By Les Christie, CNN Money
22 October 11
The Massachusetts high court ruled on Friday that two foreclosures are invalid because the banks could not prove they had the proper paperwork to foreclose.
The banks "failed to make the required showing that they were the holders of the mortgages at the time of foreclosure," Justice Ralph Gants wrote for the Massachusetts Supreme Court.
This could be a harbinger of things to come because it is the first ruling by a state high court on the issue of whether banks can foreclose on homeowners if can't prove they hold the mortgages.
Numerous instances of this emerged last fall, as evidence appeared that banks were robo-signing foreclosure documents without actually reading them. As a result, there are dozens of similar cases in lower courts across the country, all waiting for the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling.
"It's about the most extensive beat-down the banks have received over their shoddy practices," said Christopher Peterson, a real estate law professor at the University of Utah. "It could be a wake-up call for rubberstamping judges that they need to more carefully examine practices."
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