Constitutional Law › Residential Real Estate › Finance & Banking

Stanislaus County Moving Forward with Claribel Road Project

After two years of negotiating with residential property owners, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors approved acquisition of the property by eminent domain. The Modesto Bee reports that the board approved the...more

Florida to Government: Your Lien Doesn't Foreclose This Old Mortgage

The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that cities cannot create ordinances that subject prior recorded mortgages to their subsequently recorded county or governmental liens, because it conflicts with Florida's state statutes on...more

Court Explicates Scope of Usury Exemption For Real Estate Brokers

Artistotle didn’t think much of the idea of paying interest: (“As this is so, usury is most reasonably hated, because its gain comes from money itself and not from that for the sake of which money was invented. For...more

Court Holds That Statute Of Limitations Applies To Section 50(a)(6) Constitutional Claims

In Priester v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., homeowners sued for declaratory relief against their lender claiming that the lien on their home was void under the Texas Constitution. No. 12-40032, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 3097 (5th...more

Harold C. Wallace v. Midwest Financial & Mortgage Services Inc., et al

Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals re: Summary Judgment Reversed for Appraisal Fraud

A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 23 reversed an award of summary judgment to a mortgage lender, a mortgage brokerage firm and its principals after finding that an appraisal that inflated the value of a...more

Mortgagee and Mortgagor Standing and the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Trustee v. Jodi B. Matt, No. 11101 (Jan. 14, 2013), recently clarified the issue of standing for both plaintiffs and defendants in actions under the...more

Second Circuit Allows FHFA MBS Suits To Proceed

On April 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s partial denial of a financial institution’s motion to dismiss on standing and timeliness grounds a suit brought by the FHFA. Fed. Hous....more

No Marriage for Mortgage Resolution Partners Yet (But Proposal Still Being Considered)

Last summer, we at Crunched Credit wrote (here, here and here) about Mortgage Resolution Partner’s (“MRP”), a San Francisco-based venture-capital firm, proposal whereby underwater performing residential mortgage loans held in...more

Standing: An Affirmative Defense To Mortgage Foreclosure

To have standing to foreclose, it must be demonstrated that the plaintiff holds the note and mortgage in question. Mazine v. M & I Bank, 67 So. 3d 1129, 1132 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011). The plaintiff must prove that it had standing...more

Mortgage Banking Update - March 08, 2013

In This Issue: - Kentucky County Clerks Cannot Sue MERS for Failure To Record Mortgage Assignments, Sixth Circuit Rules - Bipartisan Policy Center Proposes New Directions for National Housing Policy - FTC...more

Left Out in the Cold: New Jersey Court Holds Condemning Authority Not Required to Negotiate with Lenders in Eminent Domain...

Early last month, in Borough of Merchantville v. Malik & Son, LLC, 429 N.J. Super. 416 (App. Div. 2013), the New Jersey appellate court held that a condemning authority, under the State’s eminent domain law, was not required...more

Texas Case Law Update – Judge Dismisses Putative Class Action Over Home Equity Modifications

In an ongoing effort to update our financial institution clients about developments in Texas jurisprudence that may impact them, we bring to your attention a recent decision of particular importance to mortgage and home...more

Past CFPB actions may portend fate of mortgage rules

Following the invalidation of three presidential “recess” appointments to the NLRB by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Noel Canning v. NRLB, theories continue to swirl about the fate of Director Cordray....more

California County Drops Consideration Of Eminent Domain Proposal

On January 24, a Joint Powers Authority established by San Bernardino County decided not to pursue a proposal under which the County would use eminent domain power to seize underwater mortgages from private trusts and provide...more

More Reports on San Bernardino's Decision to Abandon Underwater Mortgage Eminent Domain Plan

Given how much publicity the proposal to condemn underwater mortgages received when it first appeared last summer, I suppose it's not surprising that San Bernardino's decision last week not to move forward has also garnered a...more

San Bernardino Not Moving Forward with Proposed Plan to Condemn Underwater Mortgages

For the better part of a year, we've been writing about the controversial proposal to use the power of eminent domain to condemn underwater mortgages, allowing homeowners to have a new loan that better reflects the underlying...more

Rogers Towers: Legal Standing to Bring a Mortgage Foreclosure Lawsuit

The importance of demonstrating legal standing as a condition precedent to filing a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit cannot be overstated. In simple terms, “standing” refers to one’s legal right to bring a lawsuit....more

New Jersey Courts Require Homeowners to Act Promptly in Defense of Foreclosure

The New Jersey Appellate Division found that homeowners' excessive delay in raising their standing arguments precluded potential defenses and affirmed that a foreclosure judgment received by a party lacking standing is not...more

Ohio Supreme Court Holds Standing to Foreclose Cannot Be Established by Assignment of Note After Filing

On October 31, the Ohio Supreme Court held unanimously that a party’s standing to foreclose on a delinquent borrower is determined as of the filing of the complaint, and the party’s receipt of an assignment of a promissory...more

Voting on 11 Amendments to Florida's Constitution: Analysis Available, Future Property Tax Revenues Will Be Impacted

Florida has 11 proposed amendments to its state constitution, some of which will impact Florida's real estate industry directly while others may have more of an indirect impact on real estate development and investment here. ...more

The Fight Over the Use of Eminent Domain to Seize Underwater Mortgages: Recent Updates

The latest developments in the fight over the use of eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages in California and elsewhere have important implications for lenders nationwide. The debate over the use of eminent domain...more

This Week in Washington - September 28, 2012

In This Issue: - DOMESTIC POLICY MATTERS - Budget. On Saturday, the Senate approved the Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) Continuing Resolution (CR), which now awaits the President's signature. The CR makes continuing...more

Ohio Supreme Court Holds Website Notice of Sheriff’s Sale Does Not Satisfy Due Process

On September 6, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that notice of a sheriff’s sale via the sheriff’s website was insufficient to satisfy due process and reversed an appellate court decision that denied a foreclosing lender’s...more

FHFA Seeks Comment on Potential Response to Use of Eminent Domain to Restructure Loans

On August 8, the FHFA released a notice commenting on the potential use of eminent domain by localities to restructure mortgages for borrowers who are current but “underwater.” Several localities have stated publicly that...more

California Authorities Consider Seizing Mortgages Secured by Residential Properties

It’s no secret that California has been hit harder than most states by the housing crisis. Just east of Los Angeles, the county of San Bernardino has cities with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the U.S. On July...more