If it's not properly named as a defendant in the suit and served it's not really wiped out..

And the first mortgage will survive even though that named as one of the defendants??

Filing a Statement of Defence implies the mortgagor fully intends to defend the lawsuit, and contains reasons why the lender is incorrect in suing you.  

If the tenant is reporting illegal basements and roaches, then the best way to defend one's self against such reporting is to not have them (to the best of one's ability - roaches are a tough one).  

Maybe there are some that would have defended their purchasers but this was a large national real estate agency.

Trial court judges are notorious for arbitrary legal conclusions relying entirely on legal reasoning in briefs submitted by one of the parties.So here's the upshot - if you are willing to roll the dice and you have the money to defend an admin hearing and prepare at least one appeal, by all means carry through with the attitude that "the law is on your side."

But $15K does not mean a war zone (It could be but not necessarily so)See my thread where I'm attempting to answer in detail all questions people have about Detroit and suburbs.http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/198698-detroit-and-michigan--1-defender-answers-questions?

I will make more money defending a DIY or non-lawyer LLC from a lawsuit than a properly formed LLC by an experienced LLC lawyer, because they don't focus on the asset protection tricks of the trade, and they typically do the bare minimum to get the Secretary of State to say "Voila, here's your LLC".

The LisPendens did include the HOA as a defendant.  

Too Big to Fail turns into Too Big to follow Law.http://vegasinc.com/business/real-estate/2015/jun/...http://www.babc-financialservicesperspectives.com/...When one court rules against another courts ruling, which involve the defendants from that case, which is in another jurisdiction, what we find is court shopping as a way to abuse the process and go around state law.