February 17, 2015

A second Florida Circuit Court has dismissed a foreclosure case involving America’s Wholesale Lender, finding that AWL did not exist; did not assign the mortgage; was not a licensed mortgage lender in Florida in 2005 or thereafter; and did not have authority to do business in Florida under F.S. 607.1506.

The Judgment Granting Defendant’s Motion for Involuntary Dismissal based on these facts was entered on February 12, 2016 in the matter of U.S. Bank, National Association, as Trustee for the Holders of CSFB ARMT 2005-6A v. Dimant, Florida 19th Judicial Circuit (St. Lucie County) Case No. 2013-CA-001130.

The Court also found that the alleged Assignment of Mortgage by MERS was invalid because MERS had no authority to assign ownership of the mortgage as MERS was not the owner and was only a nominee of the non-existent AWL, and thus the assignment was without authority and therefore invalid.

Significantly, the Court also found that the “alleged undated blank endorsement” by Countrywide doing business as AWL “is a direct violation of Florida Statute 677.501(1)(a) which provides that the document must be first negotiated by the named person’s indorsement and delivery.” The Court further found that the Plaintiff (US Bank) provided no evidence that Countrywide ever received the loan documents to accomplish a legal transfer of the loan as required by F.S. 673.2011, and that no evidence was provided by the Plaintiff of the relationship between AWL and Countrywide or BOA.

The Court concluded that US Bank had no standing to bring the action and all failed to meet all conditions precedent to bringing the action. The Court also found that the homeowners were the prevailing parties and reserved jurisdiction to hear motions for attorneys’ fees and costs.

This case was decided on practically the identical facts of the Bank of America v. Nash decision previously published on this website. Thus, as of this week, two separate Florida Circuit Courts have now dismissed foreclosure actions involving the non-existent AWL as the alleged “lender”.

We thank one of our dedicated readers for bringing this important decision to our attention today. A copy of the Judgment is available upon e-mail request.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com