Court Opinion

ID: 9798622
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 05:13:29.033575+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:44.192945
License: Public Domain

CHIEF JUSTICE McGRATH
dissents.
¶28 I dissent. The Court declines to address the status of MERS as the purported beneficiary of the Deed of Trust later assigned to Wells Fargo. Opinion, ¶ 4 n. 1. The parties have not challenged the validity of the beneficiary designation. Questions of standing, however, must be addressed even if not raised by a litigant. Dick Anderson Constr., Inc. v. Monroe Constr. Co., 2009 MT 416, ¶ 46, 353 Mont. 534, 221 P.3d 675. Standing is a jurisdictional requirement. Heffernan v. Missoula City Council, 2011 MT 91, ¶ 29, 360 Mont. 207, 255 P.3d 80. A court does not have the power to resolve a case brought by a party with no personal stake in the outcome. Heffernan, ¶ 29.
¶29 Wells Fargo’s stake in the outcome of this case is directly traceable to the original designation of MERS as the beneficiary of the Deed of Trust. MERS assigned its beneficial interest to Flagstar Bank. Flagstar Bank assigned that interest to U.S. Bank, which in turn assigned that interest to Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo “stepped into [MERS’] shoes,” assuming those rights, and only those rights, previously held by MERS. See Watts v. HSBC Bank U.S. Trustee, 2013 MT 233, ¶ 18, 371 Mont. 295, 308 P.3d 57. We have recently held that MERS “does not meet the STFA’s definition of‘beneficiary.’ ” Pilgeram v. GreenPoint Mortg. Funding, Inc., 2013 MT 354, ¶ 18, 373 Mont. 1, 313 P.3d 839. The beneficiary of a deed of trust must be “the entity to whom the secured obligation flows.” Pilgeram, ¶ 17. That entity is the lender, not an electronic registry such as MERS. Pilgeram, ¶ 18. MERS was not a valid beneficiary and had no interest in the Deed of Trust. The chain of assignments leading from MERS to Wells Fargo was empty. Wells Fargo has no stake in the outcome of this case, and therefore lacks standing. Further, because Wells Fargo has no interest, its interest certainly cannot have priority over that of RVNB.
¶30 I respectfully dissent from those portions of the Opinion declining to address the status of MERS and determining Wells Fargo’s purported indenture to have priority over the indenture held by RVNB.