REFinBlog

Editor: David Reiss
Brooklyn Law School

December 4, 2013

Levitin on the Uncertainty of Mortgage Title

By David Reiss

Adam Levitin has posted The Paper Chase: Securitization, Foreclosure, and the Uncertainty of Mortgage Title to SSRN.  This paper adds to a small (here and here, for instance), but important body of literature that seeks to harmonize the application of … Continue reading

November 13, 2013

Massachusetts Land Court Finds Defendant Was Not Entitled to Service Member Relief Act

By Ebube Okoli

The Massachusetts Land Court in deciding Suntrust Mortg., Inc. v. Forsberg, 2013 Mass. LCR LEXIS 159 (Mass. Land Ct. 2013) found that defendant (Alfred Forsberg) was not entitled to the protection of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. §§ … Continue reading

November 7, 2013

Washington Court Dismisses Plaintiff’s Truth in Lending Act (TILA) Complaint

By Ebube Okoli

The court in deciding Pruss v. Bank of Am. Na, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157286 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 1, 2013) found that the plaintiff’s claims were barred by time and or otherwise inadequately pleaded. Therefore, the court granted the defendants’ … Continue reading

Eastern District of California Finds That MERS Was Not Required to Register to do Business in California

By Ebube Okoli

The Eastern District of California in deciding Bogdan v. Countrywide Home Loans, CIV-F-09-1055 AWI SMS (E.D. Cal. 2010), found that MERS was not required to register to do business in California. Based off of this finding the court subsequently dismissed … Continue reading

October 9, 2013

Enforcing The Mortgage Note

By David Reiss

Elizabeth Renuart has posted Uneasy Intersections: The Right to Foreclose and the UCC to SSRN. This is a subject that Brad and I have touched on a bit in the context of the Show Me The Note! defense, but Renuart … Continue reading

September 19, 2013

Court Holds MERS’ Previous Business Activities Prior to Proper Registration in California Did Not Render its Foreclosing Illegal

By Ebube Okoli

The court in Perlas et al v. MERS, No. C 09-4500 (N.D.Cal. 2010) held that MERS’ previous business activities prior to becoming registered to do business in California did not render its foreclosing activities illegal. Despite the plaintiff’s arguments to … Continue reading

September 18, 2013

Show Me The Note, NY Style

By David Reiss

Steiner, Goldstein & Sohn published a short article in the New York Law Journal, Clearing The Confusion:  Misplaced Notes and Allonges (Sept. 18, 2012) (behind a paywall). While intended to address commercial real estate finance, it relies on an interesting … Continue reading