Nemo Dat — Say What?

You may have heard it — but do you truly know what is meant by this very important maxim of law? It is a powerful principle known under the Latin term Nemo dat quod non habet.

The common law principle literally means one cannot sell what one does not own, and yet this is done time and time again.

General Rule — Section 21(1) Sale of Goods Act 1979
21(1) Subject to this Act, where goods are sold by a person who is not their owner, and who does not sell them under the authority or with the consent of the owner, the buyer acquires no better title to the goods than the seller had, unless the owner of goods is by his conduct precluded from denying the seller’s authority to sell.

Because the courts operate under the presumption that what the bank is saying — and the actions that they are taking — are true and correct, the people fighting the banks are left in a quandary. The judge’s inadequacy in applying correct findings of law is due to the rancid pungency from the many caldrons of misinformation boiling over from the banks and inept lawyers. This misinformation is then spread liberally to pleadings and briefs, as one would make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

More knowledge is needed and required in order to have a complete understanding of legal rights that pertain to Legal Title of property. What was to have taken place? What did take place? What did not take place? All of these relevant questions must be answered in order for one to have a more complete understanding of what rights were acquired — or not. If they were acquired at all.

“Even a thief may enforce a note — but equity does not allow a thief to use a stolen Promissory Note to foreclose through a Homeowner’s Mortgage lien.”

The concept that a Note holder — even one who is not legitimate — may nevertheless bring an action on the Homeowner Note is entrenched in commercial law, commonly summarized by the axiom “even a thief may enforce a note.” However, the taking of the homeowner’s home by foreclosure is an alternate equitable remedy, and equity does not allow a thief to use a stolen Promissory Note to foreclose through the Homeowner’s Mortgage lien.

Now is the time to quit holding your tongue. Let the words come out. Spew forth the wrong doings of the lenders and the servicers. Now is the time to make this whole. This is not the time for half-truths. Do you choose to stand up or lay down? I cannot make that decision for you. What I can do is equip you with the tools. The tools are these writings. Use them wisely.
Joseph EsquivelMortgage Compliance Investigations
© 2013

What is MERS and Why Does it Matter?

The Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) was created in the 1990s by the mortgage banking industry to streamline the transfer of mortgage loans. While it was designed to make the process more efficient, MERS has become one of the most controversial and legally significant systems in mortgage law — especially for homeowners facing foreclosure.

What is MERS?

MERS is a private electronic database that tracks the ownership and servicing rights of mortgage loans. When a lender registers a mortgage with MERS, the system acts as the “nominee” for the lender and their successors. This means that when the loan is sold from one investor to another — which happens frequently in the securitization process — the transfer is recorded in the MERS database rather than in the county land records where the property is located.

In plain terms: MERS was designed to allow banks and investors to buy and sell mortgage loans rapidly without filing paperwork at the county courthouse every time ownership changed hands.

Why Does MERS Matter to Homeowners?

For homeowners, MERS matters for several critical reasons:

1. Chain of Title Problems

When a mortgage is registered in MERS, the public record of who actually owns your loan can become unclear or broken. County land records — which have been the legal foundation of property ownership in America for centuries — may not reflect the true owner of your mortgage. This can create serious “chain of title” defects that affect your legal rights.

2. Standing to Foreclose

One of the most important legal questions in foreclosure cases is: does the party trying to foreclose actually have the legal right — or “standing” — to do so? If your loan was transferred multiple times through MERS without proper documentation, the foreclosing party may not be able to prove they are the true owner of your note and mortgage. Courts across the country have dismissed foreclosure cases for exactly this reason.

3. Robo-Signing and Assignment Fraud

The MERS system contributed to widespread “robo-signing” — where bank employees signed thousands of mortgage assignments without reviewing them, often using false titles. These fraudulent assignments were used to create the appearance of a valid chain of title when none existed.

4. Your Right to Know Who Owns Your Loan

Every homeowner has the right to know who holds their mortgage. MERS can obscure this information, making it difficult to identify the true creditor, negotiate a loan modification, or challenge a foreclosure. A Chain of Title investigation can reveal the full history of your loan’s ownership.

What Can You Do?

If you are facing foreclosure or simply want to understand who truly owns your mortgage, a professional Chain of Title Analysis is the most powerful tool available to you. At Mortgage Compliance Investigations, we investigate the complete ownership history of your loan — from origination through securitization — and identify any breaks, defects, or fraudulent transfers in the chain of title.

Understanding MERS and how it affects your mortgage could make the difference between losing your home and having the legal leverage to fight back.

Contact MCI Today

If you have questions about MERS, your chain of title, or your foreclosure defense options, contact Joe Esquivel at Mortgage Compliance Investigations for a free consultation.

Who Really Owns Your Mortgage? How to Find Out — and Why It Matters for Your Foreclosure Defense

If you are facing foreclosure, missed payments, or simply questioning the legitimacy of your loan, one of the most important questions you can ask is this: who actually owns your mortgage right now? It sounds like a simple question. It is not.

The answer — and your ability to verify it — sits at the heart of foreclosure defense, quiet title actions, and mortgage securitization analysis. As a licensed private investigator with over a decade of experience investigating mortgage loans on behalf of homeowners and attorneys, I have seen firsthand how often the party claiming to own a loan cannot prove that ownership through proper documentation.

Why Loan Ownership Matters Legally

Under longstanding legal principles, only the true owner of a loan — or a party properly authorized by that owner — has the legal standing to foreclose on your home. This is not a technicality. It is a fundamental requirement rooted in contract law, property law, and the Uniform Commercial Code.

The problem is that most mortgage loans originated in the 2000s and 2010s were sold, bundled, and transferred multiple times through a process called securitization. Your loan may have been sold to a trust, pooled with thousands of other loans, and converted into a Residential Mortgage Backed Security (RMBS). Along the way, proper transfer documentation was often skipped, lost, or executed incorrectly.

When a servicer or trustee comes to foreclose, they may not actually hold the legal right to do so. That is where a proper investigation becomes critical.

What Is MERS and Why Does It Complicate Ownership?

Most homeowners have never heard of MERS — the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems. Yet MERS is listed as the “nominee” or “beneficiary” on the deed of trust for the majority of American mortgages originated after 1997.

MERS was created by the mortgage industry to allow loans to be transferred electronically without recording each transfer in the county recorder’s office. This saved the industry billions in recording fees — but it also created a massive gap in the public chain of title.

When you search your county recorder’s records, you may find only the original mortgage recorded in MERS’s name. The actual transfers of your loan — from originator to sponsor to depositor to trust — may be invisible in public records. Tracking these transfers requires access to Bloomberg Financial, SEC EDGAR filings, ABS Net, and other institutional research tools.

How to Find Out Who Owns Your Loan

There are several steps you or your attorney can take to begin investigating loan ownership:

  • Send a Qualified Written Request (QWR) to your servicer under RESPA. They are required to identify the owner of your loan within 30 days.
  • Check the MERS website at mersregistrysolutions.com using your MIN number (found on your original mortgage documents) to see what servicer is currently listed.
  • Search SEC EDGAR for the trust your loan may have been deposited into. Pooling and Servicing Agreements (PSAs) are publicly filed and contain the rules governing how loans must be transferred into the trust.
  • Review your county recorder records for any recorded assignments of mortgage or deed of trust.
  • Hire a licensed investigator with access to Bloomberg Financial and ABS Net to trace your loan through the securitization chain and obtain the Loan Level Data.

What We Look For in an Investigation

At Mortgage Compliance Investigations, our analysis is structured around three governing hypotheticals:

  • What was required to happen — under the PSA, UCC, and applicable state law
  • What did happen — based on recorded documents, SEC filings, and loan level data
  • What did not happen — and what the legal consequences of those failures are

This methodology has been applied in cases involving Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, and private label RMBS trusts. We produce court-ready affidavits, Trust Information Reports, and Educational Notes that attorneys can use in foreclosure defense, quiet title, and related mortgage litigation.

The Money-Back Guarantee

We are so confident in our ability to locate your loan that we offer a full money-back guarantee. If we are unable to find your loan in the securitization system, you pay nothing.

Take the First Step Today

If you are a homeowner facing foreclosure, an attorney representing borrowers, or simply someone who wants to know the truth about your mortgage, we can help. Our investigations are conducted by a Texas-licensed private investigator (License #A20449) using professional-grade research tools unavailable to the general public.

Call us today at 888-722-8559 for a free consultation. Find out who really owns your loan — before it is too late.