The U.S. Supreme Court denied review of a case brought against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems by a California man, the Court announced Tuesday. Gomes v. Countrywide is the first major MERS case filed with the Supreme Court, according to Jose Gomes’ attorney, Ehud Gersten. The case centered on the issue of whether MERS had a right to foreclose on the homeowner without proving it had the noteholder’s authority to foreclose. Gersten, a San Diego lawyer, filed the appeal with the nation’s highest court on Aug. 15 after California’s Supreme Court declined review of the Fourth Appellate District Court’s decision in favor of MERS. That decision upheld the right of MERS to the home’s deed of trust, giving the company the right to foreclose. The denied appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court wasn’t a surprise considering the low percentage of cases heard, Gersten said. “It’s a very frustrating result and a disappointing result that the Supreme Court didn’t pick it up,” Gersten said. “It would’ve been a nice opportunity for the Supreme Court to put the issue of MERS to rest.” An Arizona federal judge dismissed 72 lawsuits against MERS earlier this month. U.S. District Judge James Teilborg wrote in his decision that there was no legal support that MERS’s system “is so inherently defective so as to render every MERS deed of trust completely unenforceable and unassignable.” Bank of America (BAC) will likely now finish the foreclosure process on Gomes’ home, Gersten said. The process started in March 2009. Write to Andrew Scoggin. Follow him on Twitter @ascoggin.