Maine High Court Boots MERS For Lack Of Standing To Initiate F'closure Action, Okays Post-Filing Substitution Of Bank As Real Party In Interest

The Maine Supreme Court recently weighed in on whether everyone's favorite mortgage electronic registration system, MERS, had any business initiating foreclosure actions. In a nutshell, the court ruled as follows:

• MERS is not a "mortgagee" within the meaning of the state's foreclosure statute, 14 M.R.S. §§ 6321-6325, and therefore had no standing to institute foreclosure proceedings;

• it OK'd the substitution of the bank, as the real party in interest, for MERS in the lawsuit, subsequent to the commencement of the foreclosure action; and

• given the facts of the case, the Bank was found not to be entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law and, accordingly, the court vacated the judgment of foreclosure and kicked the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.

For the ruling, see Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. v. Saunders, et al., 2010 ME 79 (August 12, 2010).

Thanks to Mike Dillon of GetDShirtz.com for the heads-up on the ruling.