First, it was judges like Justice Arthur M. Schack of the New York Supreme Court, who made waves by tossing foreclosure motions because he found a rising level of errors in bank paperwork, largely due to banks’ slicing and dicing nature of selling mortgage loans to outside investors. But now, it’s the homeowner that has made it hard on the bank trying to foreclose. In a semi rebellion known as “show me the note,” banks are being challenged, ever so slightly, when they find themselves legally required to prove that they hold the original mortgage documents before taking possession of a home.
However, it’s basically a means to buy some time. “I am encouraging [homeowners] to stay in their homes [and] go through the court proceedings until the institution in question can produce [the] note,” Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur told the Huffington Post in September. Further, there are only a handful of states, including Florida and New York, that require foreclosures to go before a judge.
