The well-known Bain v. Metropolitan Mortgage Group court decision out of Washington state has failed once again to give homeowners the slam-dunk case against MERS that some initially interpreted when the opinion was released last year.

Judge Marsha Pechman with the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington ruled this week that "bare legal conclusions are not sufficient to uphold" a claim that a borrow originally made against MERS under Washington state laws.

Essentially, the court said in the Zalac v. CTX Mortgage Corp. case that a foreclosure sale actually has to occur for someone to be able to make a claim on the grounds that a lender has violated Washington’s Deed of Trust Act and state consumer protection laws.

"Plaintiff’s position lacks merit because it is a misapplication of the Washington State Supreme Court’s decision in Bain v. Metropolitan Mortg. Group, Inc.,” the judge held.

"Judge Pechman found that the Bain decision did not rule MERS’ role in a deed of trust is an automatic violation of the CPA and that the plaintiff failed to show how he was deceived by MERS," MERS said in a press statement. 

The deceptive trade violation claims were dismissed on the grounds that no deceptive practices were alleged in the complaint.