Hello! (via 4closuredefenseattorney)

Another lawyer has joined the good fight in the battle over Mortgage Foreclosures.

Please extend a warm welcome to Cynthia Starkey at her web site.

James Pilant

This is my first attempt at blogging, but I think it is the best way to keep people informed about what is happening in the world of foreclosure defense. Me? I have been a lawyer for twenty (plus) years (yikes… time flies!) I have always practiced in the commercial litigation area (civil law) – primarily businesses suing other businesses. Eleven years ago, I started an estate planning practice. I prepare wills, trusts and other estate planning … Read More

via 4closuredefenseattorney

Affidavits Not Enough to Prove Ownership of a Mortgage Note (via DANNLAW)

A Bank?

For almost two years banks have been foreclosing on homes and many times the only evidence of ownership was a notarized piece of paper with the signature of a “robo-signer,” often a person with no legal training whatever, often people who had no concept of the effects of the documents to which they attached their names.

In Deutche Bank v. Triplett, the banks were told, “No.” This is part of a chain of decisions where the courts have said to the banks, “You cannot foreclose without actual documents showing ownership (my interpretation).”

In other words, signing a notarized statement that your bank owns the property is not enough to foreclose on property.

With the MERS system in use by many of the big mortgage firms (Countrywide for example), there is an absence of proper paperwork in at least hundreds of thousands of cases. MERS only has computer records, no paperwork. This computer program run by a private company saved banks from the hassle of going through the process of changing ownership without bothering with that time-consuming paperwork like filing documents at the county court-house or paying the state mandated fees for transferring ownership.

Some judges believe that evading state law and taxes is illegal.

If you want to understand MERS, go to my article here –MERS And Ownership or here – Congress Leaps In To Protect The Banking Industry?

Building on the landmark Wells Fargo v. Jordan Decision, Ohio’s 8th District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County) ruled this week that an affidavit alleging that a foreclosure plaintiff held the note prior to filing of a complaint for foreclosure is not sufficient evidence to support a foreclosure judgment. In Deutche Bank v. Triplett, the court of appeals held: “… Deutsche  Bank’s affidavit of ownership, sworn out more than a year after the fore … Read More

via DANNLAW