Was Your Mortgage Ever Valid At All?

Why Patented Land Cannot Be Mortgaged — Rebut the presumptions and reclaim what is rightfully yours

Before beginning I must give a legal disclaimer. I am not an attorney and anything I write is not to be construed as legal advice. If you require legal advice I recommend seeking competent legal counsel. In the area of property rights and foreclosures it is few and far between but I believe it does exist and hopefully such representation will not continue being as scarce as it is today. “The following is for information and entertainment only.”

I’ve been studying property rights for a few years and, of course, land patents. Early on I came to the (unverified) conclusion that patented land, meaning ALL non-commercial, non-public land could not legally (or lawfully) be mortgaged. I studied legal terms as well as historical concepts. The difference between “freehold” and “leasehold” is key. I believe we have been tricked into thinking our properties are classified as “residential” and thus we regularly deem it such. The law is based on presumptions and if those presumptions are not properly rebutted then the presumption stands.

We regularly volunteer into certain statuses, which are extremely difficult to reverse. This includes volunteering ourselves into the status as a resident rather than a domiciliary. Indeed people’s legal problems could probably be attributed solely to a lack of understanding of legalese. What I am about to discuss and share from another source could mean the difference between losing a property to foreclosure and clearing title to land that has been in your family for centuries.

In Northern and North-Central New Mexico land ownership and rights have been points of contention for decades, nay centuries. There have been battles over this land between the Native Americans, Native New Mexicans, White Settlers, and the Federal Government and it does not seem to be getting better. It is a topic that has been discussed ad nauseum by many groups and people with no real resolution. For the purposes of this article these land ownership arguments are going to be ignored, as there are many resources to study on the subject and my intention is not to educate readers on land-boundary disputes but on the true nature of the land on which you live.

Suffice it to say, however, that the people of Northern New Mexico — my people — have a strong connection to their roots, meaning to the lands their forefathers acquired centuries ago and thus they (we) have an even greater reason to understand land rights and conveyance, especially with regards to Land Grants and Land Patents. I believe my studies are bringing me closer to the fundamental truth, which others likely already know but the full knowledge has not made its way to me thus I am left with putting the pieces of the puzzle together on my own. Information can come from unlikely sources, sometimes unverified, but it is at those times when I grease the gears in my brain to decipher the truth using a rarely used gift we all have — common sense. The information herein is no different and therefore it is up to you, dear reader, to put your thinking cap on and decipher the truth in this article and even fill in the blanks if necessary.

I hope to make it as readable as possible but remember we are discussing legal concepts, which were deliberately convoluted so the average human being would not be able to understand and thus require paying large sums to “attorneys.” Let’s start with the basic definition of an attorney, from Black’s Law Dictionary 9th edition:

Looking at the operative terms in the definition, the phrase that jumps out at me is “transact business”. If we were just living life, not seeking profit of any sort, just living under our roof and not transacting business in any way then why would we need an attorney? Think about this in the context of a foreclosure or even property taxes. A foreclosure is an action where a mortgagee takes you to court in an attempt to take your property for failing to make payments on a note you obtained against which the property was the security. This is your home where you simply live. You are not necessarily transacting business in your home or on your property, just living.

With that in mind let’s move on to the definition of residence and resident and keep these terms in context. Consider the function of “residential” properties: their true function versus our belief of their function. From Black’s 9th:

This in particular: “The place where one actually lives as distinguished from a domicile” and, especially, this: “The place where a corporation or other enterprise does business or is registered to do business.”

And resident:

The very first definition is, “Affiliated with or working for a particular person or company.”

I know reading legal definitions isn’t exactly entertaining but bear with me as I give you the foundation for what I am trying to convey. What is the overarching theme of all these legal definitions? Business, commerce, “work”, profit, etc. We all have un-a-lien-able rights. No one can put a lien against our rights. What is one of our fundamental rights? We have a right to have a roof over our heads and to own property. At which point can the government begin regulating “us” or our property? When it becomes commercial. If one were so inclined they could attempt to decipher the millions of statutes and codes on the books and come to the conclusion that this is what the government is in fact doing. It is not “taking our rights” away as so many people believe. It is also not acting unconstitutionally. Of course there is the occasional unconstitutional statute or code but they are rare and generally are dealt with once discovered.

I battled my county for two years over refusing to obtain a building permit for a garage, as some of my followers know. If I had the complete picture then I believe the outcome would have been very different; however, these things take time to learn so, once you’re done reading this article be forewarned that you might have much more study to do before having the ability to “reclaim” your land.

Moving on. In this study of land ownership, property rights, conveyance, commerce, and government regulation I came to realize a few important fundamentals of what is going on:

1. We have an absolute right to property ownership;

2. That right is un-a-lien-able;

3. The government serves 2 functions: to protect private property rights, and to promote public welfare;

4. My land is my private property thus the government only has authority to protect my rights regarding that property;

5. Law is based on presumption;

6. It is presumed that we are residents on our property thus it is presumed we are engaged in commerce;

7. Mortgages and typical deeds reference the owners as “tenants”, a term reserved to renters;

8. We are presumed to be renting the property on which we live, thus the property is presumed to be leasehold;

9. Leasehold property is engaged in commerce;

10. Since we are presumed to be engaged in commerce the government must promote the public welfare by regulating our private property;

11. If we do not properly rebut these presumptions we are stuck with being regulated and taxed on our private property;

Here’s another thing I realized in studying statutes, codes, case law, historical documents, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, etc. I realized that it is completely lawful and legal to mortgage leasehold property. Now what is leasehold property? It could be anything that produces profits, including commercial property or…guess what…residential property (think apartment complexes or homes for rent). Why would it be lawful and legal to place a mortgage against leasehold property? Because the property itself can pay the mortgage thus the owner would not risk losing the roof over his head if the property itself was unable to make those payments.

Getting only slightly off topic:

My forefathers were not the drafters of the constitution but they were here twenty years before the Mayflower and thus are equally important to the history of this country as the Europeans who came after them. My forefathers were Spanish Conquistadores. Of course my blood contains a commingling of indigenous blood but for the purposes of this discussion my ancestors were the Spanish conquerors who came to acquire land. In order to do so they had to grant lands to the people to establish roots. The deal was the government would allow a family to live on a certain parcel of land for a certain period of time in order to build a home, plant fields or gardens, raise animals, or whatever, and then after that period of time if the family could exhibit to the government that they had set up roots there — and wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon — the government would convey title to that land to the head of the family. This was a conveyance of sovereign allodial title, which the government previously held but was now granting to the new owner.

Because the government was trying to ensure survival of the nation state it did not place restrictions on this land prior to conveyance and, besides, how absurd would it be for a previous owner to have the authority to place restrictions on land it no longer owned? Remember the government has every right — with authority vested in it from the people — to regulate and police public and commercial property, i.e. the places where the “public” would be likely to “reside” for limited periods of time, whether visiting a public park for a couple of hours or living in an apartment complex for a couple of years.

After the Sovereign grants that land to private landowners the landowner now owns the sovereign allodial title and only he has the authority of converting that land into commercial land or selling it back to the public for whatever reason if he so chooses — willfully and knowingly. This all has implications with regards to eminent domain, but that is a topic for another day. In this area the Treaty is what dictated how lands were patented. Essentially as part of the agreement between Mexico and the United States, landowners who had previously been granted land from the Spanish or Mexican governments could have their titles confirmed in the tribunal convened specifically for that purpose — the Court of Private Land Claims. What happened there was not a conveyance of private land from the United States to the people contrary to popular belief. Indeed the sovereign had already relinquished its interest in the land by conveying it to the people thus the United States government lacked any ownership interest in that land whatsoever and only had authority to the extent of confirming the previous conveyance by the previous sovereign government. This alone has implications regarding the so-called restrictions placed on land patents of lands already granted under the Treaty. Even more important, however, is the implications regarding present-day ordinances and property taxes the state and municipal governments claim to purportedly be applicable to privately owned land.

With that, let me say, I tossed around in my mind for a while that freehold patented land, which was guaranteed to the heirs and assigns of the original grantees/patentees forever could not lawfully be mortgaged. The logic behind this conclusion is twofold: 1. The land itself could not satisfy the mortgage payment and 2. Because of this the land, which is guaranteed to the heirs and assigns of the patent holder, could be lost to some other non-party clouding the paramount title to the land. This clouding of title and the type of conveyance that happens during foreclosure is not considered true title and only color of title thus the rightful heirs to the patent could always come back and reclaim the land.

In my view, mortgaging patented land exposes banks and title insurance companies to huge liabilities, not just in the potential that the loan might not get paid since the land itself contributes in no way to payment but also in that this cloud on title could require insurance payouts and render conveyances void. So, at a minimum, even if it were not particularly illegal or unlawful to mortgage patented land, it would certainly be in the banks’ and title insurance companies’ best interests to make policies against it.

With all of this being said, I believe I have found the verification I had not yet acquired as of coming to these conclusions. There is a process to “bring forward” the patent to your land to confirm you are a lawful heir or assignee with the forever, unalienable, rights to the land. Remember what that means? No liens can be placed against those rights thus no lien could be placed against the land.

The process for “bringing forward” the land patent is very different than those who claim to patent their own land or declaring their land patented. Such claims have been ridiculed in the courts. The process I have heard to be the most successful and authentic is that prescribed by Ron Gibson. Details of his process can be found at the web site Defend Rural America. I have not done this process (yet), as it takes time to do the groundwork, but I do believe it has the potential of voiding any foreclosure in this country if done properly. Please, please, please, before attempting this or any other process related to your legal or lawful rights, be sure to understand the ramifications fully. I believe one of the ramifications would be that once this process is complete you would have full ownership of your land. I know this sounds like a good thing but with ownership comes responsibility. I have no idea what the implications would be with regards to insuring your home, etc. but it could affect such things. I also believe it would no longer be “mortgageable”, i.e. not lien-able, thus if you ever chose to sell your land you might be limited to selling it without bank involvement. This might be totally great or it might not be so great so please think about all of this before attempting this type of process.

Following is a comment I discovered to a post on the Living Lies blog, which is written by attorney Neil Garfield. Neil is a strong proponent of rescission of mortgage contracts and his information is imperative to everyone who owns property and, especially, who has a mortgage on that property whether they are in foreclosure or not. I am a purist, so I believe everyone who owns property should consider quieting title and everyone who has a mortgage should consider rescission. My reasoning is because our nation is dying and the main reason is because people are losing their land. The lands they are losing are being stolen without any lawful right to do so. If the party claiming a right to your property has a legitimate claim they will be able to prove it in an action to reinstate the mortgage otherwise you will know they were a “pretender lender”. If your title is quieted whether or not you have a mortgage then you will know that no party has an interest or right to your property and thus your interested will be more solidified.

In light of what I have just written read the following comment to the post and try to understand what it means with regards to your status as a property owner and as one of the people. It has only minor typographic and grammatical edits.

Comment to post: https://livinglies.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/rescissions-after-3-years-the-fight-is-on/. Reading and understanding this comment is like hitting the jackpot, so thank you to the person who wrote it and you’re welcome for my passing it on to you.

“As a compliment to rescission…I highly recommend homeowners research absolute ownership of their land under Federal Land Patent/Homestead. When I brought forth the existing land patent in my name, on July 17, 1998, I went into Far West Bank, here in Utah, and asked for a loan; I then [proceeded] to tell the loan officer my land is under a Federal Land Patent. The loan officer was confused at that point and had to speak with the Loan Processor. I was then informed that banks [couldn’t] make loans against ‘patented land’. I knew this BEFORE I asked for the loan, so I requested it in writing and they gave me a letter stating such, on their letterhead!

After rescission has been mailed (especially after the servicer has filed foreclosure), one must bring the Federal Land Patent/Homestead forward in one’s own name, and file a Certificate of Acknowledgement with Indefeasible (look up definition of indefeasible) Title (even if foreclosure has started).

Google Land Patent and a plethora of information will populate, or google, WHAT IS A LAND PATENT? and Allodial Title Via Land Patent; you will be amazed to learn that under a ‘Warranty Deed’ (color of title), you are nothing more than a ‘tenant’ paying to a feudal system! You need to secure TRUE LAND OWNERSHIP as a sovereign individual, which is exempt of collateral attack, liens, taxation, etc. These land patents go all the way back to the presidency of George Washington, and have been signed and awarded by the president of the United States, to the heirs and assigns FOREVER! You just have to bring it forward in your name as an ‘assign’, and it cannot be refuted! Like rescission, they can only be challenged in a Federal Court, and no land patent case has ever lost! You will discover organizations online that help people in EVERY state secure their land patent/homestead for less than one mortgage payment! This is vital, because the ‘powers at be’ have put our land up as collateral to secure the national debt.

When the ‘economic bubble’ bursts (I believe within the next six to twelve months, at best), you will be fighting with the country [that] claims THEY were given your land by possibly the Federal Reserve (which is NOT a part of our government, but a private corporation, like the IRS). You have to show that the ‘feudal system’ could not put YOUR LAND up as collateral, as it is sovereign! This is the only way to prove one has absolute ownership of their land and it is NOT a part of the collateral package secured by those supposedly running the show!

Here is the CERTIFICATE OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…copy it to a blank WORD document; your name goes in the first three blank lines, with the exception of your land patent number. Fill in your state and county in the blanks provided. The notary fills out the bottom, and you will have to ad one more witness to YOUR document (it would not allow me to do it on this site). File it with your county recorder’s office along with all of your other documents for the Land Patent. They charge for this service, but it is money well spent! Running your notice in the newspaper may be the most expensive part. You can find free forms at the very end of the google site, “Allodial Title Via Land Patent” THE FINAL SOLUTION TO PROPERTY TAX. Just follow the instructions!

CERTIFICATE OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 DECLARATION OF INDEFEASIBLE TITLE

I, ___________________________, the living human, with Indefeasible Title to my land and lawful owner of the landed estate known as the Homestead of________________________, and its real property and interest, under the seal of Federal Land Patent #_______, am recorded as the assignee/grantee on the Federal Land Patent for the real estate described on the attached certified copy of said warranty deed (color of title).

It is my freewill act and endeavor to execute this acknowledgement of my acceptance of the Land Patent/Homestead and lawful ownership of the property under the terms of the Land Patent/Homestead (to its heirs and assigns forever). I ask that the record on file in the office of register of the deeds, and any previous Certificate of Acknowledgement (if applicable) be updated to show my acceptance of the Land Patent/Homestead, as lawful owner of the real estate/land.

All of my other real property and interest attached to this real estate is to be immediately returned to me.

Done under my hand and seal of my freewill act and deed/endeavor.

___________________________

______________________________
 Witness
 ______________________________
 Witness

STATE OF ________________________ }

COUNTY OF ______________________ }

On this ____ day of _____________, 20__, before me the subscriber _____________________, personally appeared to me known to be the living human described in and who executed the foregoing instrument and acknowledged before me that he executed the same of his freewill act and endeavor.”