September 27, 2013
United States District Court Dismisses Plaintiff’s Contentions Against MERS, Alleging Wrongful Foreclosure and Unfair Business Practices
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California in deciding Pantoja v. Countrywide Home Loans, et al. 5:09cv016015 (N.D. Cal., 2009) affirmed MERS’ authority to foreclose. MERS’ ability to foreclose was again affirmed in this case, contrary to plaintiff contentions alleging wrongful foreclosure, unfair business practices, failure to disclose information regarding the plaintiff’s loan, claims arising under TARP, and various violations of state law related to the Notice of Default and the trustee sale.
The Court granted MERS’ motion to dismiss on several grounds. One ground was that the court concluded that the plaintiff lacked standing to bring the suit because he failed to tender the amounts due and owing under the note. The court also held that the plaintiff did not have a private right of action under TARP, and that his claims for unfair business practices were not supported by any facts.
The court also denied the claims for wrongful foreclosure. Accordingly, the court found that under state law, there was no requirement for the production of an original promissory note prior to the initiation of a non-judicial foreclosure. So, the absence of an original promissory note in a non-judicial foreclosure does not render a foreclosure invalid.
| Permalink
