Beau Biden, state attorney general (AG) of Delaware, has filed suit against the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) for deceptive trade practices[1]. Saying that “real property rights have been a cornerstone of our society,” Biden alleges that MERS’ has created “confusion among homeowners, investors and other stakeholders in the mortgage finance system, seriously damaging the integrity of the land records that are central to Delaware’s real property system and leading to improper foreclosure practices.”
Bidens suit cites an example of a recent New Castle County foreclosure in which MERS foreclosed on a loan “in which it had no interest and…the entity upon whose behalf MERS sought to foreclose had actually been dissolved months prior.” Biden alleges that MERS not only deliberately hid the true mortgage owner from the public record but used its massive database to deliberately create “confusion and inappropriate assignments and foreclosures of mortgages.”
Not surprisingly, MERS spokeswoman Janis Smith insists that the AG’s allegations have “no merit.” She added that “there is no confusion” and that MERS has “transparent” business practices, pointing out that the corporation has acted “in good faith” with Biden and that the lawsuit was unexpected[2].
New York AG Eric Schneiderman has also subpoenaed MERS for information, and Dallas County, Texas district attorney Craig Watkins has sued the corporation as well. Watkins believes that his county may be owed “as much as $100 million” for wrongful foreclosures by various entities, including MERS and Bank of America.
Should MERS be disbanded? What do you think about Biden’s lawsuit?
Thank you for reading the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter!
Your comments and questions are welcomed below.
[1] http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news27090/who-owns-their-castle-delaware-attorney-general-biden-files-suit-against-mers
[2] http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-27/mortgage-registry-mers-sued-by-delaware-attorney-general.html
Yes i feel that Mers should be disband because they are doing alot of things that arent right.I feel that New jersey should do class action suite against the company for acting as if they are the lienholder on some property in NJ.And i feel that Chase bank is in on the deal.
Yes MERS should be desolved.It has became the hideout for all kinds of crooked and underhanded activity. And contuines to operate today in the same manner. My family and I are homeless today because of this operation. How can you trade sale or convey someones property with you paying any value for it. That’s like selling a car that you don’t own, that someone maybe let you use. I don’t know about anyone else but MERS was never mentioned to me at all during the loan process. So they were undisclosed which is a violation and the question that should be asked is,” why was it not disclosed as to what part they would play”?
If you go to MERS website you will read that documents are submitted not in wet ink but by fax or email which makes it easy to falsify & forge.Also it explains how they authorize people to sign in their behalf that are not officers or their company and that the MEMBERS are responsible to make sure that the assignment and paperwork is in order. In order to protect MERS from any lawsuits. Look on their website under membership before they take it down. This is a real racket and fraud on the public.
Mers should be disbanded. For the life of me I have not understood why every jurisdiction has not sued MERS for loss income to the counties for recording fees. The states and counties would not be in the financial funk they are in if they rightfully collected recording fees everytime a property changes hands or is assigned.