Wilmington, DE – Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden filed suit today against the shadow mortgage registry known as MERS that is at the center of the housing crisis. The complaint, filed in the Delaware Chancery Court, charges that MERSCORP and its subsidiary Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. have repeatedly violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
“Since at least the 1600s, real property rights have been a cornerstone of our society,” said Attorney General Biden. “MERS has raised serious questions about who owns what in America. A man or woman’s home is not just his or her largest investment, it’s their castle. Rules matter. A homeowner has the obligation to pay the mortgage on time, and lenders must follow the rules if they are seeking to take away someone’s house through foreclosure. The honor system won’t work.”
MERS engaged and continues to engage in deceptive trade practices that sow 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. These deceptive trade practices fall into three broad categories:
• MERS, through its private mortgage registry, knowingly obscures important information from
borrowers and the information that MERS does provide to borrowers is frequently inaccurate.
The opacity of MERS’ mortgage registration database makes it difficult for consumers to know
of or challenge inaccuracies in the MERS System. This harms borrowers when MERS
forecloses on borrowers in its own name, thus impairing a borrower’s ability to raise defenses.
This also hampers the ability of borrowers to seek out the owner of their loan to pursue loan
modifications or other loss mitigation relief.
borrowers and the information that MERS does provide to borrowers is frequently inaccurate.
The opacity of MERS’ mortgage registration database makes it difficult for consumers to know
of or challenge inaccuracies in the MERS System. This harms borrowers when MERS
forecloses on borrowers in its own name, thus impairing a borrower’s ability to raise defenses.
This also hampers the ability of borrowers to seek out the owner of their loan to pursue loan
modifications or other loss mitigation relief.
• MERS often acts as an agent without authority from its proper principal. Because the MERS
System was both unreliable and frequently inaccurate, MERS often does not know the identity
of its proper principal. Where the name of the owner of the mortgage loan recorded in the
MERS System does not reflect the true owner, any action MERS takes on behalf of the
purported owner is without authority.
System was both unreliable and frequently inaccurate, MERS often does not know the identity
of its proper principal. Where the name of the owner of the mortgage loan recorded in the
MERS System does not reflect the true owner, any action MERS takes on behalf of the
purported owner is without authority.
• MERS is effectively a “front” organization that has created a systemically important mortgage
registry but fails to properly oversee that registry or enforce its own rules on its members that
participate in the registry. Rather than maintaining an adequate staff to provide MERS’
services, MERS operates through a network of over 20,000 deputized non-employee corporate
officers who cause MERS to act without any meaningful oversight from anyone who works at
MERS. This has resulted in MERS recording so-called “robosigned” documents with country
recorders of deeds and failing to follow its own rules regarding proper institution of foreclosure
proceedings.
registry but fails to properly oversee that registry or enforce its own rules on its members that
participate in the registry. Rather than maintaining an adequate staff to provide MERS’
services, MERS operates through a network of over 20,000 deputized non-employee corporate
officers who cause MERS to act without any meaningful oversight from anyone who works at
MERS. This has resulted in MERS recording so-called “robosigned” documents with country
recorders of deeds and failing to follow its own rules regarding proper institution of foreclosure
proceedings.
Good reporting Joe , but , nothing will be done. It's just too late , the democrats have ruined the legal and ethics system in the country.
ReplyDeleteIf this company is not legit, or doing illegal practices, but is incorporated in the State of Delaware, are they also going to pull their licensing and incorporation from them?
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that would be a measure to take.
Otherwise, I probably would have to view it as grand standing by the AG.