Another MERS decision in Las Vegas

[survivor]

Ruling by judges rattles mortgage industry - Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 | 2 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun


This was in todays paper in Las Vegas. Very interesting information. looks like some class action is actually in the works.

[Do not want to lose it]

just a thought.....
Maybe this is why Chase is dragging everyone along as long as possible. They may be in the process of finding a way to legitimately transfer their MERS loans to cover their butts.

[survivor]

I agree. But as Moe said, this is a tool for negotiation, as they are so slow to help. But, the interesting thing is, that would give the Bankruptcy Judges the ability to strip the first, like they do the second, and you would pay back pennies on the dollar. That is in chapter 13. It would be just like a credit card, unsecured, like your second.

[Social Apocalypse]

Yayyyyyy! The 9th Circuit Court Joins The Parade!!! This helps me a great deal in deciding what to do in my plan... I may just represent myself if I can't find an attorney. My docs and note are such a mess.

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!!! It's big news here in the West!

[survivor]

It talked about a class action in the beginning of the article. but not much more. I am thinking of contacting the attorneys in Reno. I will be going up there next Thursday. If I am able to, I will post any new info.

[Social Apocalypse]

I would love to know... I have wondered why more attorneys haven't begun class actions, it would HELP the courts... My thought would be very simple, the class action could look like this:

IF you are in (whatever circuit court who has this precedent, probably all of them soon) AND your note is held by MERS, you are eligible.

The class action simply requests NEW mortgage, with NO qualification requirements, for current rates and 80% LTV. SIMPLE.

New notes are made, everyone is secure, terms are not toxic, and banks and courts and borrowers get on with their lives. That's all they want anyway...

IF borrowers are in homes they can't afford... they will get foreclosed on in the future, but at least the lender would be ABLE to foreclose with a new note and non-toxic loan, because the way it's going now, they are going to be handing over a lot mortgages to bankrupt borrowers who really can't afford that house anyway. Really simple, right?

[survivor]

They have a website under construction. I have a email draft to send them. I will call Monday morning, get the email address, and send it to them. requesting them to look up Loansafe.org, and contact the thousands here that would sign up for the class action. You try not to get too excited, but.........
Hager & Hearne Law Office

Address:	910 Parr Boulevard
City:	Reno
State:	Nevada
ZIP:	89512
Phone:	(775)329-5800
County:	Washoe
Category:	Banking & Investment Law Attorneys

[jet-a]

Originally Posted by TB98629

I would love to know... I have wondered why more attorneys haven't begun class actions, it would HELP the courts... My thought would be very simple, the class action could look like this:

IF you are in (whatever circuit court who has this precedent, probably all of them soon) AND your note is held by MERS, you are eligible.

The class action simply requests NEW mortgage, with NO qualification requirements, for current rates and 80% LTV. SIMPLE.

New notes are made, everyone is secure, terms are not toxic, and banks and courts and borrowers get on with their lives. That's all they want anyway...

IF borrowers are in homes they can't afford... they will get foreclosed on in the future, but at least the lender would be ABLE to foreclose with a new note and non-toxic loan, because the way it's going now, they are going to be handing over a lot mortgages to bankrupt borrowers who really can't afford that house anyway. Really simple, right?

I like this idea A LOT!

It would still seem fair, and would probably get a lot of buy-in instead of people thinking that it's not fair that some people could get something for free, and it resets values to where they should be.

This is getting VERY interesting!

[Slim Shavings]

Ruling by judges rattles mortgage industry

Some foreclosures may at least be slowed

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Topics
Real Estate in Crisis
Sun business and economy coverage

Ruling by judges rattles mortgage industry - Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 | 2 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun

A bankruptcy judge here, joining judges across the country, is throwing a bit of sand in the gears of the mortgage machine and its ruthless foreclosure blade.

She has raised this issue: In many home foreclosures springing out of bankruptcy proceedings, the foreclosure is being triggered by a representative of the lender — a surrogate that may not have a legal, equity stake in the proceedings.

As a result, it is conceivable — though still something of a legal long shot — that the homeowner who is filing for bankruptcy protection could end up saving his house.

The argument that a lender’s surrogate can’t trigger foreclosure has drawn notice of Nevada homeowners, who are preparing a class action lawsuit. They are seeking a preliminary injunction this month to stop their foreclosures.

First, some background:

Law and custom have long required that property transactions be recorded with a county clerk or “recorder of deeds,” along with information about the person who holds the mortgage, and, if there are multiple mortgages, the place in line of each creditor.

For big lenders, tracking that information in hundreds of jurisdictions across the country was an onerous process, so the biggest, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, set up a company that would do it all electronically. It is called Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems and is recognized by its acronym.

The MERS name wound up on millions of mortgages, including more than 987,000 in Nevada alone, according to the company.

Once people started defaulting on loans, MERS would announce the default on behalf of its bank clients. Consumer activists and attorneys for homeowners began questioning whether MERS, which represents banks but has no direct financial interest in the loans, could legally trigger foreclosure, but judges were generally not sympathetic to the argument.

Christopher Peterson, a law professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law and a former consumer rights attorney, called the emergence of MERS a somewhat dubious development and said it called into question the legitimacy of mortgages recorded in its name:

“MERS has no ownership interest, but they put MERS’ name there instead of the lenders’ name. No legislature said they could do that.”

[survivor]

I think those are great ideas.

[Garry]

"Although the homeowner would still owe the lender money, if it wasn’t a legitimate mortgage, then it becomes an unsecured loan, like a credit card." This is f*cking hilarious, talk about poetic justice. Just looked at my foreclosure statement, guess who is listed as the Beneficiary: MERS!

[Moe Bedard]

I just merged these threads, FYI.

[Social Apocalypse]

In bankruptcy, the debt is discharged along with all of the other unsecured debt, although I would like to actually SEE that happen. Wow.

[acesfull]

Hi All

I just fax a request to my loan processor AHMSI to send me a copy of my original note. I hope it comes back with MERS printed on it.

This should be an interesting case. Could you imagine if the courts treat peoples mortgage loans like credit cards. Unsecured loans.

This is great info for folks with mortgage debt. Great leverage for negociating your loan.
Great article. Thanks

acesfull

[Garry]

What's funny is the MERS website doesn't seem to agree with my foreclosure statement, as in the website may have been changed AFTER I recieved my foreclosure notice.

[jinksy]

Another story about MERS.

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/10/05/story2.html?b=1254715200^2189991

[Believe]

This is very interesting. Has anyone here actually spoken with this law firm? Moe had mentioned teaming up with a couple of attorneys awhile back. I believe he's still working on it. Do you have any news to report on that front, Moe? I'm going to call the law office mentioned in this article for further information.

[caldwellb02]

I'm not in MERS but still quite interested in this. My county recorders office only has the original loan holder (Long Beach) recorded. Nothing about WaMu (which was next) or Deutsche (which apparently holds it now) and who knows if there were others in between. Seems like the spirit of this law, though focused on MERS, actually holds true for any of us whose loans were farmed out like this with no record. I even had a one year loan mod with WaMu last year that put my son on the original note, and that isn't recorded at the county recorder's office.

[Believe]

I just spoke with someone at this law firm. He advised they are not taking on any new clients, and furthermore they don't work with clients in my state - Iowa. I then asked him how I go about finding an attorney in my state who would be willing to take on MERS. He replied, "I'm not sure." Another dead end for me.

[nativelasvegan]

Believe, maybe your state bar association can help? The Iowa State Bar Association
515.243.3179
I am positively for a class action lawsuit. Just let me know what I need to do.

[Believe]

Native, thank you for that link and number. I'm checking into it. I had really hoped we could all join together as one and that Moe would be the one to organize it, but I'm not very sophisticated when it comes to political things, and it might not happen that way. I hope he stops by sometime soon and gives us an update. In the meantime, I'll see what I can find out. If we could get 1,000 homeowners to pay a $1,000 retainer, that would be $1 million for a reputable firm to get started on this. I would only want to do it if we could include all states and lenders and everyone who has a mortgage they can't afford. To put too many restrictions on it would defeat the purpose, imo.

[nativelasvegan]

Hopefully we can find a lawyer to take it on a contingency basis. I would think that a possible settlement could net way more than a retainer.... just a thought.

[Believe]

Originally Posted by nativelasvegan

Hopefully we can find a lawyer to take it on a contingency basis. I would think that a possible settlement could net way more than a retainer.... just a thought.

Yes, you're right. What was I thinking?

[survivor]

Originally Posted by Believe

I just spoke with someone at this law firm. He advised they are not taking on any new clients, and furthermore they don't work with clients in my state - Iowa. I then asked him how I go about finding an attorney in my state who would be willing to take on MERS. He replied, "I'm not sure." Another dead end for me.

He evidently has the first client, he has to present the case, and ask for class action status, then it is opened up nationwide, then you can go to an attorney in your own state that is handling the class action and sign up. you do not pay the attorney to be part of a class action. So, I guess we wait, and watch, but I would assume there are other attorneys in other states doing the same thing. we will see what happens, just hopefully soon.