A case recently decided by the Indiana Court of Appeals addressed a mortgage which contained the phrase: “This Security Instrument is given to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), (solely as nominee for Lender, as hereinafter defined, and Lender’s successors and assigns), as mortgagee.” The mortgage listed the Lender’s address as the address designated to receive notice. A subsequent mortgagee foreclosed on the property, named Lender as the defendant, and Lender filed a disclaimer of interest. The trial court entered a default judgment in the foreclosure suit and the property was sold. A month after the property had been sold, MERS assigned the MERS mortgage to Citi. Citi petitioned the court and asked that the judgment and sale be set aside due to the fact that MERS was not provided notice of the foreclosure action. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘foreclosure’
Indiana Case Reinforces the Importance of Naming the True Lender in a Foreclosure Action
Thursday, July 28th, 2011A Few Years Ago We Thought Receiverships Were Dead
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011Over the past few years, a number of amendments to the Bankruptcy Code have made bankruptcy a less flexible tool for debtors dealing with real estate related debt problems. As a result, state law receiverships are on the rise. Where before we rarely, if ever, saw receivership action initiated by a lender, they are now quite common. (more…)
Lender Who Fails to Attend Foreclosure Sale Cannot Object to Low Price
Friday, February 12th, 2010A Wyoming case stresses the importance of a lender attending a sheriff’s sale. In the McNeill Family Trust v. Centura Bank, 60 P.3d 1277 (Wyo. 2003), the lender filed mortgage foreclosure proceedings to recover a debt of over $87,000 secured by property with an original fair market value of $119,500. (more…)
When in Foreclosure, Don’t Forget the Tenant
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010Before undertaking a foreclosure action, most lenders are familiar with the procedure of obtaining a title update to make sure that any other lienholders are named as parties in the foreclosure action in order to adjudicate their interest in the property. The goal is to make sure that all other interests are foreclosed off of the real estate so that at a sheriff’s sale (in Indiana) or a master commissioner’s sale (in Kentucky) clear title can be conveyed to the purchaser. (more…)