Source: https://ru.scribd.com/document/40278499/JUDGE-SCHECK-ROBO-DISMISSAL-MAKES-IT-CLEAR-ON-10-27-2010-ONEWWEST-BANK-V-DRAYTON
Timestamp: 2020-07-04 21:01:48
Document Index: 323644793

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1321', '§ 6501', '§ 6514', '§ 11', '§ 6501', '§ 336']

JUDGE SCHECK ROBO-DISMISSAL - MAKES IT CLEAR ON 10-27-2010 - ONEWWEST BANK V DRAYTON | Financial Services | Civil Law (Common Law)
With crushing clarity, Judge Shack in New York has made it crystal clear that the finesse of recording requirement for real property and splitting the note and mortgage won’t work under his watch. The quoted segments of testimony from a robo-signer shows criminal responsibility on the part of the robo-signor, the notary, and the witnesses. The admissions from the witness show that this was and remains an industry-wide practice.
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Cites Hogan's Heroes!! Dec 2011 Judge Schack Sanctions HSBC for False Paperwork & use of robosigners
NYS Unified Court System sued for NY Judges acting w/out jurisdiction, outside the scope of Employment, aiding and abetting Fraud in a Foreclosure case
Letter to AG Brown Regarding Mabry From Attorney Hall
NY J SHACK EXPLAINS PRINCIPAL AND AGENT TO ONEWEST: ROBO-
CASE DISMISSED COMMENTARY BY NEIL GARFIELD 10-27-2010,
BELOVED BLOGGER AND ATTORNEY. COMMENTARY NOT LEGAL
10.27.10 JUDGE SCHACK ROBO DISMISSAL-Onewest-Bank-F-S-B-v-
Drayton[1]
With crushing clarity, Judge Shack in New York has made it crystal clear that the
finesse of recording requirement for real property and splitting the note and
mortgage won’t work under his watch. The quoted segments of testimony
from a robo-signer shows criminal responsibility on the part of the robo-
signor, the notary, and the witnesses. The admissions from the witness show
that this was and remains an industry-wide practice.
The purpose was to split the mortgage from the note so the receivables could be
transferred around and split up multiple times in duplicate as the
“securitizers” wanted. The law cannot be more clear on this point. If the
parties intentionally split the mortgage from the note, the mortgage loses its
validity and cannot be restored. The reason for this principle of law could
not be more simple: the purpose of property law, contract law and the UCC
is to provide stability, consistency and confidence in transactions. Anything
less would create chaos such that nobody would ever know if they were
really the owner of anything they bought. Splitting the note from the
mortgage, even for an instant, creates an automatic cloud on title, probably
a defect in title, most probably a fatal defect of title and certainly prevents
the transferor from honestly warranting that the title is marketable.
There is way to fix this and there is no reason to feel sympathy for the perpetrators
of this scheme. The reason they wanted the note and mortgage split was
precisely what the law seeks to avoid: multiple duplicate conveyances of the
same interest in real property. There is no wiggle room on this. If you want
to fix it, EVERYONE who could possibly have an interest must be joined in
the same document or the same quiet title lawsuit — and with the best
lawyers in the country, these employers of robo-signors seeking to avoid
direct culpability in perjury and other criminal acts obviously know these
simple legal requirements. Their problem is not that they don’t understand
it. The real problem is that there are so many parties involved in the
“securitization” transactions that many of them have interests each adverse
Logic dictates the final result: since there obviously won’t be an agreement to sign
a new document or set of documents based upon premises that were never
true and have now been revealed, a court must be the venue for deciding the
rights and obligations of the parties. The best place for that to happen is in
bankruptcy court, but not everyone is willing or qualified to petition for
bankruptcy relief and most borrowers cannot qualify for lien stripping
down to fair market value under current law. So a court of equity must
make the decision either in Federal or State Court, applying applicable
Wall Street doesn’t like that result. Going to court and having all issues tried on
the merits will open a can of worms they can never allow. By concentrating
their fire power on tiny portions of the the entire transaction and depicting
the borrower’s closing as the entire transaction, the pretender lenders
manage to confuse some Judges, but not Judge Shack. As Beth Findsen, Esq.
in Scottsdale has repeatedly pointed out, this is a relatively simple principal
and agent issue.
Shack, along with an increasing number of other Judges, understands that this
was a single transaction between the MBS investor and the borrower and
that everyone in between is an agent. The only two principals are the MBS
investor and the homeowner. Wall Street doesn’t like that either because the
collateral source rule that would exclude loss mitigation payments from
third parties would not apply simply because they would not be collateral
sources — they are part of the entire transaction as described in the
undisclosed securitization documents.
The pretender lenders want to turn non-disclosure into a virtue and use it as proof
that the single transaction rule does not apply. But failing to disclose those
documents and all the other antics that went with it is not the same as non-
existence of those documents. They exist, they were undisclosed and they
define the roles of the parties and their intention with respect to the splitting
• Counsel are particularly directed to page 19, to observe the testimony of the deponent
Seck that “her in-house counsel reviewed the Order of the Court (Shack)” and
instructed here not to comply. Now THAT is impressive.
• Note also the Court’s requirement upon re-filing that plaintiff provide the Court with
evidence supporting the proposition that the original Lender (Cambridge) granted
authority to its nominee MERS to do the onward transfer. I have not seen this
before. This never seems to happen, as typically the next entity in the food chain
makes a transfer as a MERS vp or by “attorney-in-fact” claims.
• Using this Order as foundation, to the extent it can be woven into Motions, would
provide powerful grounds to undo the MERS knot.
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the
printed Official Reports.
In this foreclosure action, plaintiff ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B. (ONEWEST), moved for an order
of reference and related relief for the premises located at 962 Hemlock Street, Brooklyn, New
York (Block 4529, Lot 116, County of Kings), upon the default of all defendants. The Kings
County Supreme Court Foreclosure Department forwarded the motion papers to me on August 30,
2010. While drafting this decision and order, I received on October 14, 2010, in the midst of the
present national media attention about "robo-signers," an October 13, 2010-letter from plaintiff's
counsel, by which "[i]t is respectfully requested that plaintiff's application be withdrawn at this
time." There was no explanation or reason given by plaintiff's counsel for his request to withdraw
the motion for an order of reference other than "[i]t is our intention that a new application
containing updated information will be re-submitted shortly."
The Court grants the request of plaintiff's counsel to withdraw the instant motion for an order of
reference. However, to prevent the waste of judicial resources, the instant foreclosure action is
dismissed without prejudice, with leave to renew the instant motion for an order of [*2]reference
within sixty (60) days of this decision and order, by providing the Court with necessary and
Second, the Court requires an affidavit from Erica A. Johnson-Seck, a conflicted "robo-signer,"
explaining her employment status. A "robo-signer" is a person who quickly signs hundreds or
thousands of foreclosure documents in a month, despite swearing that he or she has personally
reviewed the mortgage documents and has not done so. Ms. Johnson-Seck, in a July 9, 2010
deposition taken in a Palm Beach County, Florida foreclosure case, admitted that she: is a "robo-
signer" who executes about 750 mortgage documents a week, without a notary public present; does
not spend more than 30 seconds signing each document; does not read the documents before
signing them; and, did not provide me with affidavits about her employment in two prior cases.
(See Stephanie Armour, "Mistakes Widespread on Foreclosures, Lawyers Say," USA Today, Sept.
27, 2010; Ariana Eunjung Cha, "OneWest Bank Employee: Not More Than 30 Seconds' to Sign
Each Foreclosure Document," Washington Post, Sept. 30, 2010).
In the instant action, Ms. Johnson-Seck claims to be: a Vice President of MERS in the March 16,
2009 MERS to INDYMAC assignment; a Vice President of INDYMAC in the May 14, 2009
INDYMAC to ONEWEST assignment; and, a Vice President of ONEWEST in her June 30, 2009-
affidavit of merit. Ms. Johnson-Seck must explain to the Court, in her affidavit: her employment
history for the past three years; and, why a conflict of interest does not exist in the instant action
with her acting as a Vice President of assignor MERS, a Vice President of assignee/assignor
INDYMAC, and a Vice President of assignee/plaintiff ONEWEST. Further, Ms. Johnson-Seck
must explain: why she was a Vice President of both assignor MERS and assignee DEUTSCHE
BANK in a second case before me, Deutsche Bank v Maraj, 18 Misc 3d 1123 (A) (Sup Ct, Kings
County 2008); why she was a Vice President of both assignor MERS and assignee INDYMAC in a
third case before me, Indymac Bank, FSB, v Bethley, 22 Misc 3d 1119 (A) (Sup Ct, Kings County
2009); and, why she executed an affidavit of merit as a Vice President of DEUTSCHE BANK in a
fourth case before me, Deutsche Bank v Harris (Sup Ct, Kings County, Feb. 5, 2008, Index No.
35549/07).
Third, plaintiff's counsel must comply with the new Court filing requirement, announced yesterday
by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, which was promulgated to preserve the integrity of the
foreclosure process. Plaintiff's counsel must submit an affirmation, using the new standard Court
form, that he has personally reviewed plaintiff's documents and records in the instant action and
has confirmed the factual accuracy of the court filings and the notarizations in these documents.
Counsel is reminded that the new standard Court affirmation form states that "[t]he wrongful filing
and prosecution of foreclosure proceedings which are discovered to suffer from these defects may
be cause for disciplinary and other sanctions upon participating counsel."
mortgage and note on January 12, 2007, borrowing $492,000.00 from CAMBRIDGE. MERS
"acting solely as a nominee for Lender [CAMBRIDGE]" and "FOR PURPOSES OF
RECORDING THIS MORTGAGE, MERS IS THE MORTGAGEE OF RECORD," recorded the
instant mortgage and note on March 19, 2007, in the Office of the City Register of the City of New
York, at City Register File Number (CRFN) 2007000143961. Plaintiff DRAYTON allegedly
defaulted in his mortgage loan payment on September 1, 2008.
Then, MERS, as nominee for CAMBRIDGE, assigned the instant nonperforming mortgage and
note to INDYMAC, on March 16, 2009. Erica A. Johnson-Seck executed the assignment as a Vice
President of MERS, as nominee for CAMBRIDGE. This assignment was recorded in the Office of
the City Register of the City of New York, on March 24, 2009, at CRFN 200900084809. However,
as will be discussed below, there is an issue whether MERS, as CAMBRIDGE's nominee, was
authorized by CAMBRIDGE, its principal, to assign the subject DRAYTON mortgage and note to
plaintiff INDYMAC.
Subsequently, almost two months later, Ms. Johnson-Seck, now as a Vice President of
INDYMAC, on May 14, 2009, assigned the subject mortgage and note to ONEWEST. This
assignment was recorded in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York, on May 22,
2009, at CRFN 2009000155018.
Plaintiff ONEWEST commenced the instant foreclosure action on June 18, 2009 with the filing of
the summons, complaint and notice of pendency. On August 6, 2009, plaintiff ONEWEST filed
the instant motion for an order of reference. Attached to plaintiff ONEWEST's moving papers is an
affidavit of merit by Erica A. Johnson-Seck, dated June 30, 2009, in which she claims to be a Vice
President of plaintiff ONEWEST. She states, in ¶ 1, that "[t]he facts recited herein are from my
own knowledge and from review of the documents and records kept in the ordinary course of
business with respect to the servicing of this mortgage." There are outstanding questions about Ms.
Johnson-Seck's employment, whether she executed sworn documents without a notary public
present and whether she actually read and personally reviewed the information in the documents
that she executed.
On July 9, 2010, nine days after executing the affidavit of merit in the instant action, Ms. Johnson-
Seck was deposed in a Florida foreclosure action, Indymac Federal Bank, FSB, v Machado
(Fifteenth Circuit Court in and for Palm Beach County, Florida, Case No. 50 2008 CA
037322XXXX MB AW), by defendant Machado's counsel, Thomas E. Ice, Esq. Ms. Johnson-Seck
admitted to being a "robo-signer," executing sworn documents outside the presence of a notary
public, not reading the documents before signing them and not complying with my prior orders in
the Maraj and Bethley decisions.
Ms. Johnson-Seck admitted in her Machado deposition testimony that she was not employed by
INDYMAC on May 14, 2009, the day she assigned the subject mortgage and note to ONEWEST,
even though she stated in the May 14, 2009 assignment that she was a Vice President of
INDYMAC. According to her testimony she was employed on May 14, 2010 by assignee
ONEWEST. The following questions were asked and then answered by Ms. Johnson Seck, at p. 4,
line 11 - p. 5, line 4:
A. 7700 West Parmer Lane, P-A-R-M-E-R, Building D, Austin, Texas
Despite executing, on March 16, 2009, the MERS, as nominee for CAMBRIDGE, assignment to
INDYMAC, as Vice President of MERS, she admitted that she is not an officer of MERS. Further,
she claimed to have "signing authority" from several major banking institutions and the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The following questions were asked and then answered by
Ms. Johnson-Seck, at p. 6, lines 5 - 21:
Registration Systems as a vice president, correct?
A. IndyMac Federal Bank, Indymac Bank, FSB, FDIC as receiver for
Indymac Bank, FDIC as conservator for Indymac, Deutsche Bank, Bank of
New York, U.S. Bank. And that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Then, she answered the following question about her "signing authority," at page 7, lines 3 - 10:
Q. When you say you have signing authority, is your authority to sign
as an officer of those corporations?
in-fact. IndyMac Bank and IndyMac Federal Bank I now sign as attorney-
in-fact. I only sign as a vice president for OneWest.
Ms. Johnson-Seck admitted that she is not an officer of MERS, has no idea how MERS is
organized and does not know why she signs assignments as a MERS officer. Further, she admitted
that the MERS assignments she executes are prepared by an outside vendor, Lender Processing
Services, Inc. (LPS), which ships the documents to her Austin, Texas office from Minnesota.
Moreover, she admitted executing MERS assignments without a notary public [*5]present. She
also testified that after the MERS assignments are notarized they are shipped back to LPS in
LPS, in its 2009 Form 10-K, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, states that it is "a provider of integrated technology and services to the mortgage
lending industry, with market leading positions in mortgage processing and default management
services in the U.S. [p. 1]"; "we offer lenders, servicers and attorneys certain administrative and
support services in connection with managing foreclosures [p. 4]"; "[a] significant focus of our
marketing efforts is on the top 50 U.S. banks [p. 5]"; and, "our two largest customers, Wells Fargo
Bank, N.A. and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., each accounted for more than 10% of our aggregate
revenue [p. 5]."LPS is now the subject of a federal criminal investigation related to its foreclosure
document preparation. (See Ariana Eunjung Cha. "Lender Processing Services Acknowledges
Employees Allowed to Sign for Managers on Foreclosure Paperwork," Washington Post, Oct. 5,
2010). Last week, on October 13, 2010, the Florida Attorney-General issued to LPS an "Economic
Crimes Investigative Subpoena Duces Tecum," seeking various foreclosure documents prepared
by LPS and employment records for various "robo-signers."
The following answers to questions were given by Ms. Johnson-Seck in the Machado deposition,
at p. 116, line 4 - p. 119, line 16:
not a vice president of MERS in any sense of the word other than being
authorized to sign as one?
Q. You are not - -
Q. The authority you have says that you can be an assistant secretary, right?A. Yes.
Q. And yet you don't report to the secretary - -
Q. - - of MERS.
signing as MERS's vice-presidents and assistant secretaries?
companies, like LPS?
that capacity?
Q. Take me through the procedure for drafting and - - the drafting and
execution of this Assignment of Mortgage which is Exhibit E.
A. It is drafted by our forms, uploaded into process management,
downloaded by LPS staff in Minnesota, shipped to Austin where we
sign and notarize it, and hand it back to an LPS employee, who then
ships it back to Minnesota, up uploads a copy and mails the original
of the information that's on here - -
person you're signing for?
A. Yes. [*7]
Q. And they will get notarized as soon as they can. It may or may
not be the same day that you executed it?
Further, with respect to MERS, Ms. Johnson-Seck testified in answering questions, at p. 138, line 2
- p. 139, line 17:
least, are members of MERS, correct?
understand the nitty-gritty.
A. To track the transfer of doc - - of interest from one entity to another.
I know that it was initially created so that a servicer did not have to
record the assignments, or if they didn't, there was still a system to
keep track of the transfer of property.
apart from the note so that note can be transferred from entity to entity
to entity, bank to bank to bank - -
Moreover, Ms. Johnson-Seck testified that one of her job duties was to sign documents, which at
that time took her about ten minutes per day [p. 11]. Further, she admitted, at p. 13, line [*8]11 - p.
14, line 15, that she signs about 750 documents per week and doesn't read each document.
A. I could have given you that number if you had that question in
there because I would brought the report. However, I'm going to
guess, today I saw an e-mail that 1,073 docs are in the office for
signing. So if we just - - and there's about that a day. So let's say
6,000 a week and I do probably - - let's see. There's eight of us
signing documents, so what's the math?
Q. Six thousand divided by eight, that gives me 750.
sign, you personally sign per week?
A. Assignments, declarations. I can sign anything related to a
bankruptcy or a foreclosure.
A. I have changed my signature considerably. It's just an E now.
A. That's true. [Emphasis added]
Ms. Johnson-Seck, in the instant action, signed her full name on the March 16, 2009 MERS, as
nominee for CAMBRIDGE, assignment to INDYMAC. She switched to the letter E in signing the
May 14, 2009 INDYMAC to ONEWEST assignment and the June 30, 2009 affidavit of merit on
behalf of ONEWEST.
Additionally. she testified about how LPS prepares the documents in Minnesota and ships them to
her Austin office, with LPS personnel present in her Austin office [pp. 16 - 17]. Ms. Johnson-Seck
described the document signing process, at p. 17, line 6 - p. 18, line 18:
on the documents once they've gone through this quality control process?
A. The documents are delivered to me for signature and I do a quick
purview to make sure that I'm not signing for an entity that I cannot sign
for. And I sign the document and I hand it to the Notary, who notarizes
it, who then hands it back to LPS who uploads the document so that the
firms know it's available and they send an original.
Q. "They" being LPS?
are they physically on your desk?
A. Yes. [*9]
A. They don't sit in my office, no.
Q. And the witnesses who, if you need witnesses on the document, are
not sitting in your office?
Q. So you take your ten minutes and you sign them and then you give
them to the supervisor of the Notaries, correct?
job they do, so.
Q. When you execute a sworn document, do you make any kind
of a verbal acknowledgment or oath to anyone?
As noted above, I found Ms. Johnson-Seck engaged in "robo-signing" in Deutsche Bank v Maraj
and Indymac Bank, FSB, v Bethley. In both foreclosure cases I denied plaintiffs' motions [*10]for
orders of reference without prejudice with leave to renew if, among other things, Ms. Johnson-
Seck could explain in affidavits: her employment history for the past three years; why she was a
Vice President of both assignor MERS and assignee Deutsche Bank National Trust Company in
Maraj; and, Vice President of INDYMAC in Bethley. Mr. Ice questioned Ms. Johnson-Seck about
my Maraj decision and showed her the Maraj decision as exhibit M in the Machado deposition.
The following colloquy at the Maraj deposition took place at p. 153, line 15 - p. 156, line 9.
Q. Exhibit M is a document that you saw before in your last deposition,
president of MERS, correct - -
executed an affidavit as an officer of Deutsche Bank National Trust
Company, correct?
Q. You never executed a document as an officer of Deutsche Bank
National Trust Company in that case, Judge Schack's case?
it's not attached, I can't say.
Q. And as a result, Judge Schack wanted to know if you were engaged
in self-dealing by wearing two corporate hats?
from you describing your employment history for the past three years,
correct? [*11]
A. No, because we were never - - no affidavit ever existed and no request
ever came to produce such a document. The last time we spoke, I told
Q. Well, you're reading Judge Schack's opinion. He seems to want
one. Isn't that pretty clear on its face.
A. We didn't get - - we never even got a copy of this.
Q. Okay. But now you have it - -
A. And - -
A. And our in-house counsel's response to this is we were never - -
this was never requested of me and it was his recommendation not
After a break in the Machado deposition proceedings, Mr. Ice questioned Ms. Johnson-Seck about
various documents that were subpoenaed for the July 9, 2010 deposition, including her
employment affidavits that I required in both Maraj and Bethley. Ms. Johnson-Seck answered the
following questions at p. 159, line 19 - p. 161, line 9:
Q. So let's start with the duces tecum part of you notice, which is the
list of documents. No. 1 was: The affidavit of the last three years of
deponent's employment provided to Judge Schack in response to the
order dated January 31st, 2008 in the case of Deutsche Bank National
Trust Company vs. Maraj, Case No. 25981-07, Supreme Court of
New York. We talked about that earlier. There is no such affidavit,
Bank's name in that case?
A. I don't - - I don't know. Now, errors have been made.
Q. No. 2: The affidavit of the deponent provided to Judge Schack
in response to the order dated February 6th, 2009 in the case of IndyMac
Bank, FSB vs, Bethley, New York Slip Opinion 50186, New York
Supreme Court 2/5/09, "explaining," and this is in quotes, "her
employment history for the past three years; and, why a conflict of
interest does not exist in how she acted as vice president of assignee [*12]
IndyMac Bank, FSB in the instant action, and vice president of both
Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems, Inc. and Deutsche Bank
in Deutsche Bank vs. Maraj," and it gives the citation and that's the
case referred to in item 1 of our request. Do you have that affidavit
with you here today?
Q. Were you aware of that second opinion where Judge Schack asks
for a second affidavit?
A. I wonder if he has the right address. Maybe that's what we should
do, send Judge Schack the most recent, and I will gladly show up in
his court and provide him everything he wants.
Q. Okay. Well, I sent you this back in March. Have your or your
counsel or in-house counsel at IndyMac pursued that?
A. No. [Emphasis added]
Counsel for plaintiff ONEWEST has leave to produce Ms. Johnson-Seck in my courtroom to
"gladly show up . . . and provide [me] . . . everything he wants."
Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) § 1321 allows the Court in a foreclosure
action, upon the default of the defendant or defendant's admission of mortgage payment arrears, to
appoint a referee "to compute the amount due to the plaintiff." In the instant action, plaintiff
ONEWEST's application for an order of reference is a preliminary step to obtaining a default
judgment of foreclosure and sale against defendant DRAYTON. (Home Sav. of Am., F.A. v
Gkanios, 230 AD2d 770 [2d Dept 1996]). Plaintiff's request to withdraw its application for an
order of reference is granted. However, to allow this action to continue without seeking the
ultimate purpose of a foreclosure action, to obtain a judgment of foreclosure and sale, makes a
mockery of and wastes the resources of the judicial system. Continuing the instant action without
moving for an order of reference is the judicial equivalent of a "timeout." Granting a "timeout" to
plaintiff ONEWEST to allow it to re-submit "a new application containing new information . . .
shortly" is a waste of judicial resources. Therefore, the instant action is dismissed without
prejudice, with leave granted to plaintiff ONEWEST to renew its motion for an order of reference
within sixty (60) days of this decision and order, if plaintiff ONEWEST and plaintiff ONEWEST's
counsel can satisfactorily address the various issues previously enumerated.
cancellation of the notice of pendency. CPLR § 6501 provides that the filing of a notice of
pendency against a property is to give constructive notice to any purchaser of real property or
encumbrancer against real property of an action that "would affect the title to, or the possession,
use or enjoyment of real property, except in a summary proceeding brought to recover the
possession of real property." The Court of Appeals, in 5308 Realty Corp. v O & Y Equity Corp. (64
NY2d 313, 319 [1984]), commented that "[t]he purpose of the doctrine was to assure that a court
retained its ability to effect justice by preserving its power over the property, regardless of
[*13]whether a purchaser had any notice of the pending suit," and, at 320, that "the statutory
scheme permits a party to effectively retard the alienability of real property without any prior
The plain meaning of the word "abated," as used in CPLR § 6514 (a) is the ending of an action.
"Abatement" is defined as "the act of eliminating or nullifying." (Black's Law Dictionary 3 [7th ed
1999]). "An action which has been abated is dead, and any further enforcement of the cause of
action requires the bringing of a new action, provided that a cause of action remains (2A Carmody-
Wait 2d § 11.1)." (Nastasi v Nastasi, 26 AD3d 32, 40 [2d Dept 2005]). Further, Nastasi at 36, held
that the "[c]ancellation of a notice of pendency can be granted in the exercise of the inherent power
of the court where its filing fails to comply with CPLR § 6501 (see 5303 Realty Corp. v O & Y
Equity Corp., supra at 320-321; Rose v Montt Assets, 250 AD2d 451, 451-452 [1d Dept 1998];
Siegel, NY Prac § 336 [4th ed])." Thus, the dismissal of the instant complaint must result in the
mandatory cancellation of plaintiff ONEWEST's notice of pendency against the subject property
"in the exercise of the inherent power of the court."
Moreover, "[t]o have a proper assignment of a mortgage by an authorized agent, a
power of attorney is necessary to demonstrate how the agent is vested with the authority to assign
the mortgage." (HSBC Bank, USA v Yeasmin, 27 Misc 3d 1227 [A], *3 [Sup Ct, Kings County
2010]). "No special form or language is necessary to effect an assignment as long as the language
shows the intention of the owner of a right to transfer it [Emphasis added]." (Tawil v Finkelstein
Bruckman Wohl Most & Rothman, 223 AD2d 52, 55 [1d Dept 1996]). (See Suraleb, Inc. v
International Trade Club, Inc., 13 AD3d 612 [2d Dept 2004]).
MERS, as described above, recorded the subject mortgage as "nominee" for CAMBRIDGE. The
word "nominee" is defined as "[a] person designated to act in place of another, usu. in a very
limited way" or "[a] party who holds bare legal title for the benefit of others." (Black's Law
Dictionary 1076 [8th ed 2004]). "This definition suggests that a nominee possesses few or no
legally enforceable rights beyond those of a principal whom the nominee serves." (Landmark
National Bank v Kesler, 289 Kan 528, 538 [2009]). The Supreme Court of Kansas, in Landmark
National Bank, 289 Kan at 539, observed that:
Idaho, March 12, 2009) (MERS "acts not on its own account. Its [*14]
capacity is representative."); Mortgage Elec. Registrations Systems,
(March 19, 2009) ("MERS, by the terms of the deed of trust, and its
own stated purposes, was the lender's agent"); La Salle Nat. Bank v
("A nominee of the owner of a note and mortgage may not effectively
assign the note and mortgage to another for want of an ownership interest
in said note and mortgage by the nominee.")
The New York Court of Appeals in MERSCORP, Inc. v Romaine (8 NY3d 90 [2006]), explained
how MERS acts as the agent of mortgagees, holding at 96:
Thus, it is clear that MERS's relationship with its member lenders is that of agent with principal.
This is a fiduciary relationship, resulting from the manifestation of consent by one person to
another, allowing the other to act on his behalf, subject to his control and consent. The principal is
the one for whom action is to be taken, and the agent is the one who acts.It has been held that the
agent, who has a fiduciary relationship with the principal, "is a party who acts on behalf of the
principal with the latter's express, implied, or apparent authority." (Maurillo v Park Slope U-Haul,
194 AD2d 142, 146 [2d Dept 1992]). "Agents are bound at all times to exercise the utmost good
faith toward their principals. They must act in accordance with the highest and truest principles of
morality." (Elco Shoe Mfrs. v Sisk, 260 NY 100, 103 [1932]). (See Sokoloff v Harriman Estates
Development Corp., 96 NY 409 [2001]); Wechsler v Bowman, 285 NY 284 [1941]; Lamdin v
Broadway Surface Advertising Corp., 272 NY 133 [1936]). An agent "is prohibited from acting in
any manner inconsistent with his agency or trust and is at all times bound to exercise the utmost
good faith and loyalty in the performance of his duties." (Lamdin, at 136).
Therefore, in the instant action, MERS, as nominee for CAMBRIDGE, is an agent of
CAMBRIDGE for limited purposes. It can only have those powers given to it and authorized by its
principal, CAMBRIDGE. Plaintiff ONEWEST has not submitted any documents demonstrating
how CAMBRIDGE authorized MERS, as nominee for CAMBRIDGE, to assign the subject
DRAYTON mortgage and note to INDYMAC, which subsequently assigned the subject mortgage
and note to plaintiff ONEWEST.
Recently, in Bank of New York v Alderazi, 28 Misc 3d at 379-380, my learned colleague, Kings
County Supreme Court Justice Wayne Saitta explained that:
(Lippincott v East River Mill & Lumber Co., 79 Misc 559 [1913]) [*15]
and "[t]he declarations of an alleged agent may not be shown for
1978].) "[T]he acts of a person assuming to be the representative of
Plaintiff has submitted no evidence to demonstrate that the
original lender, the mortgagee America's Wholesale Lender, authorized
MERS to assign the secured debt to plaintiff.
Therefore, in the instant action, plaintiff ONEWEST failed to demonstrate how MERS, as nominee
for CAMBRIDGE, had authority from CAMBRIDGE to assign the DRAYTON mortgage to
INDYMAC. The Court grants plaintiff ONEWEST leave to renew its motion for an order of
reference, if plaintiff ONEWEST can demonstrate how MERS had authority from CAMBRIDGE
to assign the DRAYTON mortgage and note to INDYMAC.
Then, plaintiff ONEWEST must address the tangled employment situation of "robo-signer" Erica
A. Johnson-Seck. She admitted in her July 9, 2010 deposition in the Machado case that she never
provided me with affidavits of her employment for the prior three years and an explanation of why
she wore so-many corporate hats in Maraj and Bethley. Further, in Deutsche Bank v Harris, Ms.
Johnson-Seck executed an affidavit of merit as Vice President of Deutsche Bank. If plaintiff
renews its motion for an order of reference, the Court must get to the bottom of Ms. Johnson-
Seck's employment status and her "robo-signing." The Court reminds plaintiff ONEWEST's
counsel that Ms. Johnson-Seck, at p. 161 of the Machado deposition, volunteered, at lines 4 - 5 to
"gladly show up in his court and provide him everything he wants."
Lastly, if plaintiff ONEWEST'S counsel moves to renew its application for an order of reference,
plaintiff's counsel must comply with the new filing requirement to submit, under penalties of
perjury, an affirmation that he has taken reasonable steps, including inquiring of plaintiff
ONEWEST, the lender, and reviewing all papers, to verify the accuracy of the submitted
documents in support of the instant foreclosure action. According to yesterday's Office of Court
Administration press release, Chief Judge Lippman said:
thoroughly examined, accurate, and error-free before any judge is asked [*16]
(See Gretchen Morgenson and Andrew Martin, Big Legal Clash on Foreclosure is Taking Shape,
New York Times, Oct. 21, 2010; Andrew Keshner, New Court Rules Says Attorneys Must Verify
Foreclosure Papers, NYLJ, Oct. 21, 2010).
ORDERED, that the request of plaintiff ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B., to withdraw its motion for an
order of reference, for the premises located at 962 Hemlock Street, Brooklyn, New York (Block
4529, Lot 116, County of Kings), is granted; and it is further
ORDERED, that the instant action, Index Number 15183/09, is dismissed without prejudice; and it
ORDERED, that the notice of pendency in the instant action, filed with the Kings County Clerk on
June 18, 2009, by plaintiff ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B., to foreclose a mortgage for real property
located at 962 Hemlock Street, Brooklyn, New York (Block 4529, Lot 116, County of Kings), is
cancelled; and it is further
ORDERED, that leave is granted to plaintiff, ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B., to
renew, within sixty (60) days of this decision and order, its motion for an order of reference for the
premises located at 962 Hemlock Street, Brooklyn, New York (Block 4529, Lot 116, County of
Kings), provided that plaintiff, ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B., submits to the Court:
(1) proof of the grant of authority from the original mortgagee,
CAMBRIDGE CAPITAL, LLC, to its nominee, MORTGAGE
ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC., to assign
the subject mortgage and note to INDYMAC FEDERAL BANK,
FSB; and
(2) an affidavit by Erica A. Johnson-Seck, Vice President of plaintiff
ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B., explaining: her employment history for
the past three years; why a conflict of interest does not exist in how
she acted as a Vice President of assignor MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION
SYSTEMS, INC., a Vice President of assignee/
assignor INDYMAC FEDERAL BANK, FSB, and a Vice President
of assignee/plaintiff ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B. in this action; why
she was a Vice President of both assignor MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC
REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. and assignee DEUTSCHE BANK
in Deutsche Bank v Maraj, 18 Misc 3d 1123 (A) (Sup Ct, Kings County
2008); why she was a Vice President of both assignor MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC
REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. and assignee
INDYMAC BANK, FSB in Indymac Bank, FSB, v Bethley, 22 Misc 3d
1119 (A) (Sup Ct, Kings County 2009); and, why she executed an
affidavit of merit as a Vice President of DEUTSCHE BANK in
Jonathan Lippman on October 20, 2010, by submitting an affirmation,
using the new standard Court form, pursuant to CPLR Rule 2106 and
under the penalties of perjury, that counsel for plaintiff ONEWEST
BANK, F.S.B. has personally reviewed plaintiff ONEWEST BANK,
F.S.B.'s documents and records in the instant action and counsel for
plaintiff ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B. confirms the factual accuracy of
plaintiff ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B.'s court filings and the accuracy
of the notarizations in plaintiff ONEWEST BANK, F.S.B.'s documents.
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