by Wendy Lathrop, LS, CFM – American Surveyor
In all likelihood, title searches and your current record research are turning up more mentions of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) as the nominee for lenders. However, although the actual lender may have changed, a named lender may not be the institution currently holding the loan. MERS is making more headlines these days as the foreclosure mess and stories of robosigning move to the forefront, but it has been around for much longer than just the past couple of years. MERS and the approach it takes to managing mortgages affects more than those unfortunate people in foreclosure (sometimes wrongfully so); it can also affect those who are current with their payments and simply want to sell their real estate. Before explaining MERS, let me tell you a parallel real life story to illustrate this latter dilemma from an earlier era of national financial turmoil.
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Land office books.
The words “enrollment, registry, or record,” In a statute making it criminal to de
face any registry or record, are not confined to records of courts of justice. Every registry or enrollment directed by law and preserved for the use of the public is embraced by this act of assembly. It extends without doubt to the public books in the land office. Ream v. Commonwealth (Pa.) 3 Serg. & R. 207-209.