United States Bankruptcy Court

For the District of Massachusetts

Western Division

In re )
)
Peter Murphy Ribaudo, ) Case No. 10-43081
) Chapter 13
Debtor. )
)

MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF ORDER GRANTING

STAY RELIEF TO ONEWEST BANK, FSB

To the Honorable Henry J. Boroff, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge:

OneWest Bank FSB received relief from the automatic stay by this Court’s Order of

October 26, 2010. The debtor requests reconsideration, respectfully reminding the Court

that counsel’s averments of corporate irregularities by OneWest’s mortgage assignor was

received by the Court with its greatest interest. In support thereof, the debtor states:

1. On June 17, 2010, the debtor filed for relief under Chapter 13. The Meeting of

Creditors was held on August 30, 2010.

2. One July 15, 2010 the debtor filed his proposed plan. Objections by the trustee,

OneWest, and Deutsche Bank were sustained, and a further plan is due by October

29th. (The debtor notes that certain plan provisions in other cases are under
Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 2

advisement which are pertinent to this case, and decisions are expected

momentarily.)

3. OneWest Bank, FSB moved for stay relief on September 21, 2010. It was granted

over objection on October 26, 2010, with the Court noting the severity of debtor’s

assertions of corporate irregularities by OneWest’s mortgage assignor and inviting

the debtor to seek reconsideration “with more meat” supporting the assertions.

4. OneWest’s Motion attached as as an exhibit the original May 10, 2006 mortgage by

the debtor to MERS, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. “acting solely

as a nominee for Lender” which was identified as People’s Mortgage Corporation.

5. OneWest’s Motion also attached as an exhibit the January 11, 2010 Assignment of

Mortgage by Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. which purported to

assign to OneWest Bank, FSB “all the right, title, and interest that Assignor has as

current holder of the following Mortgage”. This Assignment of Mortgage was signed

by “Suchan Murray” who claimed to be an Authorized Signatory.

Restated First Affirmative Defense

6. In Massachusetts, mortgage assignments may only be executed by “a person

purporting to hold the position of president, vice president, treasurer, clerk,

secretary, cashier, loan representative, principal, investiment, mortgage or other

Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 3

offider, agent, asset manager, or other similar office or position, including assistant

to any such office or position”. G.L.M. c. 183 section 54B:

7. The debtor asserts that “Authorized Signatory” does not meet this burden of

officership.

8. The debtor asserts that a mortgage is an interest in real estate in Massachusetts,

and that strict compliance with a Massachusetts transfer requirement is required for

the transfer to be effective.

Restated Second Affirmative Defense

9. The debtor anticipates OneWest will argue that Suchan Murray was properly

appointed by MERS to sign the mortgage assignment. The debtor asserts

otherwise, because the chain of authority from MERS to its corporate secretary

William Hultman, and then to Suchan Murray, is broken.

10. Attached to this Motion is a copy of the April 7, 2010 deposition transcript of William

Hultman. (The debtor has ordered a certified copy of the transcript and its exhibits

but does not yet possess them.)

Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 4

11. To assist the Court and OneWest, the debtor summarizes what he believes to be

the pertinent parts of the deposition in the following paragraphs to show that

Hultman appointed corporate officers for MERS without proper authority.

12. Hultman testifies to the three MERS entities in his deposition. PP 29-30.

a. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. was created in October of

1995. P. 41. It went out of existence on June 30, 1998. P. 42.

b. A new Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, MERS 2, was created on

June 30, 1998, which took over the first one’s responsibilities. PP. 43 and

47. MERS 2's name was changed in 1999 to Merscorp, Inc. P. 32. (MERS

2 became Merscorp.) It succeeded totally to the business interests of MERS

1. P. 46.

c. On January 1, 1999, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merscorp was created and

was called also Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS 3.)

It does nothing but hold mortgages pursuant to the rating companies’

bankruptcy-remote special purpose vehicle instructions to achieve investment

grade ratings for the mortgage pools.

“Basically, the subsidiary assumed all of the authority relating to

holding title to the mortgage (sic should be mortgages) that the
original corporation had.” P. 30. “The subsidiary is a single purpose
corporation that was incorporated for the sole purpose of holding title
to the mortgage. The other operations of the old corporation
[Merscorp, Inc., formerly Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems,
Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 5

Inc.] remained with the parent corporation, the operation of the

registry and the other operational issues associated with the MERS
process. … [t]he primary duty of the subsidiary is to act as mortgagee
when requested by the borrower and our members.” P. 31. “The
subsidiary[‘s] … sole purpose became holding title to mortgages.” PP.
31-32. It has no other responsibilities. The 1999 change, whereby
MERS became Merscorp and a new MERS was formed which was (1)
wholly owned by Merscorp and (2) which did nothing other than hold
mortgages, was made to achieve bankruptcy remote single purpose
status for the entity holding the mortgages. This was a requirement
of the rating agencies to achieve an investment grade rating for the
mortgage pools. P. 32. “Bankruptcy remote” means that there is an
independent director who would have to vote before the entity could
file for bankruptcy protections. P. 33.

13. The parent company Merscorp, formerly MERS 2, is the only MERS that has

employees. It does not hold mortgages. Mortgage titles are held only by MERS 3.

This includes the responsibility of releasing mortgage liens. P. 48.

14. The debtor asserts that only MERS 3 can assign mortgages, since it is the only

MERS entity which can hold and release mortgages.

15. Merscorp is Hultman’s employer. P. 13.

16. Hultman is the secretary and treasurer of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems,

Inc. (MERS 3.) P. 13.

17. MERS 3 has no employees, paid or otherwise, and has not had any in the past five

years. P. 70.
Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 6

18. Hultman is the senior vice president, corporate division manager, secretary, and

treasurer of Merscorp, Inc.

19. Hultman uses “MERS” to mean Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.

(MERS 3.) P. 18.

20. Sometime before 2000, MERS’ policy that only MERS members could be MERS

officers was changed to allow non-MERS members to be MERS officers. PP 22-23.

21. The policy was changed by MERS’ president, R.K. Arnold, vice president, Daniel

McLaughlin, vice president Carson Mullen, and Hultman as MERS’ secretary and

treasurer.

22. When asked if Hultman had knowledge of any resolution by the MERS board of

directors authorizing a change in MERS policy to allow non-MERS members to

become MERS officers, he responded by stating that “[t]here was a resolution that

authorized me [Hultman] to appoint officers of MERS that was passed by the board

of directors of that company.” P. 24. It was passed in April of 1998, P. 25, later

clarified as April 9, 1998. P. 41.

23. That resolution which authorized Hultman to appoint officers of MERS was passed

by Merscorp in April of 1998, P. 25, when Merscorp was still known as MERS. (The

name change from MERS to Merscorp did not occur until 1999.)
Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 7

24. The new MERS, created in 1999 (MERS 3), was in no way bound by any prior

activity of the old MERS (MERS 2, now known as Merscorp). P. 34.

25. Based on these words, the debtor asserts that the resolution which authorized

Hultman to appoint officers was a resolution of the pre-1999 MERS 2, which became

Merscorp, did not bind the new 1999 MERS 3 in any way. MERS 3 is the only entity

holding mortgages. Hultman has no authority to appoint officers for the new 1999

MERS (MERS 3), which holds all the MERS mortgages, as his authority is only

based on a resolution of the old pre-1999 MERS (MERS 2), which is now known as

Merscorp and which does not hold any mortgages.

Restated Third Affirmative Defense

26. Hultman has no authority under any MERS bylaws to appoint officers. The MERS

bylaws only authorize its directors to appoint officers. The directors’ resolution,

granting Hultman the authority to appoint officers, is ultra vires and beyond the

power given by the bylaws to the directors.

27. Hultman testifed that “there was a resolution that authorized me to appoint officers

of MERS that was passed by the board of directors of that company.” P. 24. We

have seen that this resolution was passed on April 9, 1998 by MERS 2, now called

Merscorp. ¶¶ 19 and 20.

Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 8

28. Hultman appoints MERS officers by way of his own resolutions, which he believes

to be authorized by a resolution of the MERS board of directors. P. 58. (Consistent

with the debtor’s Restated Second Affirmative Defense, the debtor asserts that

“MERS” in this context was Merscorp, formerly called MERS and called MERS 2 for

the purposes of this Motion. It was not the MERS 3 which actually holds the

mortgages.) The MERS board never meets to pass resolutions appointing assistant

secretaries and and vice-presidents (the officers commonly signing mortgage

assignments). Hultman signs those resolutions. PP> 60-61.

29. Hultman has appointed thousands of unpaid MERS 3 assistant secretaries, in every

state all around the country, pursuant to the April 9, 1998 resolution of the MERS

2 board of directors. There is no MERS 3 employee to whom these assistant

secretaries report. PP. 71-72.

30. The MERS 1 bylaws, which went out of business on June 30, 1998, governed the

conduct of the MERS board of directors during April of 1998. P. 92. (Exhibit 17.)

31. We have seen that April of 1998 is when the board of directors’ resolution

authorizing Hultman to appoint officers was passed.

32. Article 6 of those bylaws provide that the officers of the corporation, MERS 1, shall

be chosen by the Board of Directors. There is nothing in the bylaws that authorizes
Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 9

Hultman to appoint vice presidents or other officers or an “Authorized Signatory”

such as Suchan Murray in this case. PP. 93-95.

33. The same provisions appear in the MERS 3 bylaws effective January 1, 1999. P.

99. (Exhibit 18.) (The bylaws of MERS 2, Merscorp, were not produced for the

deposition. P. 100.)

34. The MERS 3 bylaws only authorized its board of directors to appoint officers. The

resolution of the MERS 3 directors which authorized Hultman to appoint officers was

ultra vires. Hultman appointed thousands of officers throughout the country who

were not MERS 3 employees.

35. Hultman appointed all of the vice presidents and secretaries. No one else has used

Hultman’s authority to appoint certifying officers under the MERS 2 resolution of

April, 1998. P. 132. (Certifying officers is another label, in addition to vice-

presidents and assistant secretaries, for persons supposedly authorized to sign

documents on behalf of a MERS entity. PP 50-51, P. 95, P. 105.)

36. The MERS 3 bylaws in effect in January of 1999 have not been amended. The

MERS 2 bylaws that were in effect since April of 1998 have not been amended. P.

132.
Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 10

37. Pending further discovery, there is every reason to believe that Suchan Murray was

an “Authorized Signatory” - a position not recognized by Massachusetts law for the

signing of mortgage assignments - unlawfully appointed by Hultman to act on behalf

of MERS 3.

Restated Fourth Affirmative Defense

38. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Indiana, has ruled

that a signing officer must be an employee. Since MERS has no employees, its

assignments are “bogus” and “fraudulent”, as that court stated. “It appears to this

court that a fraudulent recorded Assignment of Mortgage might still be found today

in the St. Joseph County Recorder’s Office, despite MERS’ knowledge of the false

signature. Indeed, MERS has completely sidestepped the fact that this Assignment

was signed by someone representing herself to be a Vice President of MERS [after

having admitted that she is not a MERS employee], and it had declined to explain

why this false document was attached to the amended Proof of Claim.” Koontz v.

Everhome Mtge. Co, et al (In re Koontz), Bankr. N.D. Ind. Proceeding No. 10-3005

(September 30, 2010 Memorandum of Decision on Motion for Summary Judgment)

(unable to attach as an Exhibit as file is too large).

Restated Fifth Affirmative Defense

Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 11

39. The “Authorized Signatory” for the January 11, 2010 Assignment of Mortgage from

MERS to OneWest was Suchan Murray, as appears on the Exhibit to OneWest’s

Motion. Yet, not five months earlier, the same Suchan Murray signed an

Assignment as OneWest’s attorney-in-fact. Exhibit C. It is more likely than not that

Murray was wearing the two hats at the same time, signing the assignment to

OneWest on behalf of MERS while also acting as OneWest’s attorney in fact for

other transactions. Since an officer owes her principal her undivided loyalty - dare

we call it her employer, knowing that MERS has no employees? -, Murray appears

to have acted contrary to this basic rule of duty. Murray’s signature on MERS’

behalf, while also acting on OneWest’s behalf in another transaction, must have

exceeded her authority as MERS’ “authorized signatory” and the Assignment of

Mortgage is void.

Restated Sixth Affirmative Defense

40. The May 10, 2006 Promissory Note to the original lender People’s Mortgage

Corporation was first endorsed to IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. on May 22, 2006 and then

endorsed in blank by IndyMac’s assistant vice president on an unstated date.

OneWest does not state when it received possession of the Note. Indeed, it does

not affirmatively state that it even has the Note. The best that its counsel could state

at the hearing was that OneWest had possession of the Note “upon information and

belief”.
Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 12

41. Possession “upon information and belief” cannot be sufficient to take another’s

home. Consider someone saying that they have a $100.00 Federal Reserve Note

upon information and belief. Surely the Court would not provide $100.00 of

consideration for that statement. Either OneWest has the Note or it doesn’t. It must

not enjoy relief from stay until it can make an unqualified representation of

possession.

42. Perhaps the real reason that OneWest cannot make an affirmative statement of

possession is that only an image of the Note was not given to it. IndyMac was

closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision on July 11, 2008. If ithe original Note is

missing, then OneWest must come forward with an affidavit of such by a person with

first-hand knowledge of the circumstances of its loss.

43. Grella only requires a colorable claim, to be sure, but an undated endorsement in

blank from a closed bank cannot establish the color of a claim.

The debtor, by counsel

/s/ L. Jed Berliner, Esquire

L. Jed Berliner, Esquire, BBO #039950
Berliner Law Firm
95 State Street, Suite 1010
Springfield, MA 01103-2081
telephone: (413) 788-9877
facsimile: (413) 746-9877
email: jed@berlinerlaw.com
Motion for Reconsideration; Case No. 10-43081 Page 13

Certificate of Service

The undersigned certifies that this document was filed with the Court in a manner appropriate for
automated service of true electronic images to all ECF Registrants in this Case or Proceeding, including
the Case Trustee and the U.S. Trustee and respondent OneWest’s counsel, at their registered
electronic addresses.

Date: November 6, 2010 /s/ Jed Berliner

L. Jed Berliner