""""MERSCORP Holdings, Inc."""":http://www.mersinc.org has won yet another victory in a long list of lawsuits filed against the company. The company recently announced that the Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed that Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) had the authority to assign a mortgage for foreclosure. The decision was first issued by a superior court's judgment in the state.
[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]The latest suit involved an invalid foreclosure sale. In _Rutter v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc._, the borrowers challenged the foreclosure sale of their mortgaged property arguing, in part, that the MERS assignment was invalid, according to a statement issued by MERS.
In a similar case, the court acknowledged that Rhode Island homeowners have standing to challenge assignments of mortgages on their homes to determine and contest the foreclosing entity's authority to foreclose. That case set the precedent for the current case, and as a result the court determined that the MERS assignment was valid. The court stated that the mortgage signed by the borrowers """"directly listed MERS and its assignees as having the statutory power of sale, therefore permitting MERS to assign the Mortgage and permitting the assignee to foreclose,"""" and agreed with the ruling of the trial justice that the assignment was valid and the foreclosure was proper, according to the statement.
""""The ruling by the Court affirms that MERS, as mortgagee, is the holder of legal title to the mortgage and does have the authority to make assignments and courts will continue to find the MERS assignments valid,"""" said Janis Smith, VP for Corporate Communications for MERSCORP Holdings.