MERS (PART II) – What exactly is MERS? Does anyone, including MERS, know?

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, MERS, is a mortgage database that was created in the mid-1990s by the nations’ top financial institutions and mortgage lenders.  Back then, a few county level elected officials, who were tapped with the responsibility to guard the integrity of their local land records, voiced deep concerns over MERS.  Those few dissenters were ignored or silenced.  MERS was, and remains, a crucial player behind the financial crisis, the foreclosure crisis, and the plunder of America’s pensions and retirement savings which are invested in mortgage-backed-security bonds.   Go here for information on how to check your own mortgage for MERS infection.

A great primer on MERS was written by Michael Powell and Gretchen Morgenson at NYT.com on March 3, 2011, MERS, It May Have Swallowed Your Loan here.

Never heard of MERS? That’s fine with the mortgage banking industry—as MERS is starting to overheat and sputter. If its many detractors are correct, this private corporation, with a full-time staff of fewer than 50 employees, could turn out to be a very public problem for the mortgage industry.

Judges, lawmakers, lawyers and housing experts are raising piercing questions about MERS, which stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, whose private mortgage registry has all but replaced the nation’s public land ownership records. Most questions boil down to this:

How can MERS claim title to those mortgages, and foreclose on homeowners, when it has not invested a dollar in a single loan?

And, more fundamentally: Given the evidence that many banks have cut corners and made colossal foreclosure mistakes, does anyone know who owns what or owes what to whom anymore?

The answers have implications for all American homeowners, but particularly the millions struggling to save their homes from foreclosure. How the MERS story plays out could deal another blow to an ailing real estate market, even as the spring buying season gets under way.

MERS has distanced itself from the dubious behavior of some of its members, and the company itself has not been accused of wrongdoing. But the legal challenges to MERS, its practices and its records are mounting.

Read the entire article here.

Gretchen Morgenson has contined to focus on MERS issues, most recently on September 1, 2012 NYT.com published Mortgage Registry Muddles Foreclosures here.

Here is where Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems comes in, the company that runs the database set up by banks in the mid-1990s to speed the transfer of mortgages nationwide and track their ownership. To save the costs of recording a mortgage’s transfer from one institution to another, MERS acts as mortgagee in county land records. But it does not own the note underlying a property.Amid the foreclosure crisis, however, critics have contended that the registry actually served to hide the true owner of a mortgage, making it difficult for borrowers to get help in working out their loans.The facts in Mr. Kline’s case seem to indicate another flaw with the MERS registry — that it may not even track mortgages effectively.

Read the entire article here.

The Law Offices of Evan M. Rosen provides vigorous foreclosure defense to South Floridians who have experienced a wide range of MERS related real estate and foreclosure fraud issues.  We have been aggressively disputing MERS’ questionable property conveyance practices.  Their very own documents are conflicting and called by one judge “absurd” as MERS claims to own the mortgages on one hand but not on another.  Their are simultaneously the principal and the agent and you just can be both.  And if they are the agent, there is a very specific statutory procedure that must be followed to act as an agent for another, which is never done.  If you have a MERS mortgage, suspect wrongdoing in a foreclosure filed against your family’s home, or if you have been subjected to any other bank foreclosure misdeeds, contact us to discuss your options and rights.

Remember, in Florida, after being served with a lawsuit, you must reply to the court in twenty calendar days in order to preserve your rights and to best defend your family.  Please do not let those twenty days lapse without filing a legally sufficient response to the court that covers all possible defenses you might have.  As foreclosure defense attorneys serving the South Florida community for many years, we have developed a wide array of defenses in order to give you a multitude of options.

~

If you are looking for help with debt, foreclosure, real estate or want more information about bankruptcy law, call us at(754)400-5150 or fill out our online form for a FREE CONSULTATION. Let the lawyers and staff at the Law Offices of Evan M. Rosen serve you!

We are a debt relief agency. In addition to other legal services, we help clients file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.