You are here: / / Naming an Entity Other than the Lender as Mortgagee Did Not Render the...

Naming an Entity Other than the Lender as Mortgagee Did Not Render the Mortgage Null and Void

The Second Department rejected plaintiff’s argument that the naming of an entity other than the lender as the mortgagee rendered the mortgage null and void:

… [T]he plaintiff borrowed the sum of $671,250 from Webster [Bank], as evidenced by an adjustable rate note payable to Webster. Together therewith, the plaintiff executed a mortgage, securing the loan with her home … (hereinafter the subject property). As is relevant to this appeal, the mortgage defined the plaintiff as the “Borrower,” Webster Bank N.A. as the “Lender,” and “MERS” as Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., “a separate corporation that is acting solely as a nominee for Lender and Lender’s successors and assigns” and “FOR PURPOSES OF RECORDING THIS MORTGAGE, MERS IS THE MORTGAGEE OF RECORD.” The loan is serviced by the defendant Bank of America, N.A. (hereinafter Bank of America).

The plaintiff erroneously contends that the naming of MERS as the mortgagee, even though Webster was the payee designated on the note, constituted a violation of the clear prohibition against separating the collateral from the debt and, as such, the mortgage instrument was rendered null and void … . The plaintiff relies upon the Court of Appeals decision of Merritt v Bartholick (36 NY 44), wherein the Court stated: “As a mortgage is but an incident to the debt which it is intended to secure, the logical conclusion is, that a transfer of the mortgage without the debt is a nullity, and no interest is acquired by it. The security cannot be separated from the debt and exist independently of it” (id. at 45; citations omitted).

The use of the term “nullity” by the Court in Merritt, however, does not mean, as the plaintiff argued, that the mortgage instrument itself was rendered null or void, but rather, that the enforceable interest which was intended to be transferred by the assignment of the mortgage alone was ineffective, as “no interest is acquired by it” … . Ruiz v Mortgage Elec. Registration Sys., Inc., 2015 NY Slip Op 06325, 2nd Dept 7-29-15

 

You might also like
CITY NOT LIABLE FOR AN INMATE ON INMATE ASSAULT, ATTACK NOT FORESEEABLE (SECOND DEPT).
Plaintiff Cannot Be the Only Link between the Defendant and the Forum/Defendant’s “Minimum Contacts” with New York Not Demonstrated
THE EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY THE THERAPIST THAT THE CHILDREN SUFFERED FROM PTSD, EXPERIENCED TRAUMA, AND EXPRESSED THEIR DESIRE TO STOP SEEING THEIR FATHER, COUPLED WITH THE CHILDREN’S STATEMENTS THAT THEY WITNESSED ABUSE, WARRANTED TERMINATION OF PARENTAL ACCESS WITH FATHER, FAMILY COURT REVERSED (SECOND DEPT).
Collateral Estoppel Doctrine Will Not Be Invoked Unless there Has Been at Least One Full Hearing on the Issues Involved
Plaintiff’s Deposition Testimony Stating that She Did Not Know the Cause of Her Fall Was Fatal to the Action—the Deposition Testimony Was Not Overcome by a “Feigned Issue” Subsequently Raised in an Affidavit or by Expert Opinion Evidence Alleging the Cause of the Fall
THE FEDERAL POSSESSION-OF-A-FIREARM-BY-A-FELON STATUTE IS NOT THE EQUIVALENT OF A NEW YORK FELONY BECAUSE THE FEDERAL STATUTE DOES NOT REQUIRE A SHOWING THE WEAPON WAS OPERABLE; DEFENDANT’S SECOND FELONY OFFENDER ADJUDICATION VACATED (SECOND DEPT).
THE EMAIL EXCHANGE IN WHICH THE PURCHASE PRICE WAS AGREED TO DID NOT SATISFY THE STATUTE OF FRAUDS, SELLER WAS FREE TO BACK OUT AND SEEK A HIGHER PRICE.
POLICE OFFICER RESPONDED APPROPRIATELY TO AN ESCALATING SITUATION AFTER A STREET STOP, MOTION TO SUPPRESS ABANDONED HANDGUN AND STATEMENTS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Waiver of a Jury Trial in an Article 10 Sex-Offender Civil Commitment Proceeding... Village Immune from Suit Alleging Negligence of Ambulance Personnel Who Responded...