The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) brought an application in a foreclosure case for summary judgment in the year 2010. The summary judgment motion was denied because there were defects in the foreclosure lawsuit. FNMA in 2014 brought a second foreclosure lawsuit. In this lawsuit they made a similar motion for summary judgment seeking the same relief they had sought in their prior motion. The court denied the motion again.
Justice Alice Schlesinger, sitting in a Foreclosure Supreme Court Part in New York County, dismissed the lawsuit a second time. Her decision stated there were numerous deficiencies in the papers submitted by the attorneys for FNMA. FNMA’s attorneys claimed none of the defects in their papers were significant. Justice Schlesinger found they had four years to correct the problems which existed in the original lawsuit and they still hadn’t dealt with these issues. Justice Schlesinger was “troubled” by the ambiguous role the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”) had in the assignment process with regard to this mortgage. She also noted in her decision there were a number of scriveners errors in the Complaint submitted by the bank. Her decision stated these errors dealt with significant issues. Her decision stated there was an issue concerning who had possession of the note at the time the foreclosure lawsuit was initiated. Justice Schlesinger found that FNMA sought to amend their Complaint five years after initiating the original proceeding. The court declined FNMA’s leave to amend and dismissed the foreclosure lawsuit.
Conclusion
Experienced foreclosure defense lawyers who carefully review the facts of a case can come up with winning strategies to have these cases dismissed.