Ingham County officials expect to see tens of thousands of dollars in new revenue as they begin collecting taxes from two of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders.
Ingham County Register of Deeds Cutris Hertel Jr. said he will begin requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay full transfer taxes on all property transfers in which they are the seller.
The two companies had claimed to be exempt from paying taxes upon filing new deeds, saying they were government entities.
“We’ve been telling them along the way they need to pay on these, but we haven’t had the legal backing until the Oakland County case was decided,” Hertel said.
Ingham County, Michigan Curtis Hertel Jr. is seeking re-election and he needs your vote. This is a great way to show your gratitude for all he’s done for you Michiganders.
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 30th 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 2nd 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.
1. Did the borrower have a choice or was he/she coerced into accepting MERS, who they really had no idea of what or who it was?
2. Was it ever disclosed that many of the lenders are shareholders of MERS, also who may own the first or second position… this includes Fannie Mae who is a shareholder?
3. Since Fannie (GSE) is owned by “taxpayers” why is she acting 100% private – 100% of the time?
4. One may have been coerced into having MERS in their documents but one would never accept forgery or robo-signing because everyone knows this would be fraud and therefore void the transaction…like a check.
With mounting evidence of robo-signing and other alleged fraud perpetrated by banks, foreclosure law firms and others, Fannie Mae and Flagstar Bank have filed a new defense of such actions in Ingham County Circuit Court — and Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel, Jr. is crying foul.
“What they are basically saying is they can forge an assignment and there is nothing the citizen or court can do about it. It is a brazen attempt to legalize robosigning,” says Hertel. “It’s just another example of Fannie Mae thumbing its nose at the American people, and unfortunately while they are under federal bailout we are paying for it.”
This is happening in the case of a Haslett man who suffered a stroke and fell behind on his mortgage payments. As a result, Flagstar Bank and Fannie Mae foreclosed on him and are now in the final stages of evicting him from his Haslett home, says Hertel.
Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr. has referred a top attorney from Orlans Associates, one of Michigan’s largest mortgage foreclosure law firms, to law enforcement for a criminal investigation of allegations of robo-signing.
Hertel tells Michigan Messenger that he referred Marshall Isaacs and examples of his signatures filed at the Ingham County Register of Deeds to law enforcement because he believes Isaacs did not sign all the legal documents. Hertel declined to identify the law enforcement agencies involved, but did note that there were at least two interested in the Isaacs case.
STATE OF MICHIGAN
30th CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF INGHAM
CURTIS HERTEL, JR. individually and as
Register of Feeds for Ingham County,
V
BANK OF AMERICA N.A.;
BAC HOME LOANS SERVICING, LP;
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.;
COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS SERVICING, LP;
ORLAN ASSOCIATES, PC;
TROTT & TROTT, PC;
FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION
d/b/a FANNIE MAE;
FEDERAL HOME LOAN MORTGAGE CORPORATION
d/b/a FREDDIE MAC
CONTACT: Curtis Hertel Jr. Ingham County Register of Deeds Ph 517 281 3574
Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel, Jr. Files Lawsuit Against Mortgage Lenders For Unpaid Taxes
Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr. has filed a lawsuit today in the 30th Circuit Court, to recover millions in alleged unpaid transfer taxes from mortgage servicers and their attorneys.
“This is money that should have been applied to the county’s general funds, which could have been used for public safety, health programs, or countless other public services,” said Hertel. “Additionally, the state taxes collected would have gone straight to the school aid fund. It’s time for some of the banks responsible for the foreclosure mess to pay their fair share, instead of allowing our county’s taxpayers to bear all of the burden.”
Transfer taxes are the monies paid when a new deed is recorded in the county’s Register of Deeds office. The taxes apply to the sale price of the property being transferred, unless it falls under $100. Many large-scale banks have used Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to claim an exemption to the taxes by identifying themselves as government entities, which Hertel contests.
”Depending on the amount of the judgment, this could provide a needed boost to our county’s constrained budget,” said Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing. “The foreclosure crisis has drained county tax dollars in many ways – not merely in uncollected property taxes, but also because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were claiming these federal exemptions while re-selling foreclosed homes.”
The official transfer tax rate for counties in Michigan is $1.10 for every $1,000 of value being transferred. So the sale of a $100,000 home would typically carry a $110.00 tax. State taxes on the same transactions stretch even further – $7.50 for every $1,000 of value being transferred. It is estimated that the lawsuit could fetch a judgment in the millions of dollars.
“MFI-Miami, an internationally recognized mortgage fraud investigation firm based in Florida, has been instrumental in assisting in our investigation of this,” said Hertel. William Maxwell, Dan Marsh and Brian Parker from the Home Defense League, PLC, working in conjunction with MFI-Miami discovered a pattern of unpaid transfer taxes on foreclosure sales across Michigan. “The fact is banks and mortgage servicers, in concert with their foreclosure firms, failed to pay state and county transfer taxes,” said Steve Dibert of MFI-Miami, who has been part of the document examination.
Hertel is also working with other members of the Michigan Association of Registers of Deeds. “We are cooperating with other municipalities to join us in this fight, because this not just an Ingham County problem, it a problem that affects all 83 counties in the state.”
“Currently, the Michigan Association of Registers of Deeds, Inc. is compiling data from documents representing taxable transfers from these and other entities to determine the potential amount owed Michigan counties,” said president Bambi Somerlott. “Accordingly, each county will, in its discretion, use the information and proceed as they deem appropriate.”
Hertel has received the support of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners, and will announce the lawsuit at a press conference at 1:00 pm today. He has chosen the site of 1117 S Grand Avenue, a home that was recently subject to tax foreclosure, to make the announcement. “The banks should bear their share of responsibility for our current housing climate, and their role in what has happened is becoming more clear as time passes,” said Hertel. “We will do everything we can to pursue financial justice.”
The Ingham County Board of Commissioners in Michigan approved up to $60,000 in Legal Aid funding to represent borrowers affected by allegedly improper foreclosures and possible documentation fraud.
The county’s Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr. uncovered potential fraudulent documents in his office calling into question hundreds of foreclosures. Hertel told HousingWire Wednesday he found 400 cases with possible fraudulent documentation involving Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems and another 100 involving DocX, a division of Lender Processing Services (LPS: 24.44 -1.89%).
Curtis Hertel Jr., Register of Deeds for Ingham County, says that a discovery he made involving alleged fraudulent mortgage documents is now being investigated by both the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.
“Yes, this is, in my opinion, fraud,” Hertel said. “This is a situation where people were forging someone else’s name to a legal document to take another person’s property. That is fraud.”
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