MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM

MERS - Judicial Opinions, and News Articles

• Vermont folows lead of Landmark v.Kesler in Mers v Johnston  (Link to the Decision)11/2009
  A Vermont Superior Court Judge, agreeing with the rationale discussed in the Kansas Supreme Court decision in  Landmark v.Kesler denied MERS standing to foreclose.However the Superior Court Judge noted that this was a case of first impression in the state and certiified the question of law to the Vermont Supreme Court.
  
  
  
•  Landmark National Bank v. Kesler  (2009 Judicial Opinion from the Kansas Supreme Court)
  
  
  
• Tracking Loans Through a Firm That Holds Millions  (New York Times)
  "Judge Walt Logan had seen enough. As a county judge in Florida, he had 28 cases pending in which an entity called MERS wanted to foreclose on homeowners even though it had never lent them any money."
  
  
  
•  A Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card For 60 Million Mortgages?
  "  A landmark ruling in a recent Kansas Supreme Court case may have given millions of distressed homeowners the legal wedge they need to avoid foreclosure. In Landmark National Bank v. Kesler, 2009 Kan. LEXIS 834, the Kansas Supreme Court held that a nominee company called MERS has no right or standing to bring an action for foreclosure.
  
  
• The Next Financial Crisis   (The Emporia Gazette) 12/03/2009
  This is all about mortgage servicing fraud. The Kansas Supreme Court knocked out MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, INC Sovereign Bank). William Allen White said, “When something happens first, it usually happens in Kansas.”
  
  
• Defective Paperwork Strips Mortgage Holder of Foreclosure Rights (National Law Journal) 11/19/2009
  "A Massachusetts federal judge has upheld a bankruptcy court ruling allowing a trustee to treat a mortgage as an unsecured claim, which strips the mortgage holder of foreclosure rights, because of defective mortgage paperwork.

Who or What is MERS?

In 1993, the MERS System was created by the Mortgage Bankers Association, Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and others in the real estate finance industry. MERS electronically tracks beneficial interests in, and servicing rights to, mortgage loans on behalf of its member banks, so that recording fees do not have to be paid in local county clerk's offices around the nation. MERS is listed on the deeds of trust and mortgages as the beneficiary.

The use of MERS became prevalent in connection with the growing trend of bundling and reselling of mortgages in securitized pools on Wall Street. Almost every entity involved in home lending or servicing is a member of MERS and more than 65 million mortgages and deeds of trust are registered on the MERS system. A complete list of MERS members can be found at www.mersinc.org/"MERS" had achieved roughly 70 percent of their stated objective, which was to have every single mortgage in America be electronically registered in their system, when the wheels fell off.

Most people have never heard of MERS until they receive a foreclosure notice. This entity (and its objectives) are only now coming to light after being in operation for well over a decade.The Landmark v. Kesler decision was a crucial blow inflicted upon this highly suspect organization, and it is my hope that this decison becomes widely disseminated due to the fact that MERS plays a key role the secuitization process that in my opinion is the greatest fraud ever perpetrated upon Americans.

I hope to make significant additions to this page in the upcoming weeks and months,.

Glenn F. Russell, Jr.