Coming Soon? County & State Litigation vs MERS
Here comes some long overdue trouble:
“Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen wants an investigation into a service used by major mortgage companies who may have made false statements to avoid fees that cost the county $1.3 million in lost revenue.
According to Thigpen, the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS), a system established by mortgage lending heavy hitters like Wells Fargo, Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. and Bank of America, has allowed these companies to re-package and sell loans without filing with offices like his to maintain a publicly available chain of ownership. Thigpen said $1.3 million is a “conservative estimate” of what his office may have lost in recording fees since 2005.
Thigpen issued a press release Wednesday in which he said he is conferring with County Attorney Mark Payne, the NC Attorney General and the Secretary of State to see what can be done about recovering these fees and making information on who owns what available to the public at large.”
I am tempted to laugh, but instead, I can see how this ends: Bankruptcy for MERS, with the counties getting nothing, followed by very friendly enabling legislation in the Corrupt US Congress.
Why have the people in the Middle East risen up to throw off their corrupt oppressors — but not us. . . ?
>
Source:
Register of Deeds wants investigation into major mortgage companies
Joe Killian
Greenboro News Record, March 2, 2011
http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/03/02/article/register_of_deeds_wants_investigation_into_major_mortgage_companies
Trouble for MERS Keeps Mounting
Greg Hunter
USA Watchdog, 4 March 2011
http://usawatchdog.com/trouble-for-mers-keeps-mounting/
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March 5th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
It get’s more frustrating everyday BR. Just getting to the parts of the FCIC report on how the fed and treasury structured their repo lending bailouts. Amazing stuff.
March 5th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
“Why have the people in the Middle East risen up to throw off their corrupt oppressors — but not us. . . ?” Because we’re special, so it can’t be true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/28/AR2010112804139.html
March 5th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
If MERS go bankrupt will all the titles they own be sold for pennies on the dollar at a big auction?
March 5th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Why???
Here’s why!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmDW5p8X9xs
March 5th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
“Why have the people in the Middle East risen up to throw off their corrupt oppressors — but not us. . . ?”
http://search.yippy.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&v%3Aproject=clusty&query=Who+owns+the+Media%3F
http://search.yippy.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&v%3Aproject=clusty&query=Who+owns+the+Federal+Reserve%3F
http://search.yippy.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&v%3Aproject=clusty&query=Who+owns+Congress%3F
as an aside, http://cryptogon.com/?p=20826
March 5th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
“Why have the people in the Middle East risen up to throw off their corrupt oppressors.. but not us. . . ?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this country, everyone gets bailed out (using borrowed money, of course). So why worry?
March 5th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Because Americans are dumb enough to believe what they see on TV. Actually every nationality is, there is just better TV in America.
March 5th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
In a time when generating revenue is very important, money lost to MERS in connection with the mortgage recording tax is going to strongly motivate the States in going after MERS. This is not about robo-signing but about cheating the states out of millions.
March 5th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
We still have “bread and a circus” – ie – food is still relatively cheap in America and we have cable, HBO and Charlie Sheen to distract us from actually getting educated and motivated.
March 5th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
BR’s probably right on this one except I’m not even sure elites will bother to bankrupt MERS, just make it legal seems more likely these days.
I’ve lived long enough to see some pretty strange times in these United States but this is one of the strangest: as more and more American elites participate in fraud while paying others to either look the other way or make the fraud legal the web of criminality has grown to the point where elites hardly even bother to conceal it any longer.
I recall this 2010 Bill Moyers interview of Bill Black at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04232010/watch.html and thinking at the time that Black might be overstating the issue somewhat when he asserted the US financial and regulatory systems had become “criminogenic:” not simply allowing fraud in some relatively passive manner but actively spreading and promoting it.
If anything Black appears to have understated the case.
This was Moyers last interview on PBS: I have found nothing comparable in quality to date.
“Bread and circuses,” aye, alas.
March 5th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Food stamps, unemployment payments and medicaid could be the only things holding the tide back for now.
You can’t eat TV programming.
March 5th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
They will slip retrospective legalization into the next budget continuation or debt sealing bill or something else urgent and hope nobody sees it before it is to late. They tried that number before and they will try it again until they succeed. Alternatively they will let things run up to the Supine Court where their little sock puppets will make sure to “fix” things for them.
March 5th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
Could it happen like this:? First despair, then disgust,then resentment and then torches and pitchforks…sadly no….the whole system is just so damned corrupt….but the masses are just so dependent on slop being fed into the trough that they are too damned lazy and stupid to react. What happens when the farmers run out of goodies?
March 5th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
speaks to the Q: (being asked)
http://deadlinelive.info/2011/03/04/american-day-of-laze/
March 5th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
“Why have the people in the Middle East risen up to throw off their corrupt oppressors — but not us. . . ?”
Because they still have cheesy twirls in WalMart?
March 5th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
MERS? It May Have Swallowed Your Loan
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/business/06mers.html?hp
“The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled last year that MERS could no longer file foreclosure proceedings there, because it does not actually make or service any loans. Last month in Utah, a local judge made the no-less-striking decision to let a homeowner rip up his mortgage and walk away debt-free. MERS had claimed ownership of the mortgage, but the judge did not recognize its legal standing.”
So we had a system that was centuries old (and it worked, property rights used to be a strong suit for this country) that worked but worked slowly and didn’t lend itself to securitization. The banks came up with the bright (semi-legal, not thought out and certainly not controlled) system based on a company that had one employee no controls but was fast and cheap. Now what could go wrong with that.
So are we as a country going to paper over this mess and make it legal. Probably. After all along with OTC derivatives, banks, and a few other companies, this scam is too big to fail.
March 5th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
“Why have the people in the Middle East risen up to throw off their corrupt oppressors — but not us. . . ?”
It’s all about the level and how widespread the pain and injustice is.
In the USA, most people can still do what 3 year old kids do; squeeze their eyes shut and say out loud:”You cannot see me, huh?”
When “most” will be replaced by “few”, then, rising up against the corrupt assholes that passes for leaders in this country will be done.
March 6th, 2011 at 12:22 am
Note that likley the MERS turnip has very little blood anyway. Basically some computer equipment and likley a few office furnishings. Being as most of its work is done by employees of the banks, there is little cash flow required. The question of course how much is their database worth? That would be the piece that might be sold to someone else. I suspect if many counties try it they will find very little blood in the turnip anyway.
One would have to sue the banks that according to the MERS database (which is supposedly public) for not paying the fee to the county. (There is indeed some blood in those turnips). Now maybe MERS was set up this way in the first place to make it not worth the effort to sue them. Assume someone who is driving an uninsured old clunker hits your car, and you find he is worth 10k, its not worth it to bother suing.
March 6th, 2011 at 1:38 am
Yup. Once the ball gets rolling then every local area will want to get in and get their payout. Definitely enough to bankrupt MERS, which I do not believe has any money of its own.
However I think that you are going a little too fast, BR, on the issue of Federal pre-emption of these local suits. The Federal government only has limited power to control the states’ internal, local issues like local taxes and fees. And on an issue about money, well that’s going to be sensitive. People don’t pay much attention to this kind of issue, but local officials will have every incentive to raise hell about how the Feds are taking money out of the local community’s pocket.
Look at it this way, if the Federal Gov’t could do that, don’t you think the big banks would have just lobbied for legislation on the issue? Instead, they tried to do an end-around.
March 6th, 2011 at 2:54 am
People could rise up and find the Whitehouse was out for a golf round!?
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2011/03/05/golf-2/
March 6th, 2011 at 9:46 am
We Americans are actually in the streets quite frequently. The problem (advantage?) is that we have a set of complicated institutions( which are lacking in Egypt). Our institutions are providing comfort for the masses and are customized to provide satisfaction levels that are mind numbing. Everything will be OK, someone will fix it.
The most visible in the street (in your face) today are the Tea Party proponents.
Pro union- state capitol invading- teachers and supporters.
Pro abortion/anti abortion.
The list goes on and on. With so many diverse views and needs, how do we get everyone in the streets for any one cause?? That is what elections are for.
I worked for a fellow one time who would encourage free discussions at meetings. He waited for the disagreements to escalate and then would abruptly end the meeting. Nothing changed and his divide and conquer
plan had worked perfectly. If you were observant enough you could see the slight smirk on his face as the meeting disbanded.
Welcome to America, land of the free (thought), home of the great unwashed.
March 6th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
The recent employment data lacks a few “minor details”:
http://www.financialarmageddon.com/
March 6th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Don’t you just love Congress? Each time the majority party is voted out, the other party claims they’ve been given a mandate. Only the mandate they claim has nothing to do with the real change the electorate is looking for. Prosecute the guilty bankers, liquidate their assets, and throw the guilty bastards in jail just like Madoff.
I think Barry has it right when he says Obama was scared from reform because the bankers convinced him the world economy would crash. How nice for them to create the mess, stay on to fix the mess and make more money than every creating the next mess.
Keep kicking the can; the revolution will eventually occur and it won’t be pretty. Not sure I agree with his solutions but Robert Reich does a great job describing the process by which the forced take back will occur.
March 7th, 2011 at 8:04 am
To the guy who said they will “fix things for them”.
Who the heck is them? First off if you’re idea of living the high life is being chased about by creditors and spending your free time in some bum stick town in the Carolinas….
All the power to you. Maybe you can run out and get a couple of flat boats financed and file chapter 7 trying to doink the silly boat manufacturer too.
But in the long run, nobody cares.
Just making things even wackier for those of us who have to do deals in what’s left of the real world because you know the loon contingent who is reading these articles one after another without really understanding the subject matter contained therein is growing exponentially by the minute.
Fun, Fun, Fun til my daddy takes the T bird away.
March 11th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
I’ve known Jeff Thigpen, albeit not well, since before he got into politics. To the extent I know him, I believe he’s a good guy trying to do the right thing here. But, like Barry and most of the other commenters, I’m pretty confident the right thing is out of his hands.