In what I believe is the biggest win yet for the “produce the note” movement, a U.S. judge in New Jersey recently blocked a foreclosure attempt by Bank of America, arguing that BoA did not have standing because of problems with its loan documentation.
In her November 16 ruling in the case John T. Kemp v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc., Chief Judge Judith H. Wizmur of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden ruled that BoA (which acquired Countrywide in 2008) could not foreclose on an investment property Kemp owned at 1316 Kings Highway, Haddon Heights, because Countrywide never delivered the mortgage note to its trustee Bank of New York and thus could neither claim to be the noteholder of record nor claim to be acting as a servicer for BoNY.
Wizmur’s ruling gets into a level of minutiae that normal people may find daunting. Issues turn, for example, on whether papers correctly name Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. rather than Countrywide Home Loans Servicing LP. There are interesting conceptual questions as well, such as whether a trustee could be authorized to collect on a mortgage loan but not, because of confusion about documents, to consider that loan collateralized.
via Foreclosure Blocked On “Show Me the Note” Objection.
