November 21, 2016

Motions for leave (permission) to file amended claims against “banks” seeking to foreclose have been granted in cases in Hawaii and Oregon in the last 4 days. The homeowners are represented by Jeff Barnes, Esq. of W. J. Barnes, P.A., together with local counsel in each state.

In the Hawaii case, the homeowners had been proceeding pro se, and HSBC Bank as Trustee for a securitization trust had filed a motion for summary judgment. The homeowners sought leave to amend their Answer and affirmative defenses, which motion was vigorously opposed by HSBC’s counsel (who Mr. Barnes had previously prevailed against by defeating motions filed by that Firm). The Court, after extensive argument, granted the homeowners’ motion last Thursday, which now permits them to advance new theories of defense which Mr. Barnes’ Firm has developed and which have not been previously litigated in Hawaii.

Today, an Oregon Circuit Judge also granted the homeowners’ motion to amend their original Complaint, which was filed in 2010 to defend against what was then a non-judicial foreclosure instituted by GMAC mortgage. MERS, which was a defendant in the case, prevailed on summary judgment. The homeowners appealed and prevailed at both the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court levels in what has become known as the “Niday case”, which held that MERS is not a beneficiary of the Deed of Trust despite claiming to be so. Jeff Barnes, Esq. of W. J. Barnes, P.A. represented the homeowners in both of the appeals, and in the hearing today.

The Court’s ruling today permits the homeowners to pursue a new theory of defense developed by Mr. Barnes’ Firm against U.S. Bank as the claimed “trustee” of a securitization trust, despite the fact that it has failed to explain how the enforceable interest in the Note and DOT went from GMAC Mortgage (which filed for Bankruptcy in May of 2012) to U.S. Bank.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com