After mortgage records lost, woman given rights to home

A Long Island woman has just been awarded full ownership of her house — without any debt or liens — because the mortgage records on her home were lost, according to Newsday. After buying her home in 2000, Corliss Gittens became “distraught” to learn that none of the mortgage checks she sent her lender, Homeside Lending, were being cashed, according to her lawyer Fred Brewington. Eventually, the company informed her that they had no record of her ever taking out a mortgage, a fact she vehemently disputes. Eventually, after Homeside became defunct, and its parent company sold, Gittens took her case to court. The court ultimately found records of Gittens’ mortgage and deed, and granted the owner the rights to her home. [Newsday]