Firm may skirt millions in property fees

[unhappycamper]

Firm may skirt millions in property fees
By Jenifer B. McKim
Globe Staff / December 15, 2010

Attorney General Martha Coakley is trying to determine whether a lender-created company that tracks mortgage loan data has failed to pay millions of dollars in property recording fees in Massachusetts.

Coakley is taking aim at the little-known but powerful Reston, Va., company whose members include Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase, and other major lenders.

The company, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., oversees a database of about 31 million mortgages, about half of the active loans in the United States.

As concern about foreclosure practices mounts across the country, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems is increasingly being questioned by regulators, lawyers, and housing advocates about the way it operates.

Essex County’s register of deeds, John L. O’Brien Jr., last month asked Coakley to investigate the company, known as MERS. He said that by using its own database for property transfers, MERS does not pay recording fees or disclose the transactions, as Massachusetts law requires.



unhappycamper comment: In other local news, Deval Patrick plans on cutting $1.5 billion dollars from next year's budget.

Why don't we just not build another $1.68 billion dollar LPD next year?
Or not build 2 LCS ships next year?
Or not build 6 F-35s next year?
Or not spend another $150 billion dollars in Afghanistan next year?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. This seems like a much more straight forward way to attack MERS

and one which does not depend on the pocketbook of individual mortgage holders