Despite a last-minute attempt to insert an amendment into Oregon senate bill 519 that would have “relieved lenders of ensuring a property’s ownership history is properly recorded in public records before foreclosing outside a courtroom,” the OR senate decided yesterday to continue to push forward a bill designed to preserve affordable housing incentives in foreclosures involving subsidized housing [1]. Lenders had hoped that the amendment would be added to the bill so that they could move on with existing foreclosures and initiate foreclosure starts. Currently many foreclosures are on hold in Oregon thanks to judicial decisions that appear to render non-judicial foreclosure for many note-holders out of the question. One of the most recent cases involved a judge who ruled that MERS (mortgage electronic registration systems) and MERS servicers could not foreclose using Oregon’s non-judicial foreclosure process, but must take their foreclosures through the courts due to a high incidence of unclear chains of title for many MERS properties [2]. MERS holds the note to around half the mortgages in the United States.
Lance Olsen, an attorney representing trustee companies, lenders and servicers throughout the Northwest, warned that taking foreclosures to the courtroom will simply extend the process and increase the cost of foreclosures. However, part of his warning included a note that “other actions are being held up as lenders try to work with borrowers to arrange loan workouts or complete trial modifications.” Many would argue that this type of hold-up is not necessarily a bad thing.
Do you think that mortgage servicers should have gotten their Oregon amendment, or did legislators do the right thing in leaving it out?
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[1]http://www.loansafe.org/mers-foreclosure-amendment-dies-in-oregon-house-committee
[2]http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/05/26/oregon-judge-denies-foreclosure-challenges-mers/
June 3rd, 2011 at 11:52 AM
Let the note holders foreclose out of the courtroom.
June 4th, 2011 at 4:57 PM
Whoever in the Oregon Legislature tried to get this passed ought to be subject to recall. He/she was bought lock stock and barrel by the Bank loby. The Banks are trying every trick in the book to extend their FRAUD. The fundamental constitutional due process rights reside in the integrety of the chain of title. To violate that means anyone can steal property at any time. It is in effect private eminant domain not allowed by the US constitution. The only way justice will be returned is for the courts to take their constitutional mandate to protect property owners rights. Those states with non-judicial foreclosure are a free-for-all wild west transfer of equity to the undeserved.