Dallas DA Going After MERS for UNPAID FILING FEES

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COUNTIES ACROSS NATION ARE ASSESSING LAWSUITS AGAINST MERS ET AL

In an interview with Dallas South News, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins says he plans to file a lawsuit against a company representing organizations who he says owes the county millions of dollars.

A group of private attorneys is working with the county on a claim against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) who they say has avoided paying county fees. The suit will be filed in Dallas County District Court sometime next week.

“Counties are suffering financially,” Watkins said, “If the fees were paid, they would not have to [struggle].” The district attorney says he felt this lawsuit was necessary to protect the interests of Dallas County citizens. “It’s because of the nefarious activities of some of these entities that the county has been harmed,” he adds.

MERS is a subsidiary of MERSCORP, Inc., and was created in 1995 by many of the country’s major banks. The privately owned company is basically a computer database designed to track ownership rights and servicing of mortgage loans. Reuters describes MERS by saying, “Its main purpose was to be an electronic registry that would keep track of repeated sales of mortgage loans as the number of new mortgages and refinancings boomed.”

The MERS website explains, “Shareholders played a critical role in the development of MERS.” The site goes on to say that “through their capital support, MERS was able to fund expenses related to development and initial start-up.”

Some of MERS stakeholders includes Bank of America, Chase, GMAC, Nationwide, Stewart Title and Wells Fargo. According to this Washington’s Blog article, MERS has no employees and holds 60% of the worlds’ mortgages. The Huffington Post notes courts across the nation are looking into whether or not MERS even has the right to transfer mortgages.

Watkins says that every time a mortgage in Dallas County changed hands, lenders should have noted the transaction with the county clerk’s office, which would have required a fee to be paid. “They didn’t even cross the first step,” Watkins said.

Watkins said he recently spoke with Dallas County Clerk John Warren about MERS and the possible damages the county may have incurred. Watkins said Warren estimates more than $50 million in unfiled fees are due to the county. Attorneys have told the district attorney the amount could exceed $100 million.

The petition that will be filed in the District Court of Dallas County says MERS has “been unjustly enriched by their conduct described above by their receipt of fees charged to MERS members for MERS to track mortgage loan and mortgage transfers, which would otherwise have been recorded in the deed records of Dallas County, Texas.”

The petition will be submitted by the Dallas County district attorney’s office and Malouf & Nockels, LLC. The private firm is working for the county on a contingent basis, which means they will only be paid if there is a favorable result.

Tags: bankruptcy, borrower, countrywide, disclosure, foreclosure, foreclosure defense, foreclosure offense, foreclosures, fraud, LOAN MODIFICATION, modification, quiet title, rescission, RESPA, securitization, TILA audit, trustee, WEISBAND
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