Lost notes and unrecorded assignments of mortgages complicate an already nightmarish problem infecting the foreclosure process across the country. A Pinellas County Circuit Court case was recently overturned by the Second District Court of Appeals that, if it weren’t overturned, could have been used to help mitigate some of the problems caused by this failure of the system. The case involves Florida Statute, Chapter 701.02 requires that when a mortgage is sold or assigned to a third party, the parties are required to record in the same public records an Assignment of Mortgage to show the entity to whom the mortgage has been assigned.
Immediately after a mortgage is taken out on a property, that mortgage is recorded in the public records so that any interested person is aware of the debt against the property. Prior to a sale or refinance, a title search is performed and, because of a sophisticated and accurate recording system, all details relating to a property are easily discovered.
Prior to the recent period where mortgages were sold and traded multiple times after their execution, it was usually a pretty simple task to identify any party that would have an interest in the mortgage””their name was printed in black and white on the recorded mortgage. During the frenzied period of mortgage securitization and sales, it is now virtually impossible to determine exactly who owns an interest in the mortgage, but much of this confusion could have been avoided if lenders had been required to follow laws such as Florida Statute, Chapter 701.02 and other laws that have been in existence for years.
For more information on how this might apply to your case, contact Matt Weidner at www.mattweidnerlaw.com
