There are two significant foreclosure cases in 2015 which have a broad impact on foreclosure lawsuits. The first of these two cases is Faison v. Lewis. In this case the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York State, held that when bringing a lawsuit to set aside a mortgage due to forgery in the chain of title there is no statute of limitations.
Statute of Limitations Defense
In the Faison case an action was brought by a homeowner to set aside a mortgage claiming the deed was forged. The financial institution involved plead the usual six year statute of limitations defense had passed since the deed was prepared. They also claimed that more than two years had passed since the homeowner discovered the alleged forgery.
The sum and substance of the court’s decision is that a forgery creates no rights with regard to the deed involved. Therefore there is no point in time that limits the challenge to the document. Homeowners who have been involved in transactions involving fraudulent documents applaud the court’s decision. It eliminates time barred defenses of the statute of limitations which can be raised by financial institutions.
United States Supreme Court Case
The second case of importance to homeowners decided in 2015 was the case of Jesinoski v. Countrywide Home Loans. This decision was made by the United States Supreme Court, the highest court in America. In this unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court decided a significant issue under the Truth in Lending Act (hereinafter referred to as “TILA”). In this landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court held that all that is needed to be done to rescind a mortgage loan was to send a letter within three years from taking the mortgage out requesting the mortgage be rescinded. Up until this decision it was thought the only way to rescind a mortgage under TILA within the three year period was to commence a lawsuit seeking to rescind the loan on the basis of failure to conform to the disclosure requirements of TILA.
Homeowners now, who feel that there has been a violation of TILA by a lending institution, can simply send a letter to the lending institution rescinding the loan. Starting a lawsuit to set aside the mortgage loan is no longer necessary.
Conclusion
The Faison case decided by the New York State Court of Appeals and Jesinoski case decided by the United States Supreme Court in 2015 further increased the arsenal of defenses and actions that can be used regarding defending foreclosure lawsuits. Foreclosure defense lawyers continue to challenge the mistakes, frauds, omissions, false applications, bait and switch tactics, robo-signers, bad assignments, statute of limitations issues, failure to give notice issues, violations of State and Federal laws, violations of banking laws, violations of Truth in Lending Laws, violations of predatory lending laws, and numerous other defenses in helping keeping beleaguered homeowners in their homes. I look forward to continuing with this process.
