December 6, 2012

Yesterday, an Oakland County, Michigan Judge overruled numerous objections of foreclosing Plaintiff Citimortgage, Inc. (CMI) in a judicial foreclosure action where CMI relies for its alleged standing on a pahntom assignment (which CMI admits was “lost” before it was recorded with present whereabouts unknown), and an alleged “endorsement” from the original lender which went out of business in 2009 and was found by the State of Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth Office of Financial and Insurances Services (OFIS) to have engaged in fraudulent mortgage activities in connection with the origination and sale of mortgage loans to third parties, including WaMu. The Cease and Desist Order, with detailed findings, is 38 pages in length, and readily available by googling World Wide Financial Services.

CMI’s counsel took the position, unsupported by any Affidavit or other evidence, the now all too familiar “we have the Note, it has an endorsement in blank, thus we win and everything the homeowner asks for is irrelevant” tack. The Court disagreed, ordering CMI to serve discovery responses to the homeowner’s request for the production of all documents which purport to assign any interest in the mortgage or Note to any party; all documents evidencing the recording of any such assignment of either the Note or the mortgage; all documents setting forth the entire chain of title to the Note and mortgage from the original lender to the true and present holder; all documents setting forth payments and credits on the loan and the disposition of all payments made; all documents setting forth the treatment of taxes including the establishment of escrows and payments from escrows; and all appraisals as to both the property and the mortgage loan as well as other documents relating to charges in connection with the mortgage loan.

Jeff Barnes, Esq. represents the homeowner together with local Michigan counsel Priya Kumar, Esq. Mr. Barnes filed the formal response to CMI’s “Motion to Quash” the homeowner’s discovery and argued the motion yesterday.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com