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MERS Enters Self-Preservation Mode, Issues Press Release To "Clarify" Its Role In Foreclosure Fraud
As more people realize that the fake title transfer aspect of foreclosure fraud is just the tip of the iceberg which runs, via MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) conduits all the way to the core of the securitization system, and thus $10 trillion in first level debt (and who knows how much in 3rd and 4th level layering of debt on top of this: think CDO-squared and cubed), we expect an increasing number of denials from the enablers in the explosion of securitization over the past ten years. Such as MERS. Which is why it is not surprising that late last night, it was precisely MERS who not only acknowledged for the first time its involvement in this whole fiasco (by a press release and a "fact and rebuttal" session), but has made it all too clear just how deep the problem truly runs. We would like to highlight just how very alike is the defense prepared by the High Frequency Signing Lobby to that by the High Frequency Traders out there: it is all just technological advancement, and if you want to blame it on someone, blame it on Intel and their fast fast chips: "What we're seeing now is that the
foreclosure process itself was not designed to withstand the extraordinary
volume of foreclosures that the mortgage industry and local governments must now
handle." Obviously the volume only exploded once failed systems such as MERS appeared on the scene: it is precisely in this aspect that MERS served as an enabling catalyst to let loose the wave of exponential re-re-securitization. It continues: "The MERS process of
tracking mortgages and holding title provides clarity, transparency and
efficiency to the housing finance system." And here is where MERS basically puts the ball back in the corrupt legal system's court: "We are committed to continually
ensuring that everyone who has responsibilities in the mortgage and foreclosure
process follows local and state laws, as well as our own training and rules." Because why not blame the entire judicial system, when one could just acknowledge the burden of having failed at doing their own job properly... One thing is certain: someone is going down for this biggest snafu in the history of mortgages/securitization.
Follows the full MERS press release:
Statement by CEO of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS)
RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
October 09, 2010
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Chief Executive Officer R.K.
Arnold today issued the following statement regarding the organization and
clarifying certain aspects of its operations:
"MERS is one important component of the complex infrastructure of America's
housing finance system. Billions of dollars of mortgage money flow through the
financial system every year. It takes many, often-unseen mechanical processes to
properly get those funds into the hands of qualified homebuyers.
Technology designed to reduce paperwork has a very positive effect on families
and communities. They may not see it, but these things save money and time,
creating reliability and stability in the system. That's important to keep the
mortgage funds flowing to the consumers who need it. [ZH: odd how almost identical this defense is to the one prepared by the HFT lobby. Perhaps, it should now be called High Frequency Signing and Trading?]
With millions of Americans facing foreclosure, every element of the housing
finance system is under tremendous strain. What we're seeing now is that the
foreclosure process itself was not designed to withstand the extraordinary
volume of foreclosures that the mortgage industry and local governments must now
handle.
MERS helps the mortgage finance process work better. The MERS process of
tracking mortgages and holding title provides clarity, transparency and
efficiency to the housing finance system. We are committed to continually
ensuring that everyone who has responsibilities in the mortgage and foreclosure
process follows local and state laws, as well as our own training and rules."
Facts about MERS
FACT: Courts have ruled in favor of MERS in many lawsuits, upholding MERS
legal interest as the mortgagee and the right to foreclose.
This legal right springs from two important facts:
1) MERS holds legal title to a mortgage as an agent for the owner of the loan
2) MERS can become the holder of the promissory note when the owner of the loan
chooses to make MERS the holder of the note with the right to enforce if the
mortgage loan goes into default.
MERS does not authorize anyone to represent it in a foreclosure unless both
the mortgage and the note are in MERS possession. In some cases where courts
have found against MERS, those cases have hinged on other procedural defects or
improper presentation of MERS's legal interests and rights. Citations can be
found at the end of this document.*
FACT: MERS does not create a defect in the mortgage or deed of trust
Claims that MERS disrupts or creates a defect in the mortgage or deed of trust
are not supported by fact or legal precedents. This is often used as a tactic by
lawyers to delay or prevent the foreclosure. The mortgage lien is granted to
MERS by the borrower and the seller and that is what makes MERS the mortgagee.
The role of mortgagee is legal and binding and confers to MERS certain legal
rights and responsibilities.
FACT: The trail of ownership does not change because of MERS
MERS does not remove, omit, or otherwise fail to report land ownership
information from public records. Parties are put on notice that MERS is the
mortgagee and notifications by third parties can be sent to MERS. Mortgages and
deeds of trust still get recorded in the land records.
The MERS System tracks the changes in servicing rights and beneficial
ownership. No legal interests are transferred on the MERS System, including
servicing and ownership. In fact, MERS is the only publicly available
comprehensive source for note ownership.
While this information is tracked through the MERS System, the paperwork still
exists to prove actual legal transfers still occurred. No mortgage ownership
documents have disappeared because loans were registered on the MERS System.
These documents exist now as they have before MERS was created. The only pieces
of paper that have been eliminated are assignments between servicing companies
because such assignments become unnecessary when MERS holds the mortgage lien
for the owner of the note.
FACT: MERS did not cause mortgage securitization
MERS was created as a means to keep better track of the mortgage servicing and
beneficial rights as loans were getting bought and sold at a high rate during
the late 1990s.
At the height of the housing market, low interest rates prompted some
homeowners to refinance once, twice, even three times in the space of months.
Banks were originating loans at more than double their usual rate. Assignments -
- the document that names the holder of the legal title to the lien -- primarily
between servicing companies, were piling up in county land record offices,
awaiting recording. Many times the loans were getting refinanced before the
assignments could get recorded on the old loan. The delay prevented lien
releases from getting recorded in a timely manner, leaving clouds on title.
MERS was created to provide clarity, transparency and efficiency by tracking
the changes in servicing rights and beneficial ownership interests. It was not
created to enable faster securitization. MERS is the only publicly available
source of comprehensive information for the servicing and ownership of the more
than 64 million loans registered on the system. The Mortgage Identification
Number (MIN), created by MERS, is similar in function to a motor vehicle VIN,
which keeps track of these loans. Without MERS the current mortgage crisis would
be even worse.
FACT: Lenders cannot "hide" behind MERS
MERS is the only comprehensive, publicly available source of the servicing and
ownership of more than 64 million loans in the United States. If a homeowner
needs to identify the servicer or investor of their loan, and it is registered
in MERS, they can be helped through the MERS website or via toll-free number at
888-679-6377.
FACT: MERS fully complies with recording statutes
The purpose of recording laws is to show that a lien exists, which protects
the mortgagee and any bona fide purchasers. When MERS is the mortgagee, the
mortgage or deed of trust is recorded, and all recording fees are paid.
*NOTABLE LEGAL VICTORIES:
a. IN RE Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Litigation, a multi-
district litigation case in federal court in Arizona who issued a favorable
opinion, stating that "The MERS System is not fraudulent, and MERS has not
committed any fraud."
b. IN RE Tucker (9/20/2010) where a Missouri bankruptcy judge found that the
language of the deed of trust clearly authorizes MERS to act on behalf of the
lender in serving as the legal title holder.
c. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. v. Bellistri, 2010 WL
2720802 (E.D. Mo. 2010), where the court held that Bellistri's failure to
provide notice to MERS violated MERS' constitutional due process rights.
And after that gratuitous and irrelevant listing of notable legal victories, we now are certain a a far more notable legal loss is just around the corner.
h/t Pam
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ALl your 'notable legal victories' are belong to us, make your MERS...
"Hi, I'm from MERS and I am here to help you."
I will have to add that to list of big lies. For those of you who may have forgotten them...
1. I'm from the government and here to help you.
2. Just this once ...
3. I promise to pull out
4. It is not a cold sore
MERS is full of shit. They lack standing, as does the attorney, as does the trustee, nominee, and loan servicer.
Debt collectors lack standing, only the holder in due course has standing. The Promissory Note is now part of the REMIC without recourse. Oh No!
Robo-signing gate and MERS is a smoke screen to the real problem... no loan was ever funded and no loan was given, the holder in due course can't show up in most of these cases.
I set MERS up as a title defect the first time I ever saw it. And I made a really big stink about it. A title defect is something that winds up being in litigation. There has been much litigation about their behavior and practices, which proved me correct.
MERS demands that the members (also known as banks) set up one of their persons as a V.P. or something like that, so they can sit in a MERS office and ROBO Sign stuff. It is in their membership agreement, if I recall correctly.
Irrelevant. MERS lacks standing, as well as the attorney, trustee, nominee, and/or loan servicer. Oh no. Robo-signer gate is a smoke screen. The problem is the lack of standing of the plaintiff which are DEBT COLLECTORS as defined by the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act.
The Promissory Note is a promise to pay a loan servicer, generally presumed to be the holder in due course, a monthly payment every thirty days over the amortization period of the Obligation.
How may the loan servicer move a proof of claim when the promissory notes sits elsewhere, beyond said servicer’s statutory reach, in a separate legalistic formed entity, statutorily defined as the Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit without recourse?
OH CRAP!!!!
Sorry but all these jokers are not the holder in due course, even the DEBT COLLECTOR that says he is an attorney at Law.
http://openjurist.org/443/f3d/373/wilson-v-draper-and-goldberg-pllc
THE SO CALLED ATTORNEY AT LAW IS A DEBT COLLECTOR, THE TRUSTEE IS A DEBT COLLECTOR, THE NOMINEE IS A DEBT COLLECTOR AND THE LOAN SERVICER IS A DEBT COLLECTOR. Oh crap.
CYA, bitchez.
MERS, RIP bitchez...
BTW: Nice ass...
What they are trying to do here is tap-dance around the issues that ZH and others have raised. They are saying that they track changes (record changes) in beneficial ownership, but not the legal interest(s) in ownership. I am not sure if this kind of mental gymnastics will serve them well, or if they are correct in this (I think they are not correct and are trying to have it both ways).
We have a bingo. However, by doing this they send the ball even deeper into the mortgage servicers' court. And last we checked most banks haven't provided a formal explanation for why foreclosures are halted aside from "letting everything normalize for a while." They are next and last to deny any guilt... Then the class action lobby puts on the riot gear.
The banks have a plan, but they are stalling until Congress convenes a lame-duck session in a few weeks. I'm guessing the "resolution" will involve some mergers and happy talk to cover the transfer of all responsibilities to the federal government, and of course blanket amnesty for any past sins. States will get some cash as a settlement for all the pending lawsuits and told to "Don't go away mad, just go away."
This deflationary event will be sold as a mercy killing, something that our great nation, ever so reluctantly, has to do...now move along proles, go shopping for Christmas!
"The MERS process of tracking mortgages and holding title provides clarity, transparency and efficiency to the housing finance system."
how does holding title "as nominee" provide clarity and transparency? a nominee has no financial interest in anything. it is just total bullshit.
Correct, this isn't a dot the T issue. MERS lacks standing to foreclose.
What they are trying to say is this all of the fault of some paper... no no, not so fast.
Click first for background music - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoBFhdeR9PE
What's the more egregious offense to the rule of law here?
The law is no longer the master of government. Law is merely a tool of the Oligarchs to adjust the levers so that they can keep their heroin fix flowing all in the name of peace for all.
finem respice indeed
OH! I hate your post, because it is so true.
Good Post. Talk about "things I wish I did not know".
from the MERS website:
MERS acts as nominee in the county land records for the lender and servicer. Any loan registered on the MERS® System is inoculated against future assignments because MERS remains the nominal mortgagee no matter how many times servicing is traded.
oh really........
there are fine laws on the books of each state now. unfortunately the criminal banksters will try and have them changed or overruled by some new federal law to benefit their criminal activity.
but let's take a look at who owns MERS:
http://www.mersinc.org/about/shareholders.aspx
Strange, that looks like a list of the big criminals involved in the securitization scam!
indeed.
wasn't MERS designed by the criminal banksters for the purpose of trading CDOs back and forth amongst themselves for the purpose of generating fake profits?
MERS? I thought thats what the USG was designed for.
What's your line of thinking here? MERS tracked the properties/notes that presumably constituted the MBS. Where does action in the CDO's come in?
MERS was set up along the lines of the DTCC which clears stock trades electronically. unfortunately MERS bypassed state laws about recording mortgage assignments when the ownership of the note changed hands. besides not paying the states revenue by the new note holder, the homeowner was deprived of the knowledge of who they owed the money to. this comes in to play when a homeowner needs to do a "workout" on the loan. in the past, this was done with the neighborhood banker; or even a with a large bank, the homeowner had a real banker to talk to. MERS was designed for the banksters to trade the mortgage notes (CDOs)/(Mortgage Backed Securities) as if they are stocks or bonds. they are not. real estate is different than stocks or bonds. here is a story in the bilderberg controlled washington post that explains it somewhat, except the part about the criminal banksters:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR201010...
Unfortunately, wrong. According to my locally elected Clerk of the Court, the FLORIDA LEGISLATURE changed the real property laws in Florida so that if a mortgage was transferred as a "business transaction" then the note did not have to be recorded. So, our mortgage was initially recorded, then sold to ABN AMRO and recorded...however, ABN AMRO sold their mortgage servicing arm to Citibank, hence, a business transfer. I have ordered my mortgage documents from Citi. IF my mortgage documents say anything about "being recorded upon transfer," I am forwarding the whole thing to the Florida Attorney General because Citi would be in default of my mortgage contract. This is the only hope that I have of a properly recorded mortgage.
There is no mortgage, banks are precluded from lending credit and they don't have a huge stack of cash sitting there to lend you.
It's almost like they are sticking it right in your face.
MERS owns you and look who owns us.
Hell, they own it all.
"MERS acts as nominee"
MER lacks standing, as does the Trustee, and loan servicer and even the so called Attorney at Law who claimed to be representing these bottomdwellers.
Then the class action lobby puts on the riot gear.
Then the glory of judicial exclusion will become even more apparent to society at large. Dangerous game attempting to garner fear based governance with a blade that can cut so close to its wielders bone.
wife and i refinanced back in jan. got a letter from "mers" telling us how very very legal everything they [mers] do is above board. i have been following this crap for a couple of years and was shocked by how "mers" was telling us not to bother with lawyers or such....."mers" has our best interest at heart....ouch! saying it's legal makes it legal doesn't it...lol
Greyghost - if you or someone has one of those letters, now would be a great time to scan it and put it up on a photo website with a link.
...they track changes (record changes) in beneficial ownership...
Just a clever-stroke. More accurately:
"They track apparent/alleged/unaudited changes...". I.e. just opinions/rumor/hearsay.
IANAL, but my understanding of property-rights is: Only one who has been assigned, by legal document, as the noteholder has the right to foreclose.
Therefore, let MERS produce the document that it is the assignee...or is representing the assignee. Such can only be demonstrated by producing the assignment documentation that shows the timeline chain of latest assignee down to present time.
The chain can be so long that "allonge" [additional signature sheets] must be added and produced.
The lawyers, who schemed MERS into existence, created muddling obscurities to fog their bypass of settled law. MERS enabled much of the fraud to blossom.
And who set up and owns MERS again? What a transparent criminal circle jerk.
The MERS System tracks the changes in servicing rights and beneficial ownership. No legal interests are transferred on the MERS System, including servicing and ownership....While this information is tracked through the MERS System, the paperwork still exists to prove actual legal transfers still occurred. No mortgage ownership documents have disappeared because loans were registered on the MERS System.
Well, this is pretty much the crux of the issue isn't it? Is this demonstrably true or not? Or is it more accurate to say that MERS is simply a database that is only as accurate as the data submitted to it by outside parties?
In Colorado MERS is shown on the Deed of Trust (similar to a mortgage) as the beneficiary of the deed of trust. The language, as I recall is something like 'MERS as nominee for MegaBank Mortgage and Theft Corporation'.
No assignments to MERS would be needed if they are the original beneficiary.
This almost certainly varies some from state to state.
Highlights the nature of the problem, as the snowball grows rolling donehill: some of the private label MBSs with MERS on them as nominee may be fine, but the issue is how do you find out?
If a few apples randomly selected (by the Wheel of Foreclosure) out of a barrel are rotten to the core, who believes anyone who says the balance in the barrel are just fine? This is keeping bank officers awake tonight.
See my post above. Your STATE LEGISLATORS SOLD YOU (and me) OUT!
I see, reliability and cost saving for the consumer. That's what this is about. It's not we're making money hand over fist and screw the details. It's for us they cut these corners.
Trillions in loses, not to mention the human tragedy and even lose of life(which has happened).
This guy belongs in jail, if not for crimes, for being stupid to walk around
Paging Mr. Black. Mr. William J. Black...to the nearest white telephone, please. Your party is looking for you.
Do you think we will see a release from the DocX (Lender Processing Services) guys in Atlanta? Off topic here; but, is the pocket veto that was mentioned earlier in the week still in place?
According to KD, BO has definitively vetoed and returned to Congress
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=168627
How long will it take before it's "edited" and passed back and signed? That way BO will be able to say "I didn't sign it because it was wrong, they fixed it, and now I'll sign it".
Here's the cycle:
Step 1 - Gov: It's like healthcare and everything else. First pitch - the trial balloon to the people as complete socialism, total nationalization, fire and brimstone.
Step 2 - People: Angry populous! Argggh!
Step 3 - Gov: OK OK, we beat it back to like 50% of the stuff you rioted about, so shut the fuck up and sit down.
Step 4 - People: Phew, that was a close one, we almost had fire and brimstone again, luckily all we got was a partial fucking. Not enough to do anything about though, back to Farmville.
Loop.
Consensus is that Barry sending it back to congress with a note of rejection ensured that it remained an effective veto.
"Without MERS the current mortgage crisis would be even worse." ~Classic !
Std Op Procedure by the Clever-Stroke fraudsters.
Use the courts to bypass the law;
Use "Be reasonable" to bypass established handling of breaches of law;
Use "efficiency" to change time-tested procedures;
Use threat of chaos to become Too Big To Fail.
MERS was designed to substitute for established systems handling chain-of-documentation, growing quickly so that any attempt to stop using MERS would cause enough chaos to qualify for TBTF status.
It may have succeeded...as a Black Swan.
Imagine, if you will, large portable electromagnets that can be moved from site to site to wipe the hard drives of MERS or Wells Fargo or the IRS.
Hummm....buzzzzzz......hummm....buzzzzzz
Mortgage? What mortgage?
Taxes? What taxes?
Got Stuxnet?
Countdown until they pull an AIG and change the brand name?
LMAO that 2/3 of their 'legal victories' were on technicalities.
Faulty service: Hilarious!
Not Sure: HR 3808 was vetoed specifically and was returned to the house for "further discussions". At this point it doesn't matter what the Senate does. Milestones
Hmm, things must be getting serious if this CEO had to actually work on a weekend. Of course the press release could of been issued by a robo-signer.
It will be extremely interesting to see how this plays out. MERS is an unenforceable transfer of property interests because there is no recordation of the change in property ownership (recording is required under most state law to make property transfers legally enforceable). So does the the federal government override centuries of state property law in order to accommodate the powerful banking interests? We know that Congress already passed a bill to do this, albeit it is being pocket vetoed by Obama.How many states will change their own laws to accommodate the banks?
If the federal government does change the law in order to favor the banks this will be a significant destruction of property rights. America will officially be an authoritarian (with strong fascist tendencies) empire at that point. No real property would be exempt from corporate or governmental confiscation.
Excellent analysis Tiberius. If i may add,
MERS has no basis for ownership it is only an electronic platform of quick and dirty lien registration. Property Ownership is what State Law and county level recordation is ment to accomplish and validate. The problem comes into play in the judicial states and now in the non-judical states in that although a mortgage or deed of trust may have been registered in the MERS system (and separately recorded in the county) and the subsequent assignment, it is that assignment of interest in the lien that in many cases was not properly recorded at the county level where the property records reside. Hence, we now have forged docs and affadavits to cure these defects.
If it changed "Property Rights" then it would be unconstitutional. The SCOTUS even the most liberal and conservative would not blink an eye when wupporting "property rights" issues. Kinda like the "Freedom of Speech issue" with the Westborough Baptist loonies.
The Supreme Court will have no problem at all overlooking a minor detail such as individual "Property Rights", if that is even the issue.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-108.ZS.html
Enlightened self interest = Lying your fucking ass off.
Welcome to the illuminati bitches.
What if the automobile fencing industry got together and said from now on all motor vehicles will be registered in the name of Chico. This will obviate the necessity of having to file antiquated title registrations at the DMV. CHICO will track all vehicle beneficial owners on his powerful Pentium III computer.
The CHICO system will allow you to drive your stolen vehicle across state lines without ever having to concern yourself with antiquated DMV paperwork.
Need a loan from a loan shark? CHICO interfaces directly with your local shark and will record his lien on your whopper, without any need to file pieces of paper at DMV.
CHICO, the latest in title innovation.
That is the best analogy, and quite fitting.
+1000
They are skating on very very thin theoretical ice. Munchausen Syndrome I believe it is called (factitious disorder). Pulling themselves onto the horse by their own boot straps. They think MERS is some magic incantation that can be invoked when the detailed documents required in a mortgage trust pooling and service agreement were eaten by the dog.
I took an hour to go and read one the other day. Trust me, the idea that the mental morons in the record department can jump through all those legal hoops for millions of mortgages is a humongous farce.
How did CHICO get good title in the first place? Ummmmh? Just notarize it.
Banzai7 - you used to drive me nutz with your whoring of your website, now you make every article you contribute artwork to that much more enjoyable. Thank you and know that your work is appreciated. You should work on some bridge banners next.
Thanks very much. I continue to maintain my Blog as the central repository of images. I encourage everyone to use them to communicate the word which is so well understood by the readers of ZH.
Philanthropy worthy of the name.
Love the trademarked statement from MERS: "Process Loans Not Paperwork"
Should have said "Cut Corners Whenever and Wherever Possible"
All these dingleberries in the mortgage fiasco forget that somebody needed to be sweating the details.
If you said "process loans not paperwork" in a Wall Street law firm, you would be shot and thrown off the top of the building. But those same Wall Street firms designed a giant paper edifice no simpleton processing mortgages in Sheepleville could ever hope to clear. The whole thing is an elegantly designed clusterfuck.
Process loans not paper work indeed. You would think those morons would take that off their web site immediately!
It's all too late, thousands of people have saved those pages by now and they've been archived in the various online repositories. Changing them now would smack of guilt.
Banzai!
[Traditionally, "banzai" (roughly translated as "hurrah") was an expression of enthuasiasm, and crowds shouting the word three times, arms stretched out above their heads, could be considered the traditional Japanese form of applause.]
I wonder how many of those docs are sitting in agency, fedres, pensions, or fedgub toxic piles and the banks just don't want to buy them back at face value because they know they stink. A slice of this, a dice of that, and poof, there go the 2010 bonuses.
Here is a link to one of the best examples of the MBS/Foreclosure mess!
http://rortybomb.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/foreclosure-fraud-for-dummies-...
i got mered one time and my ass still hurts just thinking about it.
The judges' pensions are ultimately paid by the mortgage receipts of Fannie, Freddie, and the rest of the mob.
Game, Set, Match.
Unfortunately I believe you are correct. The banksters own the system, lock stock and I wish there were two smoking barrels...
Where's the FBI? I'm watching The Untouchables now. There must be a whole lotta government men tormented by their shame . . . what will they do about it?
I was just reading this post, and decided that we need to focus on truly important issues here on ZH.
For example: did you know that Frosted Pop-Tarts taste up to 86% better when eaten with the frosting side down?
I saw this article on Saturday morning and was wondering how long it would take ZH to pick up on it. Well, one day isn't bad, I suppose.
However, checking the MES site, I stumbled upon this little piece of news:
Municipalities and States Adopt MERS® System to Ease Foreclosure, Vacant Property Registration
Boston, Los Angeles, Connecticut and Virginia allow the MERS® System
as an alternative to existing proprietary registries
Link: http://www.mersinc.org/newsroom/press_details.aspx?id=243
Puts some more spin on the entire foreclosure issue. Will munis be putting MERS in place and disposing of years of precedent and hundreds of thousands of gov't employees in County Clerk offices across the country?
MERS will replace all county recording functions? When the Pres. has to veto a proposed law (and the veto is solid, I've been reassured) that mandates what Federal AND STATE courts MUST do, we have entered the phase of federalism that knocks on the state's doors.
So, what's next - after the mid-terms, of course - could be a new law that has MERS writ large all over it, in the name of expedience in foreclosure-gate. The reasoning, of course, is that the paperwork protecting property rights was always just too cumbersome, so we'll federalize it and make it law, and all you AGs suing can just go back to whatever it was you were doing before this little "misunderstanding."
MERS will be set up as venue, judge and jury. No docs? No problem. Bank wins. How soon can you get out, Mr. Homeowner.
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
The government.
The government who?
The government who's going to take away all your rights, that's who.
I also found this line in the original piece to be hilariously self-serving:
Technology designed to reduce paperwork has a very positive effect on families and communities.
However, the forward thrust of this is not funny in the least.
Boston, Los Angeles, Connecticut and Virginia allow the MERS® System
as an alternative to existing proprietary registries
RESTON, Va., Aug. 24, 2010—This month, the City of Los Angeles joined the Commonwealths of Virginia and Massachusetts, and the State of Connecticut, in accepting the MERS® System as an alternative to the City’s registry of foreclosed properties and property preservation contacts for vacant properties.
“Many law enforcement agencies and municipalities already use the MERS® System on an informal basis to find a loan’s servicer and identify the companies responsible for maintaining vacant properties in their area,” said R. K. Arnold, President and Chief Executive Officer of MERSCORP, Inc. “By formally allowing lenders and property preservation companies to use the MERS® System as a suitable location to store this information, the City of Los Angeles can save money and the time it takes to find the data.”
Current MERS members can use the system to register the identity of the property preservation company responsible for maintaining vacant properties, which are frequently in foreclosure. The MERS® System can track both residential and commercial properties.
“Maintaining residential vacant properties in foreclosure is important to prevent blight and to protect property values,” said Doug Guthrie, General Manager of Los Angeles Housing Department. “We’re able to see these benefits more quickly while saving on the city budget by partnering with MERS, whose system is immediately available and already in use by many property preservation companies.”
MEDIA CONTACT: Karmela Lejarde, 703-761-1274
Very far from funny indeed.
MAN! The Wll Street Journal is getting to be TERRIBLE in their opinion pages. They lay down an "excuse" that this is all the borrower's fault", and nothing on the banks. This is a POS opinion and NOBODY put their name to it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870469630457553844099538909...
They also make no mention of the next 2 levels of problem's, the MBS and securitization process that WAS malfesence.
"The Wall Street Journal, prouldy serving crooked wall street bankers since inception"
Big surprise, eh? Assholes.
Of course, they have to be heavily invested in saving the interests whose name they bear.
Or at least Rupert's.
This whole subject is a technicality. People who can't pay their mortage are eventually going to get foreclosed one way or the other. The laws will be changed or worked around. Our govt has proven they don't bail out "the public", and the DO bail out the banks. Precedents have been set.
People are missing the side effect that by stopping foreclosures, the states are actually aiding in inflating home prices by reducing available inventory to potential buyers.
Moral Hazard indeed.
currently "the market" in SoCal has predominately been the flipping of foreclosures - stopping foreclosures stops the market
there is still at least 20 or 30% more decline in national RE prices - buy RE at your own peril
Martin Armstrong tracks a 26 year cycle in RE - peak in 2006 - trough in 2032 - if you buy RE before 2032 you better know what you are doing
Quite true, but I think the real basis of this troublesome technicality is that no one knows who owns the house.
Here's a question I have been wondering about: assuming the s had never htf and MERS had continued to operate without all this meddlesome investigation, what would have happened when I made my 360th mortgage payment? I just don't see how I would have ended up with clear title to the property I had been obediently "paying off" for thirty years. But my money must have gone somewhere, right?
You would not have a "clear title" because the MBS and the other securitizations did not have clear title to make sure all the people got paid.
This is the total problem. THE BANKS WERE OPERATIN ILLEGALLY to fill up the MBS with mortgages.
The solution seems obvious...award the note to the home-buyer to punish the criminals responsible for this disaster.Yes, the system would crash and burn.Yes, irresponsible home-buyers would be rewarded(however, considering the near term dystopian clusterfuck that would result, this is debatable....having a house means little if there is no food on the store shelves and no fuel).
But the now obviously needed revolution has to start somewhere.I say we crush the banks and financial houses who made this disaster....and this time, bail out the suckers....just for the novelty alone.
Let's face it, the currency is going to fail and these bastards have their foots on our throats...if social collapse is looming anyway, why not.I think it is better than the doom level serfdom TPTB envisage for the masses.
I grow weary of the ongoing theft of everything....can't we just penalize them severely for once?
It would suck a great deal if every bank failed.
On the upside, maybe the folks who got free houses would have a chance of affording their property taxes.
Heh.
It would suck a great deal if every bank failed.
I submit that it's time we stopped pretending the charade of unpayable debts owed to cosmically wealthy criminals can possibly be sustained.
If it's all this bad, we must pray that they all fail.
Perhaps when we pick up the pieces and reform a financial system, we'll apply the lessons we learned. That would be most likely if this collapse did not play out so slowly that memories would fail and wave after wave of scapegoats did not cloud our understanding of what went wrong.
We didn't make the Big Giant Head. We just made it big and giant.
1) MERS holds legal title to a mortgage as an agent for the owner of the loan 2) MERS can become the holder of the promissory note when the owner of the loan chooses to make MERS the holder of the note with the right to enforce if the mortgage loan goes into default.
What seems to be suggested here, is if I am an investor in a mortgage trust, and I want to get a recovery out of any of any defaulted underlying loans, I have to give the mortgage note to MERS, so that they can match with title in order to enforce. So what is left in the trust? What happens if MERS collapses, does the trust have a secure claim on these assets (i.e. do you convert what you thought was a secured loan in the trust to an unsecured loan to MERS?)
Ok, so then let's say the case is successful, MERS then has legal ownership of the property and any residual claim from the borrower (assuming a full recourse state), then what happens? They are trying to pretend that economic ownership and legal ownership can be sepearated, when it is the economic ownership which gives the legal right to enforce.
It seems to me, the fact is again and again, the securities issued out of the trust are fundamentally flawed, i.e. they have not been perfected. Therefore, the buyer of these notes has a very strong case to get ALL of their money back.
What's fascinating about this is the banks (originators and sponsors) are going to get attacked from all sides, from the class action suits brought by borrowers, by state governments and by the investors. It's going to be very ugly.
And they will deserve every last ounce of pain they receive for their hubris in attempting to destroy our economy by playing so recklessly with other people's money in the name of short-term profit.
They thought they couldn't lose by securitizing the proverbial 'bill of goods' and passing the timebomb onto a sea of ignorant schmucks (while buying action on the outcome of the blast, no less).
Fuck them up their asses until their goddamned eyes bleed.
Where is that money going to come from?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lhf9U5Wf3Q
"the securities issued out of the trust are fundamentally flawed"
it has been patently obvious since their inception that MBSs, CDOs and all of the other derivative paper written on top of real estate debt were just bombs waiting to blow up
you can't create an asset out of thin air
or stated more simply
there is no such thing as a free lunch
MERS - Your complete one stop loan servicing team
Monetary
Electronic
Removal
Systems
Don't let those contracts and pesky laws get in the way of fucking customers out of their rights and their money. You need their cash and you need it now, and if you ever need their assets, we'll help you there too.
We're the HFT system of Realtards and Banksters, where everything happens in a nanosecond and nobody is responsible for anything.
Anybody find it interesting that HR 3808 was introduced on October 9, 2009? Do you think that somebody already knew about all the problems in the mortgage market awhile ago?
biggest winners:
1 lawyers
2 freeloaders who bought more than they could afford
3 people trying to sell a house
4 banks
Biggest losers:
1 taxpayers
2 taxpayers
3 taxpayers
4 taxpayers
What else can MERS do besides bend over, reach through their legs and kiss their ass good by. I wonder who underwrites or bonds them.... and what the condition of the title insurance market is. Probably just like the monolines of yesteryear.
Magic (read MERS) Trick!
"....You think you can steal from us and walk away?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QehZjjwb7-I&feature=related
Joker
So let me see if I have this correctly?
MERS: One card in the ponzi house/deck. Brought to you by Goldman Sachs in 1995. And we are not supposed to believe ignoring county clerks and otherwise jamming up the sytem with 'privatized efficiency' wasn't the plan all along.
Nice Post...
Tyler: "How's that working out for you?"
MERS: "My God. I haven't been fucked with facts like that since grade school..."
I'm telling you this whole cds,mbs,cdo ponzi is going to land on the backs of the taxpayer. If you honestly think the banks are going to take the fall, you must not be keeping statistics recently of all the other fraud the banks and their puppet masters are getting away with. With the flood of foreclosures about to break the dam, something had to be done to slow the flow otherwise the banks would have to pony up. With 28% of mortgages underwater there was too big of a threat for continued strategic default. The rise in bankruptcies and the amount of jingle mail being recieved would have killed the banks as the property values decreased and the collateral scale was being tipped too far in the wrong direction. Just like every other crisis they blew into full blown proportions, in the end there was a taxpayer bailout to SAVE the economy from financial ruin. So expect squatters to remodel their kitchens with the mortgage money because they are not going anywhere anytime soon. And expect the 28% of underwater mortgages to miraculously regain value or get some kind of a cram down assistance. And expect late payments to be forgotton and a 3% mortgage to be waiting for those who want to keep the American dream alive. This title issue has been going on for nearly 8 years and they have been saving it as the joker in the next card game. The fraud only began to become a problem after there was so much talk of bailing out the mortgage industy and this talk was met with heavy criticism. I smell another taxpayer sponsored bailout, possibly via some backdoor concocted scheme involving Fannie Mae. This trick will be to pass a bailout that does not look like one. The banks are not going to get stuck holding the bag on this ,they will probably recieve bigger bonuses for getting more taxpayer support funneled directly into the pocket of those who started the whole Housing Ponzi to begin with! With all the legal battles this is going to stir up in all 50 States, the mortgage assistance relief act or whatever they will call it, is only going to floor prices and keep the banks from insolvency in the long run. Lets not forget that it was only a few months back here on ZH where everybody was pissed because there was so much talk of a mortgage bailout? Now you're going to get one whether you like it or not and it will be accepted by the general public because now it has become a CRISIS.
As you write another check to the local shingle of the ponzi mob thinking you're actually paying for that thing you live in that was built by carpenters plumbers and electricians - just remember where the money is really going.
http://www.mersinc.org/about/shareholders.aspx
As you go to work this week and put in your 87 hours to actually do something that produces assets or services (assumming you don't work in finance or you're not an economist), remember where your hard earned productivity will ultimately end up when you write that check.
Don't forget that when your taxes are taken out of that productivity, just remember where that money is going too.
Either path, the Oligarchs get paid.
We. Are. Slaves. To. Debt.
Apparently MERS has a FraudALERT service.
Home » MERS Products › MERS® FraudALERT › Overview
http://www.mersinc.org/MersProducts/index.aspx?mpid=23
Clearly there must have been some coding oversights when assembling the regex expressions to find fraud in their databases, as it only assumed that borrowers would be committing fraud, not itself or any of the participating lenders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jne9t8sHpUc
All anyone has to say is:
Show me the original document.
MERS can not do it. Because once it is securitized the paper trail is sold and moved everywhere. They are just whistling past the graveyard and a real judge would never let their shit pass the sniff test.
The Banks will not lose. The Oil companies will not lose. The Health Care industry will not lose.....
Folks, I hate to be a pest, but if we could get videos like this to go viral, we could make an incredibly powerful difference, imo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kPCYcBm-C8&feature=player_embedded
No.
Maybe if:
Other than that, I think you have a grand idea, provided it has a link to ZH.
A campaign commericial? One small element might be taken that way, but the larger picture accurately captures the full story of the MBS mess.
Much as we would wish otherwise, the electorate isn't going bat shit radical next month. It will be the usual game. And which arm of the single party system gains which chairs when the music stops really isn't going to change shit. Not yet.
I think the issues are the critical issue. To expect some fundamental consciousness raising of the American public between now and the election is a wet dream. It couldn't be done on any timeline without a lightning rod issue and some serious education. That's how change happens, imo.
It takes something like this to make something viral. This one has only been getting hits for 24 hours. Another video, then? Fine with me--got one? I don't. Although I don't have the technical skills, I would be thrilled to collaborate with someone who does, however.
Bob, if you haven't looked now, TD sided with you and has now made the video top billing on the website. All of your counter-points I agree with. I could care less about the elections at this point, my only point was that like the video from the Daily Show, there is an aire of trying to say that the only one doing the "right thing" is BO, which completely turns me off personally to this video.
But alas, look what I'm taking my time to argue with you about. A friggin video. So maybe it will have some viral effects beyond ZH.
Hey, I'm with you for the most part. It would seem from the responses on the new thread that many--like me--have never seen this movie in its previous incarnations. Even here among the web cogniscenti.
We gotta go with what we got, imo (time is short on this issue.)
And we gotta stay in it for the longer haul. Will be looking for you on that journey, OGW.
Government had been warned for months about troubles in mortgage servicer industryhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/09/AR201010...
Think of all of the CDOs created by packaging credit default swaps on these underlying obligations, or piling in the BBB tranches. And the credit default swaps on them . They're all awakening and starting to click and whir.
So, let's see, this is bad, right?
(msacras> So, Dow up at 12,000 today? (/msacras>
DavidC
this week's peoplenomics report at george ure's urbansurvival.com:
Now on our premium content site: Peoplenomics.com
Globalism Makes Its Play
Will the foreclosure crisis be used as a steppingstone to global government? We can now begin to see the outlines of a moderately probable future shapes up as the US and Europe are heading into another round of financial calamity in November, conveniently at the time of the G20 meetings. What's becoming more and more likely is the evolution of a 'global currency' which will be used to strip individual nations of their founding independence and force them to demur to a non-elected global government which will not only seize the monetary system, but rule our food with Codex Alimentarius as Agenda 21 which will usurp national planning, land use, and energy agendas. But first the fun stuff - the banking/foreclosure crisis which will be used as the 'set-up' event.
Re: One thing is certain: someone is going down for this biggest snafu in the history of mortgages/securitization.
Wanna bet?
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