Oregon Judge Rules in Favor of MERS

Chief Judge Ann Aiken for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon dismissed a borrower's lawsuit against MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., Delta Financial Liquidating Trust, Ocwen Loan Servicing, and HSBC Banks.

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""MERS"":http://www.mersinc.org made the announcement Wednesday for the case _Oliver v. Delta Financial Liquidating Trust_.

The borrower in the case was actually not in default.

In the plaintiff's complaint, the borrower alleged that none of the defendants held an interest in the his property because none of the defendants recorded the transfer of his promissory note in county records when his mortgage was sold by the original lender.

The plaintiff asserted that he should be able to keep the property without having to repay the note.

In the opinion written by Judge Aiken, the recent Oregon Court of Appeals decision in _Niday v. GMAC Mortgage LLC_ was cited, which determined that under Oregon law, a transfer of the note automatically transfers possession of the security interest [the deed of trust] in the property to the next note owner.

Aiken dismissed claims against the defendants, ruling that failure to record note transfers in the county records ""fails to articulate a legal basis to remove the DOT [Deed of Trust] from the Property or otherwise allege any wrongful conduct that is redressable by this Court.""

The opinion also stated that the since plaintiff has not defaulted on his loan or paid it off, ""there is no current need for this Court to act and plaintiff will not suffer any hardship as a result.""

""The Chief Judge's ruling is consistent with Niday because that decision did not invalidate deeds of trust that identify MERS as beneficiary,"" said Janis Smith, MERSCORP's Vice President for Corporate Communications. ""This ruling also emphasizes that Niday concerns only the requirements for non-judicial foreclosures and certainly does not relieve borrowers of the obligation to repay their mortgage debt.""