Philadelphia Weekly

REAL ESTATE

How foreclosures failed the legal test

Law of the Land

By Inman News Feed

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jan. 26, 2011

Either the assignor or the assignee should be the holder of the mortgage recorded in the public records, the court explained, and the assignment must be in place at the time of both the foreclosure notice and the foreclosure sale itself.

The court also ruled that assignments "in blank" are not valid until the date on which they are completely filled in with the name of the assignee. Neither did the post-sale assignment agreements do anything to empower U.S. Bank to foreclose; transfers of interests in real property are valid only on the date they are made, the high court opined.

Accordingly, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the land court had not erred in rejecting the banks' requests for declarations of clear title in these matters, nor had it erred in declaring the foreclosure sales invalid.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.