quiet title to foreclosed properties

Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Against MBS Trustees in Quiet Title Actions

On January 7, 2011, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against two trustees of MBS securitizations in actions to quiet title to foreclosed properties. The court found the two residential foreclosures at issue invalid because the trustees could not prove assignment of the mortgages to them prior to the foreclosure sales. Though the court held that valid assignment could be accomplished and proved through securitization agreements, it held that these particular plaintiffs had failed to produce sufficient documentation with enough detail to establish the full chain of assignment for these particular mortgages prior to the foreclosure sales. In a concurring opinion, two Justices criticized the “utter carelessness with which the plaintiff banks documented the titles to their assets.” Decision.