Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 146: Listen and Learn -- Mortgages and Priority
A recent decision from The Supreme Court of Florida (the “Florida Supreme Court”) in WVMF Funding v. Luisa Palmero, et al. (Fl. S. Ct.; SC19-1920, June 24, 2021) held that, while a note and mortgage must be read together, in...more
On July 7, 2021, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) introduced new uniform instruments (notes, security instruments, and riders) for use with loans to make them eligible for purchase by the GSEs. ...more
Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit Aungst v. Light, 9th Dist. Summit No. 29349, 2020-Ohio-3347 In this appeal, the Ninth Appellate District affirmed the trial court’s decision, finding that when a shareholder’s derivative...more
Alabama’s materialman’s lien statute (specifically, Ala. Code § 35-11-211) was drafted with the intent of providing construction lenders priority over materialmen as to debts relating to construction projects. This intent was...more
In In re Fortin, 598 B.R. 689 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2019), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts considered whether a lender may enforce a mortgage despite the unenforceability of the underlying...more
Two recent Massachusetts Appeals Court decisions offer both clarity and caution to mortgage lenders seeking to enforce their loan documents. These decisions address the importance of properly drafting prepayment provisions in...more
As attorneys representing the financial services industry well know, the financial crisis of 2007-2008 resulted in a wave of foreclosures across the country as borrowers struggled to make payments on their mortgages. The...more
As covered earlier this week in a legal alert, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a report recommending sweeping regulatory changes for consumer financial services. Within the report, the Treasury also recommended a...more
Reverse mortgage lenders received a significant victory in Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal last week when the court issued its decision in OneWest Bank, FSB v. Palmero. After previously ruling in Smith v. Reverse...more
In a recent opinion, the Supreme Court of Delaware held that a mortgage holder must be entitled to enforce the underlying obligation that secures the mortgage in order to foreclose on the mortgage. As a result of the court’s...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE: Foreclosure/Sufficiency of Notice: although lender’s notice of default did not expressly state that property could be sold in foreclosure, it substantially complied with notice provision (paragraph...more
Given the choice, a borrower in foreclosure may prefer that a jury determine her fate, rather than a judge. But by statute, “[a]ll mortgages shall be foreclosed in equity” and “foreclosure claim[s] shall, if tried, be tried...more
As Florida works through its foreclosure backlog, many of the cases remaining are those with complications, for example a lost promissory note. Such issues are not insurmountable, but do require an attention to detail. For...more
Home equity conversion mortgages, commonly known as “reverse mortgages” are popular loan products in Florida. In order to foreclose on a reverse mortgage, the lender generally must allege that all conditions necessary to...more
A mortgage lender has standing to foreclose even when it obtains assignment of the underlying promissory note after the note has been discharged in bankruptcy, a New York appellate court has ruled. The case arose after the...more
Legislation liberalizing Louisiana foreclosure law was signed by Louisiana’s governor on June 5. House Bill 697 becomes effective on August 1, 2015. One particular area where lenders strive to use technology involves...more
Notwithstanding Michigan’s 2012 Nonrecourse Mortgage Loan Act (NMLA), which provides that solvency covenants in nonrecourse loans unenforceable, in Borman, LLC v. 18718 Borman, LLC, a third-party purchaser of a foreclosed...more
Mortgage servicers beware. Mortgagors in Florida are defending residential mortgage foreclosures based on the allegation that the servicer failed to give them notice of assignment of the right to bill and collect on the debt...more