Monday, 28 May 2012

Homes Lost To Mers Fraud

By Eunice Pugh


Over the last few years, the nation has been devastated with job loss and foreclosures. Incomes were lost and adjustable rates doubled and tripled mortgage payments, resulting in an influx of loan defaults. Mers fraud has been the main defense for thousands of homeowners who have lost homes to foreclosure.

Mers is the acronym for mortgage electronic registration systems. It is a system that was created by large banks to minimize the process of titling and recording of real property transfers. While this system was beneficial to lenders and investors, the proper assignment of title and ownership has created rights to foreclosure problems.

Homeowners who reviewed default notices became alarmed when they noticed that the wrong entity was claiming rights to their property. Because using this system eliminated the steps involved in transferring of ownership, there is no paper trail proving that title transfers occurred. Some courts quickly enacted laws that disallowed lost note affidavits.

Attorneys reviewing cases begin to see problems with signatures. The act of providing false signatures has also been called into question, as attorneys overwhelmed with cases allowed employees to sign off on foreclosures on their behalf. Class action lawsuits against several large lending institutions recently awarded several states with millions of dollars in damage.

Mortgagees who want to be sure that the proper entity is enforcing foreclosure may find it difficult to locate the new note holder. This is because many notes are sold multiple times and proper recording of sales may not have occurred. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pool a great number of residential mortgages and their websites offer look up tools to find the new owner or investor.

Mers Fraud has caused many families to become homeless. People who are in the beginning stages of foreclosure should research these issues online. There are numerous forums and groups of homeowners, attorneys, and other key players that are eager to share information and help in any way that they can.




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