December 8, 2007 (LPAC)--Following similar rulings by three federal court judges -- in Cleveland, Dayton, and Columbus -- Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven E. Martin ruled Dec. 7, that Wells Fargo Bank was not legally allowed to foreclose on the home of Gloria and Ellsworth Byrd, because the bank's lawyers didn't prove that Wells Fargo was the legal owner of the mortgage before it filed the foreclosure lawsuit. In other words, the suit was premature. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that this ruling is the first of its kind by a state court judge in Ohio, the state which has the worst foreclosure rate in the nation.

Lyndon LaRouche had commented Nov. 16, on the implications of the similar Oct. 31 decision by Federal Judge Christopher A. Boyko, dismissing 14 home foreclosure cases brought by Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. LaRouche warned that banks' leveraging of unowned mortgages, could bring down the system. The question posed is whether banks have been duplicating the use of assets. Any suspicion or doubt about this is enough in itself, to bring down the system, he said.

In a coordinated effort, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann filed motions in seven Hamilton County cases, instructing judges to take a closer look at each foreclosure case.

Judge Martin, in an unusual move, ordered that the bank's law firm must file proof that its clients actually own the mortgages before filing any new foreclosure actions in Hamilton County.

Wells Fargo filed the foreclosure suit two months proving that it owned the mortgage, in violation of the legal rule known as "real party in interest." The original mortgage was with Countrywide Financial.

Some 40% of the 1,733 foreclosures studied by a University of Iowa law professor, did not contain proof that the plaintiff owned the mortgage.