The Legal Description Subscribers

The Legal Description’s Case Law Report: Q4 2011 pulls the most significant court opinions from October through December  2011into one convenient special report. The fourth quarter of 2011 was especially significant as several foreclosure cases came before the states’ highest courts.

One of the most watched cases of the year was Francis Bevilacqua v. Pablo Rodriguez, in which the third party purchaser of property that had been improperly foreclosed upon sought to try title to the property in Massachusetts Land Court. The case eventually went before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which held that Bevliacqua did not hold title to the property because of the improper foreclosure. Read the court’s reasoning on Page 10.

On Page 7, you will find the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas’ decision in Jerry Chapman v. Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co. In that case, a borrower was allegedly charged an unearned fee for title insurance when he refinanced his mortgage and sued the title insurer for violations of RESPA and several state law claims. After the RESPA claims were dismissed, the court had to decide whether to grant summary judgment to the title insurer on the state law claims.

One of the many courts that had to determine whether Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. had a right to foreclose in property owners in default was the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the case before them, the third-party buyer of three pieces of property in Utah sued the various defendants who held interests in the property, seeking to prevent foreclosure. The company argued that the defendants had no authority to foreclose because the notes were securitized, necessitating the approval of each investor in order to foreclose. Find out whether the court agreed with the plaintiff on Page 33.

This 35 page special report covers 17 cases including:

• Home Federal Savings Bank v. Ticor Title Insurance Co.
• Carolyn Songer Austin f/k/a Carolyn Bair v. Investors Title Insurance Co.
• First American Title Insurance Co. v. David Ordin et al.

Available FREE when you subscribe to The Legal Description.