M&T Bank v. Mallinckrodt

Lien priority dispute in mortgage foreclosure proceedings on residential property. Court erred in granting partial summary judgment in favor of junior lienholder bank whose mortgage, court ruled, had priority over other bank's mortgage. Bank did not lose its senior lienholder status because it did not have a recorded interest in the note at the time of the other bank's refinancing. The purpose of having MERS as the mortgagee is to allow repeated assignments of notes without recordation, as MERS continues to hold the mortgage. (SCHOSTOK and ZENOFF, concurring.)