South Carolina’s highest court has ruled in favor of MERSCORP Holdings Inc. in a case where counties in the state were challenging the registry system.
MERS was sued by several counties in South Carolina that alleged
fraud and misrepresentation, unfair trade practices, conversion and trespass to chattels.
The counties sought a declaratory judgment stating that MERS damaged the public records system that shows which lender has an interest in a property.
They also requested injunctive relief that stopped MERS from recording any document that indicated it had a lien on the property and required the registry to correct previously filed documents.
The lawsuits were consolidated.
Citing state law, MERS then filed a motion to dismiss the consolidated lawsuit.
But the trial court denied the motion.
So MERS filed a
petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court of South Carolina, which asks the state’s highest court to consider its appeal.
The petition was granted.
After hearing both sides, the
Supreme Court sided with MERS and reversed the trial court’s denial of the motion to dismiss — effectively dismissing the lawsuit.
“At the outset, we find the trial court erred in declining to dismiss the suit on the ground this was a novel issue,” the decision stated. “Although our court has held that ‘important questions of novel impression should not be decided on a motion to dismiss,’ this general rule does not apply when the determinative facts are not in dispute.”
