Wells Fargo Bank NA v. Jones et al

Filing 18

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING 7 Defendant's MOTION to Strike Plaintiff's Assignment of Mortgage and "Original" Notes and Allonges by Defendant Joy Jones, filed in Allen Superior Court, 02D01-1010-MF-871. Signed by Chief Judge Philip P Simon on 3/16/2015. (lhc)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
FORT WAYNE DIVISION
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.,
as Trustee for Merrill Lynch
Mortgage Investors Trust, Mortgage
Loan Asset-Backed Certificates,
Series 2003-OPT1,
Plaintiff,
vs.
JOY JONES, et al.,
Defendants.

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1:15-cv-00015-PPS-SLC
Removed from Allen County Superior
Court, 02D01-10-10-MF-871

OPINION AND ORDER
This case was filed in Indiana state court in 2010. Defendant Joy Jones removed it
to this federal court on January 16, 2015. (Docket Entry 2.) Plaintiff Wells Fargo’s motion
to remand (DE 11) is pending and not yet fully briefed. Jones’s motion from 2011 to
“Strike Plaintiff’s Assignment of Mortgage and ‘Original’ Notes and Allonges” (DE 7) is
also still pending, and appears to be fully briefed, so I will take up that motion.
Jones’s motion seeks to strike exhibits that Wells Fargo filed purporting to be the
mortgage, note, and assignment documents at issue. Jones apparently challenges the
validity of the assignment, and Wells Fargo’s standing to sue Jones. In effect, Jones’s
motion to strike gets at the very heart and substance of this case. A motion to strike is
not the appropriate means for doing this. The validity, interpretation, and effect of the

challenged documents are matters properly addressed in other ways, through
dispositive motions or trial for example, but not a motion to strike.
THEREFORE Jones’s Motion to Strike Plaintiff’s Assignment of Mortgage and
“Original” Notes and Allonges is DENIED. (DE 7.)
SO ORDERED.
ENTERED: March 16, 2015
/s/ Philip P. Simon
PHILIP P. SIMON, CHIEF JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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