NC Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen Takes on MERS, Questions if County is Owed Millions, Titles Compromised

“For
me, the question is clear. Do we want land records in America to be
governed by major banking conglomerates on Wall Street or the people and
laws of the United States of America?”

~

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Greensboro, NC
March 2, 2011
Contact:
Jeff Thigpen, Guilford County Register of Deeds
Ph. 336-451-5300
Ph. 336-641-3239
[e-mail]

THIGPEN WANTS TO TAKE ON MORTGAGE GIANTS:

SEEKS INVESTIGATION OF “MERS” FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF $1.3 MILLION IN LOST REVENUE TO GUILFORD COUNTY

Guilford
County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen announced today that he will be
conferring with County Attorney Mark Payne, NC Attorney General and
Secretary of State as to whether the Mortgage Electronic Registration
Service (MERS) owes Guilford County fees estimated at $1.3 million in
lost revenue from mortgage assignments. Thigpen also wants to review
pending legal actions against MERS and consider options to protect the
integrity of public land recordation offices.

“As Register of
Deeds, I have two primary responsibilities in land records: a sworn
duty to protect the chain of title and a fiduciary responsibility to
collect recording fees. Quite frankly, MERS has undermined both.
Through their own “private for-profit” Register of Deeds mortgage
tracking office, MERS has created a dangerous centralization of power
whose sole purpose is to protect and serve the interests of major
banking conglomerates and undermine public recording offices,” said
Thigpen.

“For me, the question is clear. Do we want land records
in America to be governed by major banking conglomerates on Wall Street
or the people and laws of the United States of America?”

MERS
has an electronic registry and database system that tracks more than 65
million mortgages for its paid membership throughout the country and
aides the mortgage backed securities trade in the secondary market.
MERS is reportedly involved in 60% of US mortgage loans. It was
established by some of the largest mortgage lenders in the United States
including Wells Fargo, Chase Mortgage, Citi Mortgage, Countrywide Home
Loans, Inc. and Bank of America among others in 1997. A number of
class action lawsuits and civil racketeering suits have arisen against
MERS recently, including a suit alleging its members owe California
$60-120 billion for circumventing land recording fees. MERS has also
been at the center of recent foreclosure chaos.

Since the
founding of America, counties in the United States have maintained
public records of land, mortgages and deeds of trust, by maintaining
indexes of grantors and grantees. Register of Deeds offices ensure
transparency and an important check and balance in private property
ownership. County recording practices have been in place for 300 years.
“It is interesting that the first fundamental change in public land
title recording systems was not initiated by publicly elected leaders,
but a small group of mortgage industry insiders. Now it’s coming back
to bite all of us- homeowners and taxpayers. MERS creates a system
where only certain eyes see the data and what’s going on. I have a real
problem with that as a Recorder.

Thigpen is asking for clarity
on the California suit and others surrounding MERS business practices
in packaging and repackages home owner loans through securitization.
MERS has saved larger financial firms millions of dollars while
avoiding recordation and payment of fees related to mortgage transfers.

Since
2005 there were 47,553 deeds of trust that list MERS as a beneficiary
filed in the Guilford County Register of Deeds office. Experts have
indicated that those kinds of loans are repackaged and sold two and
four times on average under the MERS system. “One repackaging of MERS
documents would have generated $665,742 if documentation had been filed
in our office. Two repackaged loans would have generated $1,331,484.
And that’s conservative estimate.”

Thigpen maintains the lost
recording fees would help local elected officials reduce budget
deficits and maintain core services such as public education and public
safety in this time of fiscal crisis.

Thigpen’s primary concern
relates to recent court rulings in Arkansas, Kansas, Maine and Missouri
questioning MERS legal standing in home foreclosures and suits
challenging that MERS filings may be fraudulent. “If MERS filings are
false statements, there are laws that say if you decrease the money
that you pay for a service through using those false statements then
you can get damages. The legal term is “unjust enrichment”. Thigpen
wants to explore unjust enrichment and other options related to
recovery of lost revenue.

Thigpen acknowledges that NC General
Statutes do not currently require assignments to be filed in local
Register of Deeds offices which allow the public to know the rightful
owner of a mortgage. “That may need to change among other things”, says
Thigpen. Thigpen points to a major policy change from MERS in the past
two weeks conceding that assignments should be filed in public
registries across the country even if the state law does not require it
and instructed members not to foreclose in MERS name. “It indicates to
me that they know they need to fix this.”

“It used to be that
if you bought a house, the mortgage would stay at a single bank until
you paid it off. Times have changed. Through securitization, mortgages
are all put in a blender and sold off to Wall Street investors and
Fannie and Freddie among others. MERS has its finger on the spin
button. At the end of the day with MERS, Susie Homeowner can’t keep
track of who owns her loan and if she’s going to get hit with new fees
or even foreclosure.

“This type of unregulated greed is giving
charity to all the people who should be giving it and undermines good
business practices.” says Thigpen. Thigpen points out those local
credit unions like State Employees Credit Union who didn’t participate
in sub-prime lending have avoided legal difficulties.

“This is a
mess and the MERS system impacts millions of homeowners across the
country in danger of having their homes foreclosed”, said Thigpen. He
wants a review of the lawsuits and investigations into MERS by state
attorney generals and others and believes it will take a coordinated at
the local, state and federal level to resolve it. “To me these issues
with MERS are simple. Are major banking conglomerates going to tell the
truth or not; and are we going choose to have two standards of justice
in America: one for Big Money and the other for the rest of us?

Thigpen will also join Southern Sussex Massachusetts Register of Deeds John O’Brian, Jr.
in urging national organizations such as the International Association
of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers (IACREOT) to
address MERS in the coming weeks.

###

Two counties in, thousands to go...

Look forward to your support, every county USA...

Go after the stolen revenue you deserve...

4closureFraud.org

Thigpen Takes on MERS, Mortgage Giants

Comments

[MachoMan]

By definition, it cannot be recorded elsewhere...  that is not recording.  As proven multiple times, the states need not pay any attention to a goofy ass database held by private enterprise on misguided/fraudulent business concepts.

[Ned Zeppelin]

Correct.  I think the more interesting part is the state law on foreclosing on given property while holding an unrecorded mortgage or mortgage assignment.

[MachoMan]

So long as it's not void, it should still be good as against the mortgagor...  obviously priority of an unrecorded instrument is going to be a problem, but the mortgagor cannot complain...  so long as the mortgagee really is the real holder...

If you can foreclose without court intervention anyway, I'm not sure what harm it is to not record either...  not that the court presence stops these idiots from committing fraud...  as seen on numerous occasions.

[tallystick]

local govts could still sue MERS or the shareholders of MERS for other damages, if not specifically for filing fees.

[MachoMan]

Not likely until the attorney general gives the green light.  Municipalities are merely arms of the state.  All of their rights derive from their respective state.  Unless rights are specifically given to a municipality, they are held by the state.  If at the state level it's a "no go", then the municipality will fall in line because of funding.  It is that simple.  Presuming the municipality even has an individual cause of action.

I'm also having a hard time conjuring up a cause of action...  consumer protection laws?  I think you're just going to end up getting into securities violations...  which have already been discussed as outside the scope of the conversation...  not sure what else viable there might be...  specifically, what damages do you mean?  [generally, consumer protection issues are handled by AG's offices...]...  you've got minimum contacts issues...  I just see too little interaction between a municipality and mers to justify a cause of action on behalf of a municipality...  sure, if mers caused the city to be able to buy BS securitized foofoodust...  but that's not what we're talking about.

[Rick64]

 Thanks for pointing out this distinction because I was under the assumption that it was required by law . Legislation HB1506 was supposed to make it mandatory, but I am unsure of its present status. This legislation would impose a fine for not complying.

[dizzyfingers]

More federal regulations that can't be enforced, or won't be

Weren't there all kinds of regulations whose enforcement was ignored, resulting in the once-named "subprime problem" that turned into world economic collapse?

I don't know whether having a recorded deed would make ownership safe or not given that it looks like anyone can steal anything at any time. Right now I doubt it... but it can never be absolutely proven to be an absolute protection, just like not having a deed (which apparently many don't) makes a property automatically vulnerable to theft.

So do we really need more regulations that won't or can't be enforced? If it's to be a law passed by the feds, won't that be aother unfunded mandate on citizens of states? Shouldn't it remain a state issue, then, even though at first glance it might seem like a good idea?

[Greenhead]

MM, not sure why you got junked.  Your analysis looks right to me too.  If there is no legal requirement to record every change, it is hard to demand recourse.  I am no fan of the banks but I don't follow how Thigpen will succeed in this action. 

[NotApplicable]

Given the large number of jurisdictions where filing is required, it's odd that this comes from one that doesn't. It looks almost as if Thigpen is going forward in order to fail on purpose so as to help out MERS, doesn't it?

Looks like damage control to me.

[MachoMan]

I think the proliferation of mers' model came from the uniform laws...  i.e. that assignment is not required to be recorded...  now, when you get into assignments into pools, etc., then you may be dealing with federal/securities laws...  in which case this would not necessarily apply.

I don't think he's going forward to fail...  he's just stupid...  municipalities across the country are desperate for money and have no problem sticking it to national banks to pick up the difference...  now, this will be done via property taxes on the shadow inventory, but they're pissing up a rope on this filing stuff...

In the end, YOU DONT HAVE TO RECORD A DEED.  This guy doesn't understand this basic function...  I'll say it again, YOU DONT HAVE TO RECORD A DEED.  The only issue is that you take a risk by not doing so with your priority should default occur and you need to exercise your lien.

[NotApplicable]

Assignment may not be required in NC, but that is just one state. From what I've read (since this all started), it is mandatory where I live (a non-judicial state).

MERS evaded the issue here though, by making itself the beneficiary on the Deed of Trust, so technically, there are never any transfers to record. Since the State AG here is okey-dokey with that (unlike some of the others), there isn't much I can do about it.

[Deepskyy]

Bust their balls Jeff.  First MERS and then you are welcome to come to Charlotte and bust BAC.

[covert]

the excessive commerce, "gambling" according to friends of warren buffet, is a natural result of an unsound rigged zero-sum economy.

http://covert2.wordpress.com