreclosure Sale”). Prior to the recording of the foreclosure deed, however, the Debtor filed a petition under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code.4 And on November 23, 2009, the Debtor filed this adversary proceeding, seeking, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that the Foreclosure Sale is void. Id. The Court has previously disposed of several other claims contained in the complaint, see Bailey I, 437 B.R. 721, and the only issue remaining is the validity of the Foreclosure Sale.
A. Notice of the Foreclosure Sale
The Debtor argues that the Foreclosure Sale should be declared void because she did not receive notice of the Foreclosure Sale as required by Massachusetts General Laws (“MGL”) ch. 244, § 14.5 The Debtor does not dispute Wells Fargo’s contention that the required notices were sent to the Debtor’s address by both certified and first-class mail.6 Rather, the Debtor says she did not receive the certified mailings because the postal worker left the notice of certified mail at her rarely-used front door instead of at the common mailbox station. According to the Debtor, due to the importance of the rights lost through foreclosure, Wells Fargo simply should have done a better job of insuring that the Debtor actually received the notices.
In response, Wells Fargo argues that Massachusetts law requires only that advance notice of a foreclosure sale be properly mailed, and that the foreclosing entity is not required to prove actual receipt of the notice. It was the Debtor’s responsibility, says Wells Fargo, to provide an address where certified mailings and other notices could be received, and her failure to do so cannot now invalidate the foreclosure.
B. Whether Wells Fargo Held the Mortgage at the Time of the Foreclosure Sale
1. Travel of the Mortgage
With one notable exception discussed below, the parties are substantially in agreement as to the travel of the Mortgage through various entities from execution through foreclosure. On February 24, 1992, the Debtor granted the Mortgage to Shawmut Mortgage. Sherri E. Russell Aff. in Supp. of Wells Fargo’s Mot. for Summ. J. Ex. B, Oct. 6, 2011, ECF No. 61. The Mortgage then passed to Fleet Mortgage Corp. (“Fleet Mortgage”) when Fleet Mortgage merged with Shawmut Mortgage on May 31, 1996, as confirmed by an assignment of the Mortgage from “Fleet Mortgage Corp. Successor by Merger to Shawmut Mortgage Co.” to “Fleet Mortgage Corp.” dated May 31, 1996. Russell Aff. Exs. C, D. On June 1, 2001, the Mortgage became an asset of Washington Mutual Home Loans, Inc. (“WaMu HLI”), when Fleet Mortgage and WaMu HLI merged. Russell Aff. Ex. F.
What happened next is the subject of some dispute between the parties, although that dispute turns largely on their different legal interpretations of the events, rather than a true factual dispute. After the merger between Fleet Mortgage and WaMu HLI, Washington Mutual Bank, FA (“WaMu FA”) and one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries,7 Washington Mutual Mortgage Securities Corp. (“WaMu Securities”), formed WMHLI Transfer Interim LP (the “Limited Partnership”), a limited partnership organized under the laws of Ohio. WaMu FA was the sole general partner and WaMu Securities the sole limited partner of the partnership. WaMu HLI (the holder of the Mortgage) then merged with and into the Limited Partnership, and the Mortgage presumably became an asset of the Limited Partnership. WaMu FA (the general partner) thereafter purchased all of WaMu Securities’ (the limited partner) interest in the Limited Partnership, and the Limited Partnership was canceled. WaMu FA then changed its name to “Washington Mutual Bank,” Russell Aff. Ex. H, which in turn assigned the Mortgage to Wells Fargo through an “Assignment of Mortgage” dated March 22, 2007 (the “Assignment”), Russell Aff. Ex. E.
2. Standing
The Debtor argues that Wells Fargo is not the holder of the Mortgage, because WaMu FA did not acquire the assets of the Limited Partnership, which assets included the Mortgage, and thus had no rights in the Mortgage to assign to Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo maintains that this Court need not consider the Debtor’s argument, because the Debtor does not have standing to pursue it.8 Characterizing the Debtor’s argument as “based upon the premise that the foreclosure sale is void because the assignment to Wells Fargo was invalid,” Wells Fargo argues that the Debtor “does not have standing to challenge an assignment,” and that only “Shawmut Mortgage, or its assigns, have standing to challenge the assignment.” Wells Fargo Mem. 8. Wells Fargo further contends that the “injury” — i.e., the Foreclosure Sale — did not result from the Assignment, but occurred as a consequence of the Debtor’s default, and therefore the Debtor’s challenge to the Assignment is not directed at the cause of her injury. Finally, Wells Fargo argues, the Debtor cannot attack the Assignment because, under the Mortgage contract, the “mortgagee has the right . . . to assign the mortgage to whomever it chooses. The assignment merely affects to whom the borrower owes the obligation.” Wells Fargo’s Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. 4, Dec. 16, 2011, ECF No. 79.9
The Debtor first asserts that Wells Fargo mischaracterizes the nature of her injury and its causes. According to the Debtor, “[i]t is not the foreclosure per se that caused harm . . . . It is the fact that Wells Fargo lacked record title as the holder of the mortgage and thereby lacked authority to foreclose.” Pl.’s Mem. in Opp’n to Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. 5, Nov. 7, 2011, ECF No. 67. Thus, the Debtor concludes that she has standing to challenge Wells Fargo’s right to foreclose. Furthermore, the Debtor contends, the Debtor’s position as a Chapter 13 debtor gives her standing as the estate’s representative to seek a determination of her property rights, to object to claims, and to pursue causes of action that would benefit the estate.
3. The Land Court Order
Even if the Debtor were found to have standing to prosecute the declaratory judgment claim, Wells Fargo maintains that it held the Mortgage at the time it initiated foreclosure proceedings and thus the Foreclosure Sale was valid. While Wells Fargo generally asserts that WaMu FA’s purchase of WaMu Securities’ interest in the Limited Partnership caused the assets of the Limited Partnership (including the Mortgage) to become assets of WaMu FA, Wells Fargo does not rely on documentary evidence of these various transactions to support its contention that the Mortgage traveled from WaMu HLI to Washington Mutual (and ultimately to Wells Fargo). Instead, Wells Fargo relies on an order issued by the Land Court dated June 28, 2002, see Russell Aff. Ex. G, as establishing Washington Mutual’s title to the assets of the Limited Partnership, and thus its ownership of the Mortgage at the time the Assignment to Wells Fargo was executed. In its order, the Land Court stated that:
After due proceedings, it is ORDERED: that that [sic] all assets (including without limitation all instruments of record) standing in the name of Washington Mutual Home Loans, Inc. be deemed assigned to and stand in the name of Washington Mutual Bank, FA, effective as of March 1, 2002, the date of the sale and assignment of Limited Partner Interest.
Russell Aff. Ex. G.10
The Land Court Order was issued after WaMu FA filed an Ex-Parte Subsequent Petition (the “S-Petition”) in the Massachusetts Land Court on June 2, 2002. According to Wells Fargo, the S-Petition, filed pursuant to MGL ch. 185, § 114, was not limited to any specific piece of property, and Wells Fargo places emphasis on the order’s reference to “all” assets of WaMu HLI, which assets would have included the Debtor’s Mortgage. Additionally, Wells Fargo says that a search at the Plymouth Registry District of the Land Court shows that the Land Court Order was assigned an individual document number not associated with a particular property address, thus supporting its argument that the order is effective against all property, registered or unregistered, and including the Debtor’s Property.
Wells Fargo therefore contends that the Land Court Order effectively “assigned” all of WaMu HLI’s assets, including the Mortgage, to WaMu FA, even if the assets of WaMu HLI failed to otherwise become assets of WaMu FA by operation of law. According to Wells Fargo, this Court has no jurisdiction to “invalidate” the Land Court Order, because, under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, the Court is “precluded `from exercising subject matter jurisdiction where the issues in the case are “inextricably intertwined” with questions previously adjudicated by a state court, such that a federal district [or bankruptcy] court would be in the unseemly position of reviewing a state court decision for error.'” Wells Fargo Post-Hr’g Mem. 5 (quoting Mills v. Harmon Law Offices, P.C., 344 F.3d 42, 44 (1st Cir. 2003)).
The Debtor maintains, however, that the Land Court Order is not binding on either the Debtor or this Court. The Debtor characterizes the S-Petition as an action to correct the certificate of title on a particular piece of registered land (not the Property at issue in this case). Arguing that the S-Petition was essentially an in rem proceeding, the Debtor says that the Land Court Order has no preclusive effect here.
4. The Limited Partnership
Because Wells Fargo relies on its standing argument and its assertion that the Land Court Order precludes further litigation regarding whether the Mortgage was transferred from WaMu HLI to WaMu FA, it has not provided further documentation or legal argument to support its contention that WaMu FA’s purchase of WaMu Securities’ interest in the Limited Partnership transferred all the partnership assets to WaMu FA.
The Debtor argues, however, that the Mortgage, as an asset of the Limited Partnership, was never transferred to WaMu FA and instead remains an asset of the Limited Partnership.11 According to the Debtor, under Ohio’s limited partnership law, the dissolution of the Limited Partnership did not terminate the legal existence of the partnership. Instead, the Debtor argues that the Limited Partnership remains in existence (and in possession of its assets) until the completion of the winding up of the partnership’s affairs (which winding up would include the distribution of partnership assets). Because no evidence relative to the winding up process or distribution of the partnership assets has been provided, the Debtor says Wells Fargo has failed to demonstrate that title to the Mortgage ever passed from the Limited Partnership to WaMu FA. Accordingly, the Debtor argues, the Assignment could not have transferred the Mortgage to Wells Fargo.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Summary Judgment Standard
Summary Judgment should be granted “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a), made applicable to this proceeding by Fed. R. Bank. P. 7056. “[W]hile the absence of a genuine dispute as to a material fact is a necessary prerequisite to a finding of summary judgment in favor of the movant,” the moving party must still “show that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Tomsic v. Sales Consultants of Boston, Inc. (In re Salience Assoc., Inc.), 371 B.R. 578, 585 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2007) (citing Desmond v. Varrasso (In re Varrasso), 37 F.3d 760, 764 (1st Cir. 1994)). In resolving cross motions for summary judgment, the court “must resolve all genuine factual disputes in favor of the party opposing each such motion and draw all reasonable inferences derived from the facts in that party’s favor. Atlantic Fish Spotters Ass’n v. Evans, 321 F.3d 220, 224 (1st Cir. 2003); see also E.E.O.C. v. Steamship Clerks Union, Local 1066, 48 F.3d 594, 603 n.8 (1st Cir. 1995) (the “court must consider each motion separately, drawing inferences against each movant in turn”).
B. Foreclosure by Power of Sale in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, foreclosure of a mortgage may be undertaken without judicial authorization. Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d at 49. “With the exception of the limited judicial procedure aimed at certifying that the mortgagor is not a beneficiary of the Servicemembers Act, a mortgage holder can foreclose on a property . . . by exercise of the statutory power of sale, if such a power is granted by the mortgage itself.” Id. The Mortgage here did grant that power, thus “includ[ing] by reference the power of sale set out in G.L. c. 183, § 21, and further regulated by G.L. c. 244, §§ 11-17C.” Id. “Under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 183, section 21, after a mortgagor defaults in the performance of the underlying note, the mortgagee may sell the property at a public auction, conveying the property to the purchaser in fee simple.” Culhane v. Aurora Loan Servs. of Neb., ___ F. Supp. 2d ___, Civil Action No. 11-11098, 2011 WL 5925525, *6 (D. Mass. Nov. 28, 2011) (citing Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d at 49). Because the statutory power of sale allows a mortgage holder to foreclose on property “without immediate judicial oversight,” the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) has ruled that “one who sells under a power [of sale] must follow strictly its terms. If he fails to do so there is no valid execution of the power, and the sale is wholly void.” Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d at 49-50 (quoting Moore v. Dick, 72 N.E. 967, 968 (Mass. 1905)).
C. Sufficiency of Notice
A mortgage holder who forecloses by power of sale must comply with the notice requirements set forth in MGL ch. 244, § 14. “Advance notice of the foreclosure sale must be provided to the mortgagor by registered mail and other interested parties by publication in a newspaper published or generally circulating in the town where the mortgaged property lies.”12 Culhane, 2011 WL 5925525, at *7; Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 244, § 14. The Debtor has challenged neither the content of the Foreclosure Notices nor the fact that the notices were mailed to the Debtor by registered mail. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 4, § 7 (“`Registered mail,’ when used with reference to the sending of notice . . . shall include certified mail.”); see also Town of Andover v. State Fin. Servs., Inc., 736 N.E.2d 837, 840 (Mass. 2000); Carmel Credit Union v. Bondeson, 772 N.E.2d 1089, 1091 & n.4 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002) (quoting Durkin v. Siegel, 165 N.E.2d 81, 83 n.3 (Mass. 1960)).
The law in Massachusetts is clear; the requirement that the notice be mailed to the owner of the relevant property “is satisfied by mailing and nonreceipt is irrelevant.Hull v. Attleboro Sav. Bank, 596 N.E.2d 358, 362 (Mass. App. Ct. 1992) (emphasis supplied); see also Lindsey v. First Horizon Home Loans, Civil Action No. 11-10408-FDS, 2012 WL 689745, *3 (D. Mass. March 1, 2012). Wells Fargo has submitted copies of the Foreclosure Notices sent to the Debtor bearing certified mailing stamps. See Hedvig Aff. Ex. A. Wells Fargo admits that the certified mail was returned unclaimed, but there is no dispute that the Foreclosure Notices were sent. Accordingly, there being no material issue of fact in dispute, the Court must rule as a matter of law that Wells Fargo complied with the notice requirement under MGL ch. 244, § 14, and summary judgment should be entered in favor of Wells Fargo on the Debtor’s claim that notice of the Foreclosure Sale was insufficient.
D. Debtor’s Standing to Challenge the Foreclosure Sale
Even if the notice of the Foreclosure Sale were proper, the Debtor also argues that the sale should be declared void, as Wells Fargo is not (and was not) the holder of the Mortgage and thus had no authority to exercise the statutory power of sale. The Debtor is correct in her general assertion that, absent Wells Fargo’s status as holder of the Mortgage, the Foreclosure Sale is void; as the SJC has explained:
One of the terms of the power of sale that must be strictly adhered to is the restriction on who is entitled to foreclose. The “statutory power of sale” can be exercised by “the mortgagee or his executors, administrators, successors or assigns.” G.L. c. 183, § 21. Under G.L. c. 244, § 14, “[t]he mortgagee or person having his estate in the land mortgaged, or a person authorized by the power of sale, or the attorney duly authorized by a writing under seal, or the legal guardian or conservator of such mortgagee or person acting in the name of such mortgagee or person” is empowered to exercise the statutory power of sale. Any effort to foreclose by a party lacking “jurisdiction and authority” to carry out a foreclosure under these statutes is void.
Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d at 50.13
Despite the SJC’s clear admonition that failure to hold the mortgage at the time of foreclosure renders a foreclosure sale void, Wells Fargo argues that the Debtor cannot challenge the Foreclosure Sale through her request for declaratory judgment, because the Debtor lacks standing to challenge the Assignment of the Mortgage. This argument is unpersuasive for several reasons.
First, the thrust of the Debtor’s argument is not an attack on the Assignment itself, but instead a challenge to Wells Fargo’s assertion that Washington Mutual held the Mortgage at the time it executed the Assignment. The Debtor’s claim that Washington Mutual did not own the Mortgage at the time it purported to assign it is not a “claim[ ] that the assignment . . . is defective,” but rather a claim that, as a stranger to the Mortgage, Washington Mutual could not have passed any ownership rights in the Mortgage to Wells Fargo.14
This case is thus distinguishable from those where the courts have concluded that borrowers lacked standing to challenge assignments of mortgages on grounds that assignments failed to comply with the terms of underlying Pooling and Servicing Agreements (“PSAs”). In such cases, the courts have found that the borrowers lacked standing to challenge a mortgage assignment based on an alleged breach of an underlying PSA, because the borrowers were neither parties to nor third-party beneficiaries under those agreements. See, e.g., Juarez v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, Civil Action No. 11-10318, 2011 WL 5330465, *4 (D. Mass. Nov. 4, 2011); In re Correia, 452 B.R. at 324 (citing In re Almeida, 417 B.R. 140, 149 n.4 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2009)). The Debtor’s argument here is not based on the breach of an underlying contract to which she was not a party; instead, her argument is aimed at the ownership of the Mortgage at the time it was purportedly assigned.
The Court also finds the two cases relied on by Wells Fargo to be inapposite here. In In re Lopez, Judge Hillman discussed standing only in the context of a debtor’s allegation that a bank’s denial of his request for a loan modification was actionable under the Home Affordable Modification Program (“HAMP”). 446 B.R. 12, 21 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2011). Noting his agreement with the “nearly unanimous” conclusion that HAMP “affords no private right of action and that borrowers lack standing as third-party beneficiaries to enforce the HAMP guidelines under a breach of contract theory,” Judge Hillman ultimately concluded that the debtor had failed to adequately plead his standing under HAMP. Id. at 21-22.15 Because the issue in Lopez was the Debtor’s standing under HAMP, it has no relevance to the Debtor’s standing to question Wells Fargo’s status as holder of the Mortgage in this case.
In Kiah v. Aurora Loan Servs., LLC, Civil Action No. 10-40161-FDS, 2011 WL 841282 (D. Mass. March 4, 2011), the borrower filed an action seeking “a declaratory judgment that `the mortgage on record [was] legally null and void.'” Id. at *1 (emphasis supplied). Among the various allegations raised in the complaint was the borrower’s assertion that the mortgage assignment was invalid because it was given for no consideration. Id. at *6. In rejecting that argument, Judge Saylor noted that the allegation was not only speculative, but that the borrower’s standing to contest the assignment on the basis of lack of consideration was questionable — since it was doubtful whether the plaintiff could demonstrate a “compensable injury if the consideration was not paid.” Id. The Debtor here is not seeking a declaration that the Mortgage is void, nor is she contesting the consideration given for the Assignment. Accordingly, the Court finds Judge Saylor’s discussion of standing in Kiah to be irrelevant to the issues raised here.
And while recent cases have contained somewhat broader language to the effect that a borrower has no standing to challenge a mortgage assignment, as the borrower is neither a party to, nor a third-party beneficiary of, the assignment, see, e.g., Oum v. Wells Fargo, N.A., ___ F. Supp. 2d ___, Civil Action Nos. 11-11663-RGS, 11-11683-RGS, 2012 WL 390271 (D. Mass. Feb. 8, 2012); Wenzel v. Sand Canyon Corp., ___ F. Supp. 2d ___, Civil Action No. 11-30211-JCB, 2012 WL 219371 (D. Mass. Jan. 5, 2012); Peterson, 2011 WL 5075613, the Debtor is not, as previously discussed, challenging the Assignment per se. Instead, the Debtor questions only whether the assignor had any rights in the Mortgage to transfer to the assignee.16
The Debtor has standing to challenge the validity of the Foreclosure Sale because she has demonstrated “a concrete and particularized injury in fact, a causal connection that permits tracing the claimed injury to the defendant’s actions, and a likelihood that prevailing in the action will afford some redress for the injury.” Antilles Cement Corp. v. Fortuno, 670 F.3d 310, 317 (1st Cir. 2012) (quoting Weaver’s Cove Energy, LLC v. R.I. Coastal Res. Mgmt. Council, 589 F.3d 458, 467 (1st Cir. 2009)). The injury to the Debtor is the purported termination of her equity of redemption in the Property by a party who had no authority to foreclose that equity of redemption.17 If Wells Fargo did not hold the Mortgage at the time it foreclosed, then the injury is traceable directly to Wells Fargo, as it is the allegedly invalid foreclosure by Wells Fargo that constitutes the Debtor’s claimed injury. Should the Court determine that the Foreclosure Sale is void, the Debtor will retain the equity of redemption — an interest in the Property that cannot be lightly disregarded.
Also of paramount importance is the Debtor’s status as a Chapter 13 debtor. By dint of § 1322(b)(5), Congress has promised such debtors the opportunity to propose a Chapter 13 Plan that “provide[s] for the curing of any default within a reasonable time and maintenance of payments while the case is pending,” thereby allowing a debtor to “restore and maintain his currency on a longterm debt.” In re Euliano, 442 B.R. 177, 186 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2010) (quoting 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(5); Grubbs v. Houston First Am. Sav. Ass’n, 730 F.2d 236, 245 (5th Cir. 1984)).
But under § 1322(c)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code, a Chapter 13 debtor’s ability to cure a default on a mortgage note through a Chapter 13 Plan is only available “until such residence is sold at a foreclosure sale that is conducted in accordance with applicable nonbankruptcy law.” 11 U.S.C. § 1322(c)(1); see also In re Mellino, 333 B.R. 578, 584 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2005) (“Section 1322(c)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code allows a debtor to cure his or her default under a mortgage unless the property has been sold at a foreclosure sale which was conducted in accordance with applicable state law.”) (citing In re Crichlow, 322 B.R. 229, 234 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2004)).
And, as previously noted, in Massachusetts, a foreclosure sale is “conducted in accordance with applicable nonbankruptcy law” only if the foreclosing party held the mortgage at the time the notice of foreclosure was sent and the foreclosure sale conducted. The Debtor’s ability to cure the default and reinstate the Mortgage through a Chapter 13 plan thus turns on whether or not the Foreclosure Sale was validly conducted under Massachusetts law by an entity holding the Mortgage. For these reasons, the Court determines that the Debtor has standing to seek a ruling on the validity of the Foreclosure Sale.18
E. Effect of the Land Court Order
Wells Fargo next argues that the substance of the underlying transactions affecting the Mortgage should not be reexamined, because the Land Court Order established WaMu FA’s ownership of WaMu HLI’s assets (including the Mortgage), and the Assignment therefore validly conveyed ownership to Wells Fargo prior to the Foreclosure Sale. But Wells Fargo fails to adequately articulate any legal theory supporting its contention that both the Debtor and the Court are bound by the Land Court Order. Wells Fargo refers only briefly to the Rooker-Feldman doctrine as preventing this Court from deciding questions regarding the ownership of the Mortgage, maintaining that this Court has no jurisdiction to “invalidate” the Land Court Order.
The Rooker-Feldman doctrine is not applicable here, because the Debtor was not a party to the Land Court action. See Lance v. Dennis, 546 U.S. 459, 465 (2006) (Rooker-Feldman does not apply where party was not party to the state court proceeding); Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005) (The Rooker-Feldman Doctrine has been limited to “cases brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by state-court judgments rendered before the district court proceedings commenced and inviting district court review and rejection of those judgments.”). Similarly, although this Court is bound by 28 U.S.C. § 1738 (the Full Faith and Credit Statute) to “give the same preclusive effect” to the Land Court Order that the order “would be given in the courts of [Massachusetts],” In re Ellis, 354 B.R. 11, 17 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2006) (quoting Migra v. Warren City Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 81 (1982)), Wells Fargo has provided no reason why Massachusetts courts would give preclusive effect to the Land Court Order in an unrelated case involving non-parties to the Land Court action.
As Wells Fargo itself notes, “[t]he purpose of an S-Petition, filed pursuant to G.L. c. 185, § 114, et seq., is to alter certificates of title on registered land.” Wells Fargo Post-Hr’g Mem. 2 (emphasis supplied).19 There is no indication, despite its broad language, that the Land Court Order applied to any property other than the property affected by the registered certificate of title at issue in that case. The Property here, in fact, is not registered land. Although the Land Court may, in some cases, exercise jurisdiction over recorded land, see MGL ch. 185, § 1, the evidence produced by Wells Fargo indicates that the Land Court Order was issued pursuant to its jurisdiction over a particular certificate of title in registered land, and thus has no preclusive effect here. Similarly, even if this Court were to reach a conclusion different than that reached by the Land Court and find that WaMu HLI’s assets were not transferred to WaMu FA, such a ruling would in no way “invalidate” the Land Court’s Order. Just as that order has no preclusive effect in the case before this Court, the decision reached in this case would not affect the parties involved in the case before the Land Court.
In sum, because the Land Court Order was issued in a case unrelated to the one before this Court, and involved neither the Debtor nor the Property at issue here, and because Wells Fargo has not articulated any other reason why the order has preclusive effect in this case, the Court concludes that the Land Court Order is insufficient to establish, for purposes of this case, that Washington Mutual held the Mortgage when it executed the Assignment to Wells Fargo.
F. So Who Holds the Mortgage?
To re-cap: the parties agree that the Mortgage was originally given to Shawmut Mortgage. Shawmut Mortgage merged with Fleet Mortgage, which in turn merged with WaMu HLI. WaMu HLI then merged with the Limited Partnership (created in Ohio), and the Mortgage thus became an asset of the Limited Partnership. The sole general partner (WaMu FA) then purchased the sole limited partner’s (WaMu Securities) interest in the Limited Partnership and the partnership was “canceled” pursuant to Ohio law. See Sale & Assignment of Limited Partner Interest and “Washington Mutual bank, FA Secretary’s Certificate,” both attached as exhibits to Pl.’s Post-Hr’g Mem. and Wells Fargo’s Post-Hr’g Mem; see also Ohio Rev. Code § 1782.10 (A) (“A certificate of limited partnership shall be canceled . . . at any other time there are no limited partners.”).
But neither party has provided evidence demonstrating what happened to the assets of the Limited Partnership. Under Ohio law, “a partnership interest is personal property.” Ohio Rev. Code § 1782.39. The assignment of a partnership interest transfers only the interest in the partnership and the right to receive distributions as a partner; it does not transfer the underlying partnership assets themselves. Ohio Rev. C. § 1782.40. Thus, WaMu FA’s purchase of WaMu Securities’ interest in the Limited Partnership did not necessarily transfer the assets of the Limited Partnership (which included the Mortgage) to WaMu FA.
The Debtor assumes that the Limited Partnership was merely “dissolved,” and therefore would have the Court conclude that, consistent with Ohio law, the assets of the Limited Partnership remain with the Limited Partnership until otherwise distributed through the “winding up process.” While the Debtor is correct that, under Ohio law, the assets of a Limited Partnership do not vest in the partners as a matter of law and must be appropriately distributed, see Ohio Rev. Code § 1782.46, it is possible that the Limited Partnership assets vested in WaMu FA pursuant to the underlying partnership agreement or as a result of distribution during the winding-up process. See id. (“Except as otherwise provided in the partnership agreement, the general partners . . . . may wind up the affairs of a limited partnership . . . [and] may do any or all of the following . ..: (3) Dispose of and convey the property of the limited partnership; . . . (5) Distribute to the partners any remaining assets of the limited partnership.”). Simply put, there is insufficient evidence on the summary judgment record to conclude either that the Mortgage remains an asset of the Limited Partnership (as the Debtor argues) or became property of WaMu FA (as Wells Fargo argues). Accordingly, the Court cannot determine whether Washington Mutual owned the Mortgage at the time it executed the Assignment to Wells Fargo and both parties’ motions for summary judgment must be denied.
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court will deny both the Debtor’s and Wells Fargo’s motions for summary judgment. However, in accordance with the conclusions of law reached herein, a further evidentiary hearing is necessary only to resolve the limited issue of whether the Mortgage, as an asset of the Limited Partnership, ultimately became an asset of Washington Mutual, allowing the assignment of the Mortgage from Washington Mutual to Wells Fargo. An order in conformity with this memorandum shall issue forthwith.

 


 Footnotes


1. Many of the relevant facts were also detailed in this Court’s earlier memorandum regarding the defendant’s motion to dismiss. See Bailey v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA (In re Bailey), 437 B.R. 721 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2010) (“Bailey I”).

2. The Property was originally purchased by the Debtor and her former husband in 1984. The mortgage loan at issue here was incurred by the Debtor to purchase her former husband’s interest in the Property pursuant to a judgment of divorce and modification agreement. Bailey I, 437 B.R. at 724 n.1.
3. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (the “Servicemembers Act”), 50 U.S.C. App. §§ 501-591, prevents the foreclosure of a mortgage where the owner of the property is an armed servicemember and the mortgage was entered into prior to the start of military service; the act “restricts foreclosures against active duty members of the uniformed services.” Akar v. Fed. Nat’l Mortg. Ass’n, ___ F. Supp. 2d ___, Civil Action No. 10-10539 NMG, 2012 WL 661458, *12 (D. Mass. Feb. 8, 2012). In Massachusetts, a special legislative act created a “court procedure to determine that no one interested in the property is in the military service.” See Bailey I, 437 B.R. at 724 n.2 (quoting 28 Mass. Prac. § 10.4).

 

4. See 11 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. (the “Bankruptcy Code” or the “Code”).
5. In order to validly foreclose on property under power of sale, “advance notice of the foreclosure sale [must be] provided to the mortgagor, to other interested parties, and by publication in a newspaper published in the town where the mortgaged land lies or of general circulation in that town.” U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d 40, 50 (Mass. 2011). The Debtor has not argued that Wells Fargo failed to appropriately publish notice of the Foreclosure Sale in the relevant newspaper, and her arguments are targeted only at the adequacy of the notice provided directly to the Debtor.
6. According to Wells Fargo, identical copies of the Foreclosure Notices were sent by certified and first class mail to two different versions of the Debtor’s address (one identifying the building and unit of the condominium complex in which the Property is located and the other identifying the address by the unit number only). Hedvig Aff. 2 ¶ 8. The Debtor has not argued that either form of address was incorrect or incomplete.
7. WaMu HLI was also a wholly-owned subsidiary of WaMu FA.
8. In its original brief submitted in support of the summary judgment motion, Wells Fargo supported this argument with a citation to an order from the Land Court, cited as JP Morgan Mortg. Acquisition Corp. v. Lord, Land Court Case No. 10 MISC 427846, Memorandum and Order Denying Defendant’s Motion to Vacate Judgment and Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaint (Nov. 29, 2010) (Long, J.). See Wells Fargo Mem. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. 8, Oct. 6, 2011, ECF No. 60. This citation is, at least so far as the Court was able to discern, insufficient to allow easy access to a copy of the referenced order in a publicly-available database, and Wells Fargo failed to attach a copy of the order to its brief. As such, the Court is unable to lend any persuasive value to the quote from that order provided by Wells Fargo.
9. At the hearing on the parties’ motions for summary judgment, counsel for Wells Fargo also directed the Court’s attention to two additional cases (which were not, as represented by counsel, cited in Wells Fargo’s brief). Those cases, Kiah v. Aurora Loan Servs., LLC, Slip Copy, Civil Action No. 10-40161-FDS, 2011 WL 841282 (D. Mass. March 4, 2011), and In re Lopez, 446 B.R. 12 (Bank. D. Mass. 2011), are discussed later in this memorandum.
10. Viewing both parties’ arguments relative to the Land Court Order to be somewhat sparse, at the conclusion of the hearing on the summary judgment motions, the Court asked the parties to provide further briefing on the preclusive effect, if any, of the Land Court Order. Both parties have done so.
11. The Debtor raises additional arguments premised on the fact that many of the documents relied on by Wells Fargo to demonstrate how ownership of the Mortgage changed, through various corporate mergers and name changes, were not recorded in the relevant Registry of Deeds. The Debtor has asserted, with no citation to relevant case law or statute, that those documents should have been recorded because the various corporations were foreign to Massachusetts and were not registered to do business in Massachusetts. Because they were not recorded, the Debtor says a title examiner would not be able to ascertain how title ultimately vested in Wells Fargo. In Bailey I, however, the Court specifically rejected the Debtor’s assertion that the documents on record at the time of the foreclosure had to demonstrate an unbroken chain of ownership of the Mortgage from Shawmut Mortgage to Wells Fargo. 437 B.R. at 728-29. And the SJC has subsequently agreed, holding that although a foreclosing party must have evidence that they hold the Mortgage at the time the foreclosure notice is sent, recording of those documents prior to the sending of the foreclosure notice, while perhaps the best practice, is not required. See U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d 40, 53 (Mass. 2011); Bailey I, 437 B.R. at 728-29 (citing U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Ibanez, Nos. 384283 (KCL), 386018 (KCL), 386755 (KCL), 2009 WL 795201 (Mass. Land Ct. March 26, 2009); U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Ibanez, Nos. 08 Misc. 384283 (KCL), 08 MISC. 386755 (KCL), 2009 WL 3297551 (Mass. Land Ct. Oct. 14, 2009), aff’d 941 N.E.2d 40).
12. As noted earlier, there is no assertion or evidence that notice of the Foreclosure Sale was not published in a relevant newspaper as required by MGL ch. 244, § 14.
13. And, as the SJC explained further in Ibanez, if the foreclosing entity was not the holder of the mortgage at the time it sent notice of the foreclosure and claimed status as holder of the mortgage, “the failure to identify the [correct] holder of the mortgage in the notice of sale may render the notice defective and the foreclosure sale void.” Id.
14. In her post-hearing brief, the Debtor raises an additional scattershot attack on the Assignment directly, arguing that the individual who executed the Assignment has been the subject of “widespread national scrutiny.” Pl.’s Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp. of Pl.’s Mot. for Summ. J. 20, Jan. 5, 2012, ECF No. 81. Based on allegations raised in other (unrelated) cases, the Debtor maintains that the “Assignment was prepared . . . years after the events recited therein, and signed by someone who had no personal knowledge of the facts or events,” and is “nothing short of outright fraud.” Id. at 21. While the Court could simply ignore this untimely argument to which Wells Fargo has had no opportunity to respond, see Correia v. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co. (In re Correia), 452 B.R. 319, 323 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. 2011), the Court feels compelled to note its lack of merit based on extant case law, see, e.g., Id. at 323-24; Culhane, 2011 WL 5925525, at *17-18; Peterson v. GMAC Mortg., Civil Action No. 11-11115-RWZ, 2011 WL 5075613, *4-5 (D. Mass. Oct. 25, 2011); Rosa v. Mortg. Elec. Sys., Inc., ___ F. Supp. 2d ___, Civil Action No. 10-12141-PBS, 2011 WL 5223349, *4-5 (D. Mass. Sept. 29, 2011); In re Marron, 455 B.R. 1, 8 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2011); Kiah, 2011 WL 841282, at *7.
15. While Judge Hillman did address the debtor’s additional attacks on an assignment of the mortgage, those claims were found deficient not because the debtor lacked standing to challenge the assignment of his mortgage, but because the Debtor had failed to articulate any affirmative objection to the allegedly defective assignment in that case. Id. at 19.
16. The Court expresses no opinion here on whether it would agree with those courts that have rejected challenges to foreclosures based on the borrowers’ lack of standing to challenge an assignment and have concluded that the SJC, in Ibanez, “did not intend to `give [ ] Massachusetts mortgagors a legally protected interest in assignments to which they are not a party . . . .'” Oum, 2012 WL 390271, at *6 (quoting Peterson, 2011 WL 5075613, at *3). The Court notes, however, that other courts in this district have assumed jurisdiction and recognized a borrower’s standing to bring such actions based on the SJC’s conclusion that foreclosures conducted by non-mortgage holders are void. See, e.g., Rosa, 2011 WL 5223349, at *3 n.5 (“Under Massachusetts law, `any effort to foreclose by a party lacking “jurisdiction and authority” to carry out a foreclosure . . . is void.’ The Plaintiffs appear to have standing under this principle, because the allegations, if proven, would render the foreclosure sale void, under Massachusetts law.”); see also Culhane, 2011 WL 5925525, at *12 (possible cloud on title that may reduce value of property at foreclosure and thus increase deficiency claim was sufficient to give borrower standing to challenge authority of assignor to assign mortgage); cf. Bevilacqua v. Rodriguez, 955 N.E.2d 884, (Mass. 2011) (mortgagor retains an interest in the property by holding the equity of redemption until a valid foreclosure sale is conducted).
17. “In Massachusetts, a `mortgage splits the title in two parts: the legal title, which becomes the mortgagee’s, and the equitable title, which the mortgagor retains.'” Bevilacqua, 955 N.E.2d at 895 (quoting Maglione v. BancBoston Mortg. Corp., 557 N.E.2d 756, 757 (1990)). The equitable title, or “equity of redemption,” retained by the mortgagor “[is] the basic and historic right of a debtor to redeem the mortgage obligation after its due date, and ultimately to insist on foreclosure as the means of terminating the mortgagor’s interest in the mortgaged real estate.” Id. (quoting Restatement (Third) of Property (Mortgages) c.3, Introductory note at 97 (1996)).

 

18. In its post-hearing brief, Wells Fargo argues, as an additional ground for affirming the validity of the Foreclosure Sale, that any defect in the Assignment could, in accordance with the SJC’s statements in Ibanez, be resolved by the recording of a “confirmatory assignment.” While the SJC indicated that a post-foreclosure “confirmatory assignment” may be used in cases where a valid pre-foreclosure assignment of mortgage was made but “is not in recordable form or bears some defect,” the court also stressed that such a confirmatory assignment “cannot confirm an assignment that was not validly made earlier.” Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d at 55. If the Court finds that Washington Mutual did not hold the Mortgage at the time the Assignment was executed, then there is no “valid” assignment to which a confirmatory assignment could refer.
19. In Massachusetts, real property may be either registered or unregistered (recorded) land. Real estate in Massachusetts primarily consists of unregistered land, which is conveyed by the delivery of a deed. 28 Mass. Prac., Real Estate Law § 4.59. Registered land is not recorded in the same manner as other real estate, but is governed by Massachusetts statutes codifying a version of what is commonly referred to as a “Torrens System” for the registration of land titles. See, e.g. The Torrens System, 25 Law. & Banker. Cent. L.J. 226 (1932). Registered land has gone through an adjudication process in order to quiet title, and “the Commonwealth guarantees and insures the title to land that is registered.” 28 Mass. Prac., Real Estate Law § 22.1. A certificate of title in registered property is stored on the “registered land side of the registry of deeds,” 28 Mass. Prac., Real Estate Law § 31A.1, and may be altered only through an action (like the S-Petition referred to here) brought in the Land Court, see MGL ch. 185 § 114.

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Abigail Field: Hiding the Enforcement Fraud At the Heart of the Mortgage Settlement

Abigail Field: Hiding the Enforcement Fraud At the Heart of the Mortgage Settlement


Abigail C. Field-

On Thursday, April 5th U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer announced she had decided to sign off on the ”$25 billion” Mortgage Settlement. By “announced”, I mean she signed the consent orders all our major law enforcers and the biggest bankers had agreed to, and entered them into the record. Judge Collyer didn’t actually say anything about the deal. She didn’t let anyone else say anything, either: she didn’t hold a public hearing on the deal.

In acting silently, Judge Collyer not only okayed the deal’s lousy terms, which institutionalize servicer theft and foreclosure fraud, she reinforced the incredibly poor public process that’s kept the enforcement fraud at the heart of the deal hidden. Deliberately hidden.

Magical Misdirection

To understand just how deceptive “our” government and “our” law enforcers have been with us

[REALITY CHECK]

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[VIDEO] Shaun Donovan on the Foreclosure Fraud Settlement & Wish Wash

[VIDEO] Shaun Donovan on the Foreclosure Fraud Settlement & Wish Wash


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Commissioners: Bristol County, MA joining Norfolk, Plymouth counties in filing suits against MERS

Commissioners: Bristol County, MA joining Norfolk, Plymouth counties in filing suits against MERS


Taunton Gazette-

The Bristol County Board of Commissioners received a letter from Attorney Garrett Bradley notifying them that a complaint against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) was filed in Suffolk County on March 29.

Previously, the commissioners voted on Feb. 14 to file a lawsuit to reclaim millions of dollars from MERS for allegedly skirting public recording laws at the expense of the county’s three property registries.

Bristol County is joining Norfolk and Plymouth counties in filing lawsuits against MERS.

Commissioners have previously said the county won’t know exactly how much money they are looking to collect until the discovery process of litigation.

Read more: [TAUNTON GAZETTE]

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BREAKING: The $25B Foreclosure Fraud settlement has been approved by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer.

BREAKING: The $25B Foreclosure Fraud settlement has been approved by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer.


Via

Nothing from the consent judgment entered into court in the $25B foreclosure settlement may constitute “evidence against Defendant.”

WSJ-

The settlement was announced in February and filed in court as a consent judgment last month. Judge Rosemary Collyer approved the landmark settlement on Wednesday. The signed order was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The pact will offer reductions in loan principal and other assistance to qualifying homeowners. The largest portion of the aid, valued at $17 billion, goes to borrowers at risk of foreclosure. Banks will pay $5 billion in fines, including nearly $1 billion to the Federal Housing Administration.

[WALL STREET JOURNAL]

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Review Finds Possible Flaws in More Than 138,000 Bank Foreclosures

Review Finds Possible Flaws in More Than 138,000 Bank Foreclosures


Not this word again “Flaw”…it’s FULL   B L O W N   FRAUD!

Why wasn’t this review done prior to any settlement? Because they never began any investigation.

DealBook-

The nation’s biggest banks may have put the huge $25 billion settlement over bad foreclosure practices behind them, but that doesn’t mean their mortgage troubles are over.

A separate review — this time by independent consultants on behalf of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — flagged more than 138,000 cases for possible flaws in the foreclosure process at the nation’s largest mortgage servicers. Those include foreclosures involved with the so-called robo-signing scandal, in which bank representatives churned through hundreds of documents a day in foreclosure proceedings without reviewing them for accuracy.

[DEALBOOK]

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Abigail C. Field: Our Government Blessed Foreclosure Fraud

Abigail C. Field: Our Government Blessed Foreclosure Fraud


Abigail C. Field-

The mortgage settlement signed by 49 states and every Federal law enforcer allows the rampant foreclosure fraud currently choking our courts to continue unabated. Yes, I realize the pretty language of Exhibit A promises the banks will completely overhaul their standard operating procedures and totally clean up their acts. Promises are empty if they’re not honored, and worthless if not enforceable.

We know Bailed-Out Bankers’ promises are empty, so what matters is if the agreement is enforceable. And when it comes to all things foreclosure fraud, the enforcement provisions are laughable. But before I detail why, let’s be clear: I’m not being hyperbolic. The bankers running and profiting most from our bailed-out banks are totally dishonest when dealing with the public, and their promises are meaningless.

To see their dishonesty in the mortgage context, read the complaint filed in the mortgage deal, or my take on it here. But the bankers don’t limit their lying, cheating and stealing to homeowners. They abuse their clients the same way. Most broadly damaging, the bankers steal from taxpayers on a federal, state and local level and practically everybody else too. Fraud is just how they do business. When dealing with bankers, you can’t do business on a handshake.

[REALITY CHECK]

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Special News Alert from Register of Deeds John L. O’Brien: O’Brien requests DOR file legal action against “Fannie Mae” and “Freddy Mac”

Special News Alert from Register of Deeds John L. O’Brien: O’Brien requests DOR file legal action against “Fannie Mae” and “Freddy Mac”


 

 

 

Special News Alert from Register of Deeds John L. O’Brien

 

Southern Essex District Register John O’Brien requests the Department of Revenue file

  legal action against “Fannie Mae” and “Freddy Mac”

 

Contact: Kevin Harvey 1st Assistant Register

 978-542-1724

 kevin.harvey@sec.state.ma.us

Southern Essex District Register of Deeds John O’Brien today is asking the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to file legal action against mortgage giants Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddy Mac”) for their failure to pay deeds excise tax, on property transfers in Register O’Brien’s District. According to O’Brien his district alone is owed approximately $4.2 Million.  O’Brien was notified late Friday that a United States District Judge in Michigan concluded that Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac were not entitled to an exemption from excise taxes in Michigan.  The Michigan Court cited numerous cases; two of significant interests were a 2011 Nevada case involving Countrywide Home Loans and 1988 United States Supreme Court case involving Wells Fargo Bank. In Nevada, the Court concluded that Fannie Mae was essentially a privately owned mortgage banker and not a federal instrumentality for tax purposes. In the Wells Fargo Case, the United States Supreme Court concluded that a transfer tax is a form of excise tax and are not direct taxes.  The Supreme Court decided that direct taxes were exempt, however transfer taxes were not.

According to O’Brien, since 1991 Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac have been involved in property transfers with total sales values of over $920 Million Dollars in his district.  These transactions would have generated close to $4.2 Million Dollars in tax revenue to the Commonwealth for his district alone had Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae paid the excise tax rather then claiming exemptions. If a private citizen or corporation sells a piece of Massachusetts real estate, they are required to pay a deeds excise tax of $4.56 per thousand dollars of the purchase price, however Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac pay nothing.   Certain tax exemptions are given to governmental entities, however O’Brien points out that Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac although originally created as government entities are now publicly traded companies owned by investors.  O’Brien notes that these private corporate entities that have shareholders and are paying their top executives millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses are wrongfully claiming the excise tax exemptions. “This lost revenue goes a long way in providing key services for the people of Massachusetts.  The message in our Commonwealth to all those that think that they can circumvent the system should be loud and clear; pay like everyone else, or deal with the consequences.”

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John O’Brien, Essex official wants to sue over mortgage mess

John O’Brien, Essex official wants to sue over mortgage mess


Common Wealth Magazine-

John O’Brien is a national folk hero to anti-foreclosure activists. The Southern Essex Register of Deeds has garnered national attention by accusing big banks of acting like a “criminal enterprise.” After an audit revealed widespread flaws in banks’ handling of mortgage paperwork, O’Brien likened his Salem registry to a crime scene.

So when a New York law firm began soliciting local registries to join a class action lawsuit against an embattled mortgage clearinghouse, O’Brien should’ve been the first to sign on. He wasn’t. O’Brien was told he didn’t have the authority to join the effort. Deed registries in Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth counties are now pushing ahead with the case, while O’Brien is left standing on the sidelines.

O’Brien’s inability to sue over mortgage paperwork filed in his own registry highlights a quirk in Massachusetts state government. The state eliminated most of its county governments more than a decade ago, even as it retained some of the trappings of county government. District attorneys and sheriffs are still elected at the county level, for example, but they’re funded by the state. The consolidation of county governments also left the state’s 21 registries of deeds intact.

[COMMON WEALTH MAGAZINE]

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John Walsh: Foreclosure settlement, consent orders do not conflict

John Walsh: Foreclosure settlement, consent orders do not conflict


Lets not confuse the word “Flaw” with “Fraud”…There is a major difference!

HW-

John Walsh, acting Comptroller of the Currency, said the recent $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement reached between the big banks and state attorneys general does not conflict or double-up on requirements servicers have to follow in consent agreements banks signed with the OCC and other regulators last year. 

In 2010, regulators, including the OCC, examined 14 large federally regulated mortgage servicers and thrifts.

Last year, the agencies issued enforcement orders against all 14 institutions forcing them to take steps to review their foreclosure review processes and to offer aid to borrowers who suffered from flawed foreclosure practices.

[HOUSING WIRE]

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



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AGs to consider investor protections in foreclosure settlement

AGs to consider investor protections in foreclosure settlement


LOL…according to Tom Miller.

Good Luck!

HW-

If the top five mortgage servicers begin to abuse bond investors under the foreclosure settlement write-downs, the attorneys general would consider some protections, according to Iowa AG Tom Miller.

Miller faced down banking executives and analysts during a panel at the REthink Symposium Thursday. The $25 billion settlement signed in March forces servicers to meet roughly $10 billion in principal reductions, which could swell higher because in some instances the full dollar written down will not be credited.

Servicers will get full credit for reducing principal on loans they hold on their own portfolio but receive 45 cents for every dollar written down on mortgages held in private securities.

“To try principal reduction in a targeted way and find out if it works is good for the housing market,” Miller said. “We know what (the banks’) plans are. Two have said they wouldn’t do write-downs on private securities. But we could have some discussions about something to reassure investors.”

[HOUSING WIRE]

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Where are the Indictments?

Where are the Indictments?


Abigail C. Field-

Let’s be clear why there’s a mortgage deal: the banks broke the law. Several laws in fact, in ways that appear criminal as well as civil. Limiting their liability is the only reason the banks did a deal.

In this post I’m going to look at what the banks could be held liable for; how much liability “their” money persuaded law enforcers to ignore will be the next post. But one important kind of peace has not been bought: criminal. So as I detail the wrong doing exposed by the deal, I highlight the crimes our law enforcers seem to allege the bankers committed. After all, a liability release isn’t simply what it says, it’s what law enforcers do with their remaining freedom to act. If crimes were committed, and indictments don’t follow, the release is much broader than its text.

A close read of the complaint and the related language that precedes the releases (see Exhibits F and G) reveals:

continue reading [REALITY CHECK]

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



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Abigail Caplovitz Field: The Mortgage Settlement Allows Banks to Steal Without Penalty

Abigail Caplovitz Field: The Mortgage Settlement Allows Banks to Steal Without Penalty


HuffPO-

The consent agreements the bailed-out bankers (B.O.B.s), the feds and the states are largely as had been promised. One big surprise, however, is that the B.O.B.s would now be allowed to systematically overcharge borrowers and steal their homes. Seriously. Who cares about $1 million or $5 million penalties if horrible damage can be inflicted without punishment?

To see what I’m talking about, you need to look at Exhibit E-1. (It’s in all the consent agreements; here’s Chase‘s.) Exhibit E-1 is a 14 page table titled “Servicing Standards Quarterly Compliance Metrics.” That is, it’s a table that details what, precisely, law enforcers will check to make sure that the B.O.B.s are meeting the very pretty servicing standards in the deal. (See Exhibit A)

(Note: You may want to print out table E-1 while reading this, or at least keep it open in another browser window; what I have to say may be hard to believe and you’ll want to be able to double check that I’m telling you the truth.)

Now, the table doesn’t come right out and say, ‘we, the federal and state governments of the United States of America do hereby bless the institutionalization of servicer abuse,’ but it should. To understand why, you need to keep your eye on how the table’s columns are defined. For most issues, the critical columns are C “Loan Level Tolerance for Error” and D “Threshold Error Rate.” Later I’ll talk about the problems in Column F, the “Test Questions.”

When Error Isn’t Error…

[HUFFINGTON POST]

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



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Alison Frankel: Can MBS investors block national mortgage deal via litigation?

Alison Frankel: Can MBS investors block national mortgage deal via litigation?


The never ending settlement… because those in DC are doing their best to make sure their bankers are A-OK.

Reuters-

Mortgage-backed securities investors who are convinced that banks intend to shift the cost of the $25 billion national mortgage settlement onto their shoulders are “evaluating their legal options,” according to Chris Katopis, executive director of the Association of Mortgage Investors (and a former clerk on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals). The private investors, as I’ve reported, are outraged at the terms of the settlement, which sets no limit on the percentage of securitized mortgages the settling banks — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Ally Financial — are permitted to modify to reach their $17 billion target for reducing the principal balance owed by struggling borrowers. Mortgage-backed noteholders believe the deal terms encourage banks to write down investor-owned first liens, rather than second lien mortgages in bank-owned portfolios. That incentive, they say, shifts the cost of the deal from the banks to mortgage-backed bondholders.

Their argument is gaining traction. The New York Times editorialized Sunday on the bank-friendly details of …

[REUTERS LEGAL]

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



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MUST READ: Who is REALLY paying in the $25bil TBTF mortgage settlement

MUST READ: Who is REALLY paying in the $25bil TBTF mortgage settlement


Economic Musings-

The surprising tale that I will attempt to pen in this blog entry has a very familiar cast of characters; the Obama Administration, the Housing Bubble, “Toxic Mortgages”, and Too Big To Fail “TBTF” Banks among others.  While the headline of TBTF banks in a $25bil mortgage settlement is known to many, the underlying details of the settlement are less known and quite appalling when you pull back the covers.

 The wounds on past and present homeowners are still fresh from the housing crisis.  As Jonathan Laing points out in this weekend’s Barron’s cover story, “five million of the country’s 76million mortgage holders have lost their homes to foreclosure or lender ordered short sales since 2006, and an estimated 14million more own more on their homes than their properties are currently worth.  In all, some $7.4 trillion in homeowners’ equity has been destroyed according to Mark Zandi…”  

 Cries for Accountability

While blame deserves to be cast upon numerous parties for the housing bubble, Americans have rightly called for accountability on the TBTF banks.  Accountability for what? Among other faults, robo-signing became prevalent among TBTF banks as they forged mortgage documents in order to ensure proper paperwork was done to foreclose on properties. 

 Details of the $25bil Settlement (in the words of HUD) & Public Lauding

“On February 9, the Department of Justice …

[ECONOMIC MUSINGS]

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



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US Rep. Marcy Kaptur: Let’s Address the Systemic Mortgage Fraud in Our Country

US Rep. Marcy Kaptur: Let’s Address the Systemic Mortgage Fraud in Our Country


by

www.kaptur.house.gov

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