Foreclosure

Mass. Bankruptcy Judge Voids Foreclosure Of MERS Mortgage

by Rich Vetstein 08.23.2011 Foreclosure
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Judge Tells Lenders You Can’t Have Your MERS Cake & Eat It Too “The sophisticated financial minds who wrought the MERS regime sought to simplify the process of repeatedly transferring mortgage loans by obviating the need and expense of recording mortgage assignments with each transfer. No doubt they failed to consider the possibility of a [...]

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Rich’s Realty Ramblings: First MERS Case Filed With Supremes, New Subdivision Built On Old Landfill, Fannie Mae Reportedly Abusing Foreclosure Power

by Rich Vetstein 08.17.2011 Construction Law
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This is the first post in a new series I’ve been wanting to try out for awhile: Rich’s Realty Ramblings (not sold on the name yet–feel free to suggest alternatives). This series will be kind of like a weekly news wire report for those topics I find interesting but not warranting an entire blog post. [...]

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SJC Rules That Housing Court May Hear Challenges To Foreclosures

by Rich Vetstein 08.12.2011 Foreclosure
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Battle Over Invalid Foreclosures May Shift To Evictions In Housing Courts In the closely watched case of Bank of New York v. Bailey (embedded below), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled on August 4, 2011 that the Housing Court may hear a homeowner’s challenge that a foreclosing lender failed to conduct a foreclosure sale in [...]

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Oh Fudge! Audit Shows Large Percentage Of Essex County Mortgage Assignments Are “Invalid”

by Rich Vetstein 06.29.2011 Foreclosure
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Ironically on the same day Bank of American is about to sign a historic $8.5 Billion settlement agreement over bad mortgages, somebody finally went through a registry of deeds to look at the effect of the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez decision and the validity of mortgage assignments in Massachusetts. This just came in off the [...]

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The Massachusetts Land Court: One Stop Shopping For All Your Real Estate Needs

by Rich Vetstein 06.12.2011 Foreclosure
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The Real Estate Specialty Court Established in 1898 and still staffed with only a handful of judges, the Massachusetts Land Court is the smallest of all the Massachusetts trial courts. But for real estate practitioners, it is the most important court in the Commonwealth. The Land Court is known for its real estate expertise and [...]

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Ibanez Aftermath: SJC Hears Arguments In Important Faulty Foreclosure Transfer Case

by Rich Vetstein 05.02.2011 Foreclosure
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Update (10/18/11): The Court has issued its opinion, affirming the Land Court’s dismissal. For a full analysis, click here. Update (9/10/11): The Court has suspended its rule for the issuance of the final opinion within 130 days of oral argument. Hopefully, the decision will come down soon. _______________________________________ The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments [...]

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60 Minutes Segment On Foreclosure Paperwork Mess & Defective Titles

by Rich Vetstein 04.04.2011 Foreclosure

Last night, 60 Minutes did a compelling segment — Mortgage Paperwork Mess: Next Housing Shock? – on an important issue we’ve been covering here on the Blog . The segment details rampant forgeries by $10/hour bank “vice-presidents” and the pervasive robo-signing of bogus mortgage documents by “document mills” and “foreclosure factories.” We’ve been particularly concerned [...]

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Oh My, Oh MERS! NY Bankruptcy Judge Rules That Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Lacks Right To Assign Mortgages

by Rich Vetstein 02.15.2011 Fannie Mae
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First the robo-signing controversy. Then the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez ruling. Now the next bombshell ruling in the foreclosure mess has just come down from a New York federal bankruptcy judge. The case is In Re Agard (click here to download), and essentially throws a huge monkey wrench into a hugely important cog of the [...]

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Online Seminar: The Massachusetts Ibanez Decision, Its Ruling and Implications For the Industry, Attorneys & Consumers

by Rich Vetstein 02.03.2011 Foreclosure
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I am honored to be a panelist — along with the lawyers who prevailed in the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez case –in an upcoming online seminar on February 12 and 15. Here are the details: The Massachusetts Ibanez Decision: The Ruling and its Implications for the Industry, the Practitioner and the Consumer Saturday, February 12th, [...]

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A New Chapter M for Mortgage Bankruptcy?

by Rich Vetstein 02.02.2011 Bankruptcy
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I recently came across a very provocative and interesting idea to address the foreclosure and bankruptcy crisis: a new Chapter M for Mortgage bankruptcy. As described on FireDogLake: “Prof. Adam Levitin has proposed this with his Chapter M for Mortgage bankruptcy. It would remove foreclosure actions from state court to federal bankruptcy court. Successful petitions [...]

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More Analysis Of The Impact of U.S. Bank v. Ibanez Decision: VIDEO

by Rich Vetstein 01.29.2011 Foreclosure

Harold Clarke, Esq., Senior Underwriter for Westcor Title Insurance Company–New England say the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez decision could be one of the most important real estate decisions in recent memory. He explains how it will impact the Massachusetts real estate market, and what may happen in the future. Also check out Westcor New England’s [...]

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Late To The Party? More Foreclosure Legislation Filed In Massachusetts

by Rich Vetstein 01.28.2011 Foreclosure
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You knew this was coming. The politicians smell a big political opportunity with the foreclosure mess in Massachusetts, and are filing legislation left and right. The latest is legislation filed by State Senator Karen Spilka and Attorney General Martha Coakley mandating loan modifications in certain circumstances. Specifically, the loan modification legislation requires creditors to take [...]

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Secretary of State Galvin Files Legislation To Resolve Faulty Foreclosures After U.S. Bank v. Ibanez Ruling

by Rich Vetstein 01.27.2011 Foreclosure
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From the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle Tribune: Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin filed legislation last Friday to give the Land Court authority to create a special master to deal with foreclosures that may have occurred improperly. Anyone seeking to challenge the legitimacy of a foreclosure would have one year to file a lawsuit in the [...]

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Dealing With The Mess U.S. Bank v. Ibanez Left Behind: SJC To Consider Sale After Invalid Foreclosure

by Rich Vetstein 01.22.2011 Foreclosure
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Breaking News (10/18/11): The Court has issued its opinion, affirming the Land Court’s dismissal. For a full analysis, click here. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has taken up an appeal about whether a home buyer can rightfully own a property if the bank that sold it to him didn’t have the right to foreclose on [...]

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A Title Insurance Underwriter’s View On Massachusetts Foreclosure Practice After The Ibanez Ruling

by Rich Vetstein 01.12.2011 Foreclosure

Guest Post By Harold Clark, Esq., New England Regional Counsel for Westcor Land Title Insurance Company. On January 7, 2011, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) rendered its decision in the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez case. Before discussing the Court’s decision, here is a brief review of the procedural history of the case. The Land Court’s [...]

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Apocalypse Now? Will The Massachusetts Ibanez Case Unravel Widespread Irregularities In The Residential Securitized Mortgage Market?

by Rich Vetstein 01.08.2011 Foreclosure
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Breaking News (10/19/11): SJC Rules Purchaser Of Ibanez Property Left Without Valid Title in Bevilacqua Case (click for more info) Barely 24 hours old — the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s U.S. Bank v. Ibanez decision is already a huge national story. The high court ruled that two foreclosures of sub-prime mortgages were null and void [...]

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Breaking News: U.S. Bank v. Ibanez Foreclosure Ruling Upheld: An Indictment Of The Securitized Mortgage System

by Rich Vetstein 01.07.2011 Foreclosure
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“[W]hat is surprising about these cases is … the utter carelessness with which the plaintiff banks documented the titles to their assets.” –Justice Robert Cordy, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled against foreclosing lenders and those who purchased foreclosed properties in Massachusetts in the controversial U.S. Bank v. Ibanez [...]

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Massachusetts Real Estate Law Year In Review & Outlook For 2011

by Rich Vetstein 12.27.2010 Condominium Law
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It’s that time again for our annual review of hot topics and top posts for the last year, 2010. #5. The Great Flood of 2010. Ah, who can forget the flooding in the spring of 2010. I sure remember bailing out my flooded basement every 30 minutes through the night, into exhaustion. Good times… FEMA [...]

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Focus On The Foreclosure Mess: Title Insurance, Robo-Signing, & Ibanez

by Rich Vetstein 10.26.2010 Foreclosure
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Two good questions came from my Boston.com real estate blog readers about the recent foreclosure mess. “Are title insurance companies still insuring foreclosure properties?”– James In Cambridge Answer: Yes, they are. Initially, the press reported that some major title insurers had temporarily stopped insuring foreclosure titles from JP Morgan Chase, Ally Financial, and Bank of [...]

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The Current State Of The Massachusetts and U.S. Residential Mortgage Lending Market

by Rich Vetstein 10.22.2010 Fannie Mae
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David Gaffin of Greenpark Mortgage,  www.massmortgageblog.com, is here with a superb summary of what’s now going on with Massachusetts (and national) residential mortgage market. The National and Massachusetts Mortgage Lending Picture Lot’s has been happening in the Mortgage World lately. Refinance business is very good. Purchase business is fair, heading into the all important year [...]

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