MERSCORP, INC. v. DELAWARE COUNTY

No. 67 MAP 2017.

207 A.3d 855 (2019)

MERSCORP, INC. n/k/a MERSCORP Holdings, Inc.; Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.; Bank of America, N.A.; CitiMortgage, Inc.; Citibank, N.A.; Credit Suisse Financial Corporation; Everhome Mortgage Company; JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.; State Farm Bank F.S.B.; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; Sovereign Bank; HSBC Bank USA, N.A.; HSBC Finance Corporation; Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services, L.P. n/k/a Finance of America Mortgage LLC; Customers Bancorp, Inc.; Customers Bank; The Bank of New York Mellon; The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A.; Deutsche Bank National Trust Company; Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas; Santander Bank, N.A. f/k/a Sovereign Bank, N.A.; and Trident Mortgage Company, L.P., Appellees v. DELAWARE COUNTY, Pennsylvania, Recorder of Deeds, by and Through Thomas J. Judge, Sr., in His Official Capacity as the Recorder of Deeds of Delaware County, Pennsylvania; Frederick C. Sheeler, in His Official Capacity as Recorder of Deeds in and for the County of Berks, Pennsylvania; The Office of the Recorder of Deeds in and for the County of Berks, Pennsylvania; The County of Berks, Pennsylvania; Joseph J. Szafran, in His Official Capacity as Recorder of Deeds in and for the County of Bucks, Pennsylvania; The Office of the Recorder of Deeds in and for the County of Bucks, Pennsylvania; The County of Bucks, Pennsylvania; Richard T. Loughery, in His Official Capacity as the Recorder of Deeds in and for the County of Chester, Pennsylvania; The Office of the Recorder of Deeds in and for the County of Chester, Pennsylvania; and The County of Chester, Pennsylvania, Appellants.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Decided: April 26, 2019.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Kristen Marie Ashe, Esq. , Nipun Jashbhai Patel, Esq. , Reed Smith LLP, Mark Joseph Neuberger, Esq. , Foley & Lardner, L.L.P., for The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Amicus Curiae.

John R. Bielski, Esq. , Amy Louise Rosenberger, Esq. , Willig, Williams & Davidson, for Council 13, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, Amicus Curiae.

David R. Fine, Esq. , Raymond Paul Pepe, Esq. , K & L Gates LLP, for Pennsylvania Bankers Association, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Amicus Curiae.

Casey Ann Gillespie, Esq. , Gillespie, Miscavige, & Ferdinand, L.L.C., for County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, Pa. Recorder of Deeds Assoc., et al, Amicus Curiae.

Edward John Hayes, Esq. , Fox Rothschild LLP, for Pennsylvania Land Title Association, Amicus Curiae.

Carmen P. Belefonte, Esq. , Patrick Howard, Esq. , Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesky, PC, Charles J. Kocher, Esq. , for Judge, Thomas J., Sr. , Appellant.

Michael J. Boni, Esq. , John Elliott Sindoni, Esq. , Joshua D. Snyder, Esq. , Boni, Zack & Snyder LLC, for Counties of Chester, Bucks, and Berks, Offices of Recorder of Deeds, Recorders of Deeds, Appellant.

Daniel Patrick Finegan, Esq. , William J. Leonard, Esq. , Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP, for Sheeler, Frederick C., Joseph J. Szafran , Office of Recorder of Deeds Bucks County, Bucks County, Appellant.

Maureen Murphy McBride, Esq. , James C. Sargent Jr., Esq. , LAMB McERLANE PC, for County of Chester, Appellant.

Irv Ackelsberg, Esq. , Langer Grogan & Diver, P.C., Benjamin David Geffen, Esq. , Public Interest Law Center (The), for Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennyslvania, Midpenn Legal Services, et al, Appellant Amicus Curiae.

Steven J. Adams, Esq. , Stevens & Lee, P.C., Trident Mortgage Company, L.P., Appellee.

Dana Elizabeth Becker, Esq. , Robert M. Brochin, Esq. , Lauren Michelle Cordrey, Esq. , Franco A. Corrado, Esq. , Brian Michael Ercole, Esq. , Brian A. Herman, Esq. , Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Marc J. Sonnenfeld, Esq. , for MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., MERSCORP, Inc., JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., Appellee.

James Paul Berg, Esq. , Peter Colonna-Romano, Esq. , Parker Ibrahim & Berg LLP, Fred William Hoensch III, Esq. , Law Firm, The Levicoff, for Santander Bank, N.A., Appellee.

David C. Blickenstaff, Esq. , Joseph Anthony Cancila Jr., Esq. , Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP, James T. Moughan, Esq. , for State Farm Bank F.S.B., Appellee.

Dorothy Ann Davis, Esq. , Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, Michael Dockterman, Esq. , for Credit Suisse Financial Corporation, Appellee.

Edward T. Fisher, Esq. , Francine Friedman Griesing, Esq. , Alva Catherine Mather, Esq. , Griesing Law, LLC, Thomas v. Panoff, Esq. , Mayer Brown LLP, Lucia Nale, Esq. , for CitiMortgage, Inc., Citibank, N.A., Appellee.

Rocco Peter Imperatrice III, Esq. , Imperatrice, Amarant & Bell, P.C., for Bank of America, N.A., Appellee.

Patrick Robert Kingsley, Esq. , Stradley, Ronon , Stevens & Young, L.L.P., for Ever-home Mortgage Company, Appellee.

Gregory J. Marshall, Esq. , Snell and Wilmer LLP, for HSBC Bank, USA, N.A., HSBC Finance Corporation, Appellee.

Henry Falkner Reichner, Esq. , Reed Smith LLP, Joseph F. Yenouskas, Esq. , for Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services, L.P., Customers Bank, HSBC Bank, USA, N.A., Finance of America Mortgage LLC, The Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of America, N.A., Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., HSBC Finance Corporation, Customers Bancorp, Inc., The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., Appellee.

SAYLOR, C.J., BAER, TODD, DONOHUE, DOUGHERTY, WECHT, MUNDY, JJ.


OPINION

We consider whether the Commonwealth Court correctly determined that 21 P.S. § 351, "Failure to record conveyance," does not create a mandatory duty to record all mortgages and mortgage assignments in a county office for the recorder of deeds. We hold the Commonwealth Court did not...

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