Residential Real Estate › Constitutional Law › Civil Procedure

Second Circuit Agrees To Hear Interlocutory Appeal Of Key MBS Litigation Questions

On May 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted two petitions seeking interlocutory appeal of key questions related to pending mortgage backed securities (MBS) cases....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 Affirms Denial of UBS’s Motion to Dismiss FHFA Complaint

On April 5, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying UBS’s motion to dismiss the complaint brought by the FHFA. FHFA sued UBS as conservator of Fannie Mae...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

Regulatory Takings: Monks v. Rancho Palos Verdes Revisited (Again)

For those of you who have followed Nossaman's blog since the very early days, you'll recall our coverage of a significant regulatory takings case, Monks v. City of Rancho Palos Verdes. The 2008 California decision received...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

Appellate Notes: Week of March 18, 2013

In This Issue: - SC18921- Redding Life Care, Inc. v. Redding - SC18846- Bauer v. Bauer - SC18947- State v. Charlotte Hungerford Hospital - AC34075- Carrillo v. Goldberg - AC33764- Alarmax...more

Follow Up on IRWA/Appraisal Institute "2012 Eminent Domain Year in Review" Presentation

For those of you who attended the joint meeting today between Chapter 1 of the International Right of Way Association and the Appraisal Institute, we promised to post a cheat sheet that reminds you about the cases associated...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

Top 5 Problems with Florida's (Un)Fair Foreclosure Act- HB 0087

Again, the Florida legislature is considering improvident foreclosure legislation, HB 0087, which will impair the rights of homeowners and provide banks with new rights to accelerate their rapid foreclosure of homes...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

DISPUTE RESOLUTION: Business Litigation Important Texas Water Rights Case Could Affect Oil & Gas Activities as Well by Brannon...

The Texas Supreme Court recently issued an important decision on a groundwater rights question that had gone unanswered for more than a century. In Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, the Court held that Texas property owners...more

Iligan v. Ungacta

Motion For Leave To File And Brief Of Amici Curiae The National Federation Of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center;...

One of the biggest dangers of not providing adequate constitutional protections for private property is that public officials can misuse their power to take property for private gains. Government actors, after all, have an...more

Illinois Supreme Court to Issue Final Four Civil Opinions on Friday Morning

This morning, the Illinois Supreme Court announced that it will issue four more civil opinions on Friday morning to close out 2012. The upcoming decisions deal with issues as diverse as res judicata and absolute immunity,...more

U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments Set In Koontz v St John's River Water Management District for January 15, 2013

One month from now, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Case No. 11-1447, styled Coy A. Koontz, Jr., Petitioner v. St. Johns River Water Management District, Respondent (read the docket here). We've...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

Section 8 Housing: Safety Net or Tangled Web? An Overview of Section 8 Tenancy Termination and Related Due Process Issues

There is no question that the federal government’s Section 8 housing assistance rent subsidy provides an invaluable safety net to impoverished, elderly, and disabled members of our community. The Department of Housing and...more

Argument Report: Taxpayer Standing to Challenge Education Financing?

Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court's September term continue with Carr v. Koch. In Carr, the taxpayer plaintiffs are challenging Circuit Court and Appellate Court decisions that they lacked...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

Lessons from a Long, Long Eminent Domain Battle

A few weeks ago, the California Court of Appeal issued an interesting unpublished decision detailing a long, drawn-out eminent domain battle in Riverside County. I haven't blogged about it yet because, well to be honest, it...more