In the current judicial bubble, banks and servicers are almost always treated with far more leniency and and given far more leverage than borrowers — through the use of legal presumptions. This case is the exception — with the Maine Supreme Court deciding that Fannie Mae was not a creditor, that the dismissal with prejudice was affirmed, thus permanently barring any further action on a mortgage that was essentially void.
This does not eliminate the debt, but it does render the mortgage void, thus precluding foreclosure as a remedy to collect a debt from the putative borrower. The house is free and clear of the mortgage encumbrance, in this case, but the putative borrower is not free from the debt.
And if a real creditor can be produced (in nearly all cases that is impossible) then the creditor may obtain a judgment against the debtor/borrower that can in many states be enforced with very few homestead protections. Such a scenario is not likely in this or any other case.
As pointed out in our guest article this did NOT result in a “free house” for the borrower; it merely prevented a free house from going to Fannie Mae. The action on the promissory note can still be brought but in order to do that the Plaintiff must have legal standing — i.e., the Plaintiff must assert and prove that it has a financial loss proximately caused by the failure of the Defendant homeowner to repay the loan.
Or, as is the case in most foreclosures, the assertion must be made that the Plaintiff is a holder with the right to enforce. The stumbling block to that assertion has been that in order to show authority to enforce a debt that doesn’t belong to the Plaintiff, it must show that it has received the authority from a party who does own the debt — and not merely another another paper instrument from another party acting as Attorney in Fact, Servicer, agent, or anything else. Courts have almost unformly skipped this part of the proof using factually deficient legal presumptions. The end result is that the court’s legal premise (presumptions and assumptions) is contrary to the actual facts.
Get a LendingLies Consult and a LendingLies Chain of Title Analysis! 202-838-6345 or info@lendinglies.com.
https://www.vcita.com/v/lendinglies to schedule CONSULT, leave a message or make payments.
OR fill out our registration form FREE and we will contact you!
https://fs20.formsite.com/ngarfield/form271773666/index.html?1502204714426
THIS ARTICLE IS NOT A LEGAL OPINION UPON WHICH YOU CAN RELY IN ANY INDIVIDUAL CASE. HIRE A LAWYER.
—————-
Hat tip to The Gallant Goose for bringing this to my attention
SUPREME COURT OF MAINE SHOVES RES JUDICATA UP FANNIE MAE’S SKIRT AND DECLARES HOMEOWNERS GET CLEAN TITLE TO HOUSE!
ONE-AND-DONE IN MAINE if you didn’t get there already
http://www.courts.maine.gov/opinions_orders/supreme/lawcourt/2017/17me190.pdfMAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions
Decision: 2017 ME 190
Docket: Pen-16-316
Argued: May 12, 2017
Decided: September 7, 2017
Panel: ALEXANDER, MEAD, GORMAN, JABAR, HJELM, and HUMPHREY, JJ.
FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION
v.
PATRICIA W. DESCHAINE et al.III. CONCLUSION
[¶37] In sum, based on the application of the principles articulated in
Johnson to the undisputed facts of this case, Fannie Mae’s 2013 foreclosure
complaint is barred by the judgment dismissing with prejudice its
2011 complaint. The court therefore did not err by granting the Deschaines’
motion for summary judgment on Fannie Mae’s foreclosure complaint.
Additionally, because Fannie Mae is precluded from seeking to recover the
underlying debt on the note, the court did not err by concluding, based on
14 M.R.S. § 6206, that the Deschaines were, as a matter of law, entitled to a
judgment declaring that they hold title to the Lincoln property unencumbered
by the mortgage in favor of Fannie Mae.The entry is: Judgment affirmed.
—————-
Ken Ditkowsky


