Two Federal District Courts in Texas Rule MERS Has Authority to Assign Deed of Trust

Rulings Affirm Validity of Assignments

Reston, Virginia – April 8, 2016 – (RealEstateRama) — MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that the United States District Courts for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division and the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division held MERS’ assignments were valid, and granted motions to dismiss in two cases.

In pdf Campo v. Bank of America, N.A., (53 KB)  the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against MERS alleging that the MERS assignment of the deed of trust was invalid. The plaintiff contended that because MERS did not have any enforceable interest in the deed of trust, the MERS assignment failed to transfer any rights to the assignee.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas relied on pdf Reece v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n (90 KB) , which held, “Our Court has expressly recognized that MERS may assign a deed of trust to a third party and that such assignments confer the new assignee standing to non-judicially foreclose on property associated with that particular deed of trust.”

Similarly, in another recent ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, pdfRivers v. Bank of America, N.A (207 KB) ., the court adopted Magistrate Paul Stickney’s Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations in which he found that “[g]iven that the Deed of Trust in this case names MERS as the beneficiary…, and because MERS subsequently assigned the Deed of Trust to the Defendant, this assignment transferred all rights in the Deed of Trust, including the right to foreclose on the Property.”

“We are pleased that both courts continue to recognize that MERS has a valid interest in the deed of trust and has the right to assign that interest to third parties,” said MERSCORP Holdings Vice President for Corporate Communications, Janis Smith. “These rulings are consistent with other decisions in Texas and in courts throughout the country.”

For descriptions of cases and other materials pertaining to MERS’ business model and role in U.S. housing, please visit www.mersinc.org.

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MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. is a privately held corporation that owns and manages the MERS® System and all other MERS® products. It is a member-based organization made up of thousands of lenders, servicers, sub-servicers, investors and government institutions. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) serves as the mortgagee in the land records for loans registered on the MERS® System, and is a nominee (or agent) for the owner of the promissory note. The MERS® System is a national electronic database that tracks changes in mortgage servicing and beneficial ownership interests in residential mortgage loans on behalf of its members.

CONTACT: Janis Smith
Phone: 703-738-0230
Email: janiss (at) mersinc (dot) org