There are some judges that get it and some that maybe still do but side the other way!

KCSG-

Utah senior federal Judges Dee Benson and Bruce Jenkins have ruled Bank of America’s foreclosure arm, ReconTrust Company, N.A. (NYSE: “BAC”) may not be qualified to perform non-judicial foreclosures in Utah. However, this week senior federal Judge David Sam ruled that ReconTrust is operating under the National Bank Act regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), is a trustee under the Texas law where ReconTrust is located rendering Utah Code 57-1-21(3) inapplicable. Ruling

The ruling comes in a case filed by attorney John Christian Barlow, in which ReconTrust is being sued by Utah homeowner Garry Franklin Garrett and accused of conducting an unlawful foreclosure sale because ReconTrust is not a qualified trustee under Utah Law.

[KCSG]

This is hardy the beginning. It’s just getting started.

CBS-

(AP)  LAS VEGAS — A lawyer in Las Vegas has filed a civil lawsuit seeking class-action status on behalf of homeowners he says have been hurt by the filing of fraudulent foreclosure documents during an alleged “robo-siging” scheme.

Matthew Callister said he wants a state judge to stop tainted home sales and evictions and order Lender Processing Services Inc. and several bank and mortgage companies to modify loans and pay monetary damages to affected homeowners.

“This is to say, ‘Stop. Let us try to modify the loan appropriately,’” Callister said. “Then we’ll seek damages.”

[CBS NEWS]

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

CHARLES GILES, et al.,
Plaintiffs,

v.

PHELAN, HALLINAN & SCHMIEG,
L.L.P., et al.,
Defendants.

This matter is before the Court on the motion for temporary
restraints and entry of a protective order by Defendants Phelan
Hallinan & Schmieg, P.C., Francis S. Hallinan, Rosemarie Diamond,
Full Spectrum Services, Inc., and Land Title Services of New
Jersey, Inc. (“Moving Defendants”) [Docket Item 5]; the Court
having received briefing in support of the motion by the Moving
Defendants on November 21, 2011 and in opposition to the motion
by Plaintiffs on November 28, 2011; the Court having heard oral
argument on the motion from the Parties at a hearing on November
28, 2011;

For the reasons articulated in the Oral Opinion read into
the record at the November 28, 2011 hearing; and for good cause
shown

IT IS, this 28th day of November, 2011, ORDERED that the motion for temporary restraints and entry
of a protective order shall be, and hereby is, DENIED without
prejudice.

s/ Jerome B. Simandle
JEROME B. SIMANDLE
U.S. District Judge

PLAINTIFFS’ MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER

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STATE OF MICHIGAN
30THCIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF INGHAM

CURTIS HERTEL, the Register of Deeds and

Representative of INGHAM COUNTY; and

NANCY HUTCHINS, the Register of Deeds

and Representative of BRANCH COUNTY,

both as Class Representatives of all 83

counties in the State of Michigan.

 Plaintiffs,

V                                                                                     

MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION

SYSTEMS, INC., MERSCORP,INC., JEANNE

KIVI, ELLEN COON, MARSHALL ISAACS,

BANK OF AMERICA N.A., JP MORGAN CHASE & CO,

CHASE HOME MORTGAGE CORPORATION f/k/a

CHASE HOME FINANCE, WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.,

CITIMORTGAGE INC., eTITLE AGENCY INC,

1^ST CHOICE TITLE SERVICES INC, ATTORNEYS

TITLE AGENCY LLC, f/k/a WARRANTY TITLE

AGENCY LLC, and FEDERAL NATIONAL

MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION, and

JOHN DOE as Any Other authorized signers for MERS

or MERSCORP,INC. and Defendants JOHN DOE

Corporations I – MMM,

 Defendants.

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For immediate release:  November 15^th, 2011

CONTACT:  Curtis Hertel Jr., Ingham County Register of Deeds, Ph:  517-281-3574

Ingham & Branch Counties file class action lawsuit against MERS

Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr. & Branch County Register of Deeds Nancy Hutchins have filed a new lawsuit in the 30^th Circuit Court, against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems.  The lawsuit alleges that MERS has avoided paying state and county transfer taxes that would have been due on multiple property deeds filed within the last decade.  The transfers usually took place shortly following sheriff’s sales on foreclosed homes.

                “This is another case we’ve found, where the state’s residents have been shortchanged by questionable bank practices”, said Hertel.  “This is money that is intended for public education funds on the state level, and money that the county could have used for local programs like health and police.  The law requires that transfer tax is paid on the value of a property, whenever that property is transferred on a document such as a deed.  The big banks have found multiple ways of dodging those taxes.”

                The lawsuit was filed as a class-action, which means that other counties around Michigan are free to join the suit.  Ingham County and Branch County are the two current plaintiffs.  Hertel is hoping that other Registers from Michigan’s 83 counties will join the action.

                “It’s time for this nonsense to stop”, said the Branch County Register Nancy Hutchins.  “These organizations need to step up to the plate, pay the transfer tax that is due and stop claiming exemptions that by law they are not entitled to.”

                “MERS has transformed the entire mortgage industry into a giant shell game”, said Hertel.  “The current servicer of a mortgage is no longer a matter of public record, and once a property is foreclosed, the real games begin, as deeds and other paperwork are filed in such a way as to avoid transfer taxes at every step.   Property ownership is clouded, and the simple task of collecting transfer tax has been turned into this legal battle, largely because of the involvement of MERS.”

                The lawsuit also lists many of the country’s largest banks, as well as individual officers of MERS, as defendants in the case.  Because MERS has represented and acted in the stead of dozens of different banks in property transactions, Hertel & Hutchins are hoping that the court action will bring clarity to the issue of these delinquent taxes.

                Ingham County residents can ask questions about the lawsuit at a pair of town-hall meetings being held this week.  As part of a series of meetings that Hertel has been convening in various communities across the county this year, there are meetings this week on Tuesday in Okemos, and Thursday in Lansing.  The meeting on Tuesday will take place at Okemos High School, in the 2^nd floor library, at 5:30pm, and the meeting on Thursday will take place at the Lansing Church of God in Christ, at 5304 Wise Road, also at 5:30pm.  Citizens can get questions answered about how the foreclosure crisis has affected Ingham County, and also get legal help if they are facing such a problem with their own home.

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We know for a fact and the government knows for a fact that if MERS is on your documents, a cloud also exists.

Their “quick fix” might come as simple as accepting a modification, principal reduction or a refi, to cover this all up and creating new paper.

If any of your new docs have MERS or a like, what have you done again?

Statesman-

The ownership of tens of thousands of Central Texas home loans could be in question because of the actions of a national private registry that officials say has sidestepped the filing of proper documents with county clerks, the American-Statesman has learned.

The Mortgage Electronic Registration System was created in the 1990s by 3,000 of the nation’s largest lenders to “streamline the mortgage sale process by using e-commerce to replace paperwork,” according to the company’s website.

In recent years, the Virginia-based registry has exploded across the U.S. as mortgages increasingly were bundled and sold as commodities in rapid churn to investors.

[STATESMAN]

Highly recommend that if anyone wants to go after MERS, you first read STATE OF DELAWARE v. MERSCORP, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., (MERS) to get familiar with some specifics. 

Observer- Reporter

U.S. Bank National Association has asked U.S. District Court to hear a class-action suit, filed by Washington County on behalf of all counties in the state, over the association’s failure to use the recorder of deeds offices to record mortgages, denying counties the related fees.

Washington County first took the case to Washington County Court, but the bank is now seeking a change in jurisdiction. The county alleges that more than $100 million has been lost in recording fees by all 67 counties in the state.

The county alleges U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee for various residential mortgage-backed security trusts, violated state law by failing to record “each and every mortgage transfer.”

The bank instead used a private entity, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., for recording, “thereby depriving Washington County of the accompanying recording fees” for 15 or more years.

[OBSERVER-REPORTER]

© 2010-12 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.
www.StopForeclosureFraud.com

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, FOURTH
JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR
DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA

JIM FULLER, CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT
COURT, DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA,
in his official capacity and on behalf of
all those similarly situated,

Plaintiff,

vs.

MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION
SYSTEMS, INC., a Delaware corporation; and
MERSCORP, INC., a Delaware Corporation

Defendants.

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This is major and pay close attention to the words below

Mortgage Servicing News-

The most recent lawsuit was filed by a county clerk in Florida, and seeks class action status to represent the state’s 67 counties. The complaint alleges the use of MERS does not comply with state property laws and has cost municipalities millions in unpaid recording fees.

Jim Fuller, the clerk of Duval County, filed suit against Merscorp Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., on Oct. 31, claiming civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment, as well as fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation. The suit also seeks a hearing to determine the validity of tracking note transfers on the MERS System and a court injunction to prohibit the use of MERS in Florida.

“MERS has usurped the rights and privileges of the Florida Clerks of Court by establishing, maintaining and inducing lenders to use its private recording system, which unlawfully interferes and competes with the public recording system,” the suit, filed in state circuit court, reads.

[...]

“Both the note and mortgage are to be recorded. The principle issue we’re trying to get at is the punitive distinction of MERS being the mortgagee while the note is shifted from one to another up through the typical securitization process,” Volpe said in a phone interview. “The principle concern about the disconnect is that the public records are not complete insofar as the true beneficial owner of the mortgage is not reflected in the public records.”

[MORTGAGE SERVICING NEWS]

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If you recall from the previous unsealed complaint, “Top JPMorgan Execs. Were Warned of Madoff Scheme”, this appears to be similar…certainly if there is one, there must be others.

This is just slightly south of the entire settlement package of the Foreclosure Fraud settlement, which is also nilch for the acts committed.

Reuters-

Former customers of Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme filed a class action lawsuit on Monday seeking to recover $19 billion from JPMorgan Chase & Co, claiming the bank willfully ignored signs of fraud.

JPMorgan was Madoff’s bank for two decades. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, claims the bank was “thoroughly complicit” in concealing Madoff’s fraud.

[REUTERS]

© 2010-12 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.
www.StopForeclosureFraud.com

I can tell you that this is ONLY the beginning… stay tuned for others to come forward soon.

MERS is done, repeat done.

Nancy Becker – You Go Girl!

Bloomberg-

For Nancy J. Becker, recorder of deeds in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia, property records are practically sacred. So much so that her office keeps digital copies of land records dating to 1784 in four separate databases, including one 1,700 miles (2,735 kilometers) away.

If the county seat were leveled tomorrow, she says, “I could still record documents on my laptop on the street corner with a card table.”

Becker may sound tech-savvy, but to some of her constituents’ dismay, she can’t always call up a property with a keystroke and see who holds its note. That’s because more than 200,000 of her records list the lien holder as MERS, the private service that acts as a proxy for banks that bundle and sell off mortgage securities. That can make it all but impossible for a recorder to determine who really holds the paper, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its Nov. 7 edition.

[BLOOMBERG]

Oh my, this is getting very interesting. Now who is going to pay for MERS’ attorney fees? Oops there isn’t anyone. Where will the Counties get the money they claim? The lenders? Shareholders?

We’re talking in excess of Billions and Billions if every state files one of these for every county. This is going to get interesting very quick.

Dallas News-

The Dallas County District Attorney’s office said Tuesday in a press release that it expanded its lawsuit against the Mortgage Electronic Registration System and its parent company to a class action lawsuit that includes other counties.

It was not clear Tuesday afternoon which other counties were involved.

[DALLAS NEWS]

IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Civil Division

COUNTY OF WASHINGTON,
PENNSYLVANIA, on behalf of itself and all
other similarly situated Pennsylvania Counties,

Plaintiff

vs.

U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

Defendant

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

CHARLES J. and DIANE GILES, and
LAURINE SPIVEY,
individually and on behalf of all
others similarly situated,

Plaintiffs,

v.

PHELAN HALLINAN & SCHMIEG, LLP,
PHELAN HALLINAN & SCHMIEG, P.C.,
LAWRENCE T. PHELAN, FRANCIS S. HALLINAN,
DANIEL G. SCHMIEG, ROSEMARIE DIAMOND,
FULL SPECTRUM SERVICES, INC., and
LAND TITLE SERVICES OF NEW JERSEY, INC.,
WELLS FARGO & COMPANY, and
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.

Defendants

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