The common thread is foreclosure and MERS.Scott from Vineland wrote:... Am I functioning in some parallel universe as you suggested?... But I do know how protective we are of original Notes and I have to wonder about the specific circumstances where all these Notes are (allegedly)lost. What is the common thread?
The courts have had a tendency to view foreclosures as a matter of routine in which plaintiff's counsel involved were upholding the cannons of ethics and bringing genuine matters of default on behalf of their clients into courts (where there is judicial oversight).
The problem arises when the plaintiff can't prove standing to sue. Google "Judge Boyko" if you'd like some amusing(?) federal judicial views on the matter. Other Ohio Federal courts finally had their fill of this kind of thing as well.
The plain fact is, some foreclosures are manufactured by predatory servicers, and the system has become so sloppy that it's easier to toss in the really abusive cases in with the clear-as-day batches and watch them move through the process without any serious consideration.
And with MERS, it is anything but simple to determine who actually has standing.
Almost every seriously contested foreclosure case I've seen or researched involving subprime servicers wound up with the attorney for the servicer producing a lost-note-affidavit (usually after stonewalling to the point of having to appear in a show cause hearing). Why? Well, there are several schools of thought on the subject, including one that says it's just easier to craft an affidavit and have someone sign it than admit you can't find it, or worse, it would be clear evidence of an illegally concocted loan that you don't want to see the light of day, let alone have it exposed in court.
Another indicates that some percentage of terms being enforced by servicers aren't what's on the note. In one case seeking reversal of a foreclosure, counsel did produce the note during discovery, and a witness for the servicer on the stand was confronted with the difference between the terms of the note and their records and blurted out, "I can fix this when I get back to the office." During a short recess a settlement was reached. That's probably the last time they'll let that happen.
And there are some number of these things that went into the ozone as companies went bankrupt, got bought, sold loans, changed servicers, etc., etc.
I only wish more dedication as you depict were the norm in the subprime drive fast, take chances realm.