SUBMITTED BY MARY COCHRANE
MERS instructing members to not foreclose in name of MERS (Bulletin 2 Pages at Bottom).
MERSCORP, Inc. Parent (VA) & subsidiary, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (DE)
Welcome to MERS!
MERS is an innovative process that simplifies the way mortgage ownership and servicing rights are originated, sold and tracked. Created by the real estate finance industry, MERS eliminates the need to prepare and record assignments when trading residential and commercial mortgage loans.
MERS MEMBERS (A-Z) and/or 1st 7 Digits MIN#
https://www.mersonline.org/mers/mbrsearch/mbrsearch.htm
ACTIVE MERS MEMBER:
America’s Servicing Company
2701 Wells Fargo Way
MAC x9998-012
Minneapolis MN 55467-8000
651-605-3711
MERS@wellsfargo.com
Theresa Russell
Member Org ID: 1002856
What about GMAC Bank (TRUSTEE)
3451 Hammond Ave, Waterloo, IA 50702
MERS ID: 1005726
Line of Business: Investor
YES with eRegistry and eDelivery
What about GMAC Mortgage of Iowa
dba GMAC Mortgage, LLC
dba gmacmortgage.com (fictitious name in PA)
dba GMAC Bank (fictitious name in PA)
MERS ID: 1000375
Lines of Business: Originator, Servicer, Subservicer, Investor, Document Custodian
YES with eRegistry and eDelivery
GMAC 1992/1993 part of Wells Fargo & Co/MN
c/o Tax Dept,
GMAC Mortgage, PO Box 85071, San Diego CA (formerly Norwest Corporation)
dba Wells Fargo Bank NA.
3451 Hammond Ave
Waterloo, IA
GMAC MERS DEPT
http://www.gmacmortgage.com
‘eRegistry Participant’ YES
‘eDelivery Participant’ YES
GMAC BANK ASSET MANAGEMENT CO
MERS Org ID: 1005727
Lines of Business: Investor
NO Wiithout eRegistry eDelivery.
I CUT/PASTED JUST THE ‘FOOTNOTES’ THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE DOCUMENT FOR YOUR REVIEW:
How does a consumer know if they are dealing with the Wells Fargo Bank NA GMAC or not?
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11/16/2010
MERS President and CEO R.K. Arnold Appears Before U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C., Nov. 16—R.K. Arnold, president and CEO of MERSCORP, Inc., testified today before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. To download a copy of his testimony, please click here. For questions, please contact Karmela Lejarde at 703-761-1274.
http://www.mersinc.org/newsroom/press_details.aspx?id=252
1 MERSCORP, Inc. is structured as a privately held stock company. Its principal owners are the Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, Chase, HSBC, CitiMortgage, GMAC, American Land Title Association, and Wells Fargo. MERS is headquartered in Reston VA.
2 Members tend to register only loans they plan to sell. Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase are the principal members in this regard. They service most of the loans they originate themselves, so registering their retail business on the MERS® System is of less practical value to them. However, when these institutions purchase loans from others, known as their correspondent business, they do require that those loans be registered on the MERS® System.
3 MERS makes its money through an annual membership fee (ranging from $264 to $7,500) based on organizational size, and through loan registration and servicing transfer fees. MERS charges a one-time $6.95 fee to register a loan and have Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. serve as the common agent (mortgagee) in the land records. For loans where Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. will not act as the mortgagee, there is only a small one-time registration fee ($0.97). This is known as an iRegistration. Transactional fees (ranging from $1.00 to $7.95) are charged to update the database when servicing rights on the loan are sold from one member to another.
4 The originating lender may be the servicer in some cases.
5 A copy of a sample mortgage document can be found in Attachment One. A short summary of MERS prepared by the Mortgage Bankers Association can be found in Attachment Two.
6 This action tells the world that there is a lien against the property. This is done to protect the lender’s interest. The recording of the mortgage puts future purchasers on notice of any outstanding claims against the property.
7 The promissory note is not (and never has been) recorded or stored with the county land records office. The note is a negotiable instrument that can be bought and sold by endorsement and delivery from the seller to the note purchaser. This activity is governed in all fifty states by the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Article 3.
8 The MERS® System is the database; MERSCORP, Inc is the operating company that owns the database; and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc (“MERS”) a subsidiary of MERSCORP, Inc., which serves as mortgagee in the land records for loans registered on the MERS® System. For discussion purposes, “MERS” may be used in this testimony to refer to all three entities unless specifically stated otherwise.
9 The design of the MERS® System always anticipated and required that borrowers would be able to access the system to determine the servicer of their loans. Providing such information to MERS is a requirement of membership and loan registration.
When Congress acted last year to require that borrowers be told when their note is sold and the identity of the new note-owner,
MERS established, within a matter of weeks, a new service called Investor ID. Of the 3,000 members of MERS, 97% agreed to disclose the identity of the note-owner through the MERS® System. Fannie Mae opted to be disclosed. Freddie Mac chose not
to be disclosed.
10 The issue of whether transfers of residential mortgage loans made in connection with securitizations are sufficient to transfer title and foreclosure rights is the subject of a “View Point” article entitled “Title Transfer Law 101” by Karen Gelernt that appeared in the October 19, 2010 edition of the American Banker. A copy can be found in Attachment Three.
11 A 1993, 36-page white paper entitled “Whole Loan Book Entry Concept for the Mortgage Finance Industry” addresses the concepts underlying MERS and the problems it was designed to address. It is available upon request.
12 The essential elements of the legal principles underlying MERS can be found in “MERS Under Attack: Perspective on Recent Decisions from Kansas and Minnesota,” an article by Barkley and Barbara Clark in the February 2010 edition of Clark’s Secured Transactions Monthly. A copy of this article can be found in Attachment Four.
13 On loans originated by correspondent lenders or brokers (where MERS is not the mortgagee), the costs of preparing assignments and the associated filing fees are listed on the HUD-1 and paid directly by the borrower.
14 Individual states handle real estate foreclosures differently. In some states the foreclosure process is judicial, and in some states it is non-judicial. Under both systems, time frames and terms vary widely from state to state. A brief, general, description of both processes prepared by the Mortgage Bankers Association can be found in Attachment Five.
15 Some important recent cases upholding the rights of MERS include:
16 A review of the use of MERS in all fifty states was done by Covington and Burling in 1996 and 1997 as part of the due diligence associated with the creation of MERS. It is available upon request.
Read: MERS President and CEO R.K.Arnold Appears Before Senate:
MERS President and CEO R.K. Arnold Appears Before U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C., Nov. 16—R.K. Arnold, president and CEO of MERSCORP, Inc., testified today before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. To download a copy of his testimony, please click here. For questions, please contact Karmela Lejarde at 703-761-1274.
http://www.mersinc.org/files/filedownload.aspx?id=667&table=ProductFile
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The right of petition is expressly set out in the First Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law … abridging … the right of the people … to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
— from the First Amendment
The petition clause concludes the First Amendment’s ringing enumeration of expressive rights and, in many ways, supports them all. Petition is the right to ask government at any level to right a wrong or correct a problem.
Although a petition is only as meaningful as its response, the petitioning right allows blocs of public interests to form, harnessing voting power in ways that effect change.
It’s your right and duty as a citizen of the United States of America to bring into the light of day the facts of harm and injury you have suffered due to lawlessness.
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Announcement
Number 2011-01
Page 1 of 2
To: All MERS Members February 16, 2011
Re: Foreclosure Processing and CRMS Scheduling MERS is providing the following guidance to all Members to strengthen business practices, and minimize reputation, legal and compliance risk to MERS and its Members. In recent months legal challenges have arisen regarding alleged inadequacies and improprieties in the foreclosure process including allegations of insufficient or incorrect supporting documentation and challenges to the legal capacity of parties’ right to foreclose. MERS is committed to reevaluate and strengthen its systems and procedures to protect against these types of legal challenges. Consistent with this approach we have enhanced the Corporate Resolution Management System (CRMS) and instituted related policies and procedures designed to strengthen MERS’ business practices and limit compliance risks. To comply with this guidance, MERS Members should implement the following practices, effective immediately.
1. MERS is planning to shortly announce a proposed amendment to Membership Rule 8. The proposed amendment will require Members to not foreclose in MERS’ name. Consistent with the Membership Rules there will be a 90-day comment period on the proposed Rule. During this period we request that Members do not commence foreclosures in MERS’ name. If a Member determines that it will commence a foreclosure in MERS’ name during this 90-day period, two weeks advance notice must be given to MERS to permit verification of the appointment and current status of the Certifying Officer proposed to participate in the foreclosure. No foreclosure may be processed in MERS’ name without first obtaining this verification. We encourage Members to bring foreclosures only in the name of the holder of the note, in the name of the trustee or the servicer of record acting on behalf of the trustee.
2. MERS Members shall have a MERS Certifying Officer (also known as MERS Signing Officer) execute assignments out of MERS’ name before initiating foreclosure proceedings. Assignments out of MERS’ name should be recorded in the county land records, even if the state law does not require such a recording (see MERS Membership Rule 8).
3. For all future assignments and the execution of other documents in the name of MERS, Members must use a MERS Certifying Officer who has been appointed under our new certifying officer process, which, after November 1, 2010, uses a new form of corporate resolution. Under our new process, all Certifying Officers are also being tested and appointed under the enhanced CRMS. Only Certifying Officers appointed under the new form of corporate resolution, tested, and transitioned onto CRMS after November 1, 2010 should execute assignments. We are in the process of ensuring that all Members are transitioned onto CRMS in compliance with our new policy, and we will work with all Members to ensure the transitions can be accomplished in an orderly and expeditious way. For those Members who have not undergone this transition onto the CRMS, you will receive login credentials and further instructions from MERS on how to complete this process. It is important that you follow all instructions and that you complete this process as quickly as possible. MERS will be communicating with you to notify you when your Company will be transitioned onto the CRMS under our new policy. Once your Company has access to the CRMS, all of your existing and potential Certifying Officers should work quickly to complete the certification process. Once all of your existing and potential Certifying Officers have successfully completed the certification process, you will need to submit your request to MERS for approval. Submissions from your Company will only be accepted during the phase-in period assigned to you. Because it will take some time to transition under our new policy, Certifying Officers can continue to execute documents in MERS’ name under existing resolutions until the new corporate resolution is issued to your Company. However, if your Company does not submit the request to MERS through the CRMS in the timeframe assigned to you, you will not be issued a new corporate resolution and any prior corporate resolutions issued to your company will be revoked.
MERS Members should ensure the accuracy of the information in the complaint and foreclosure affidavit that addresses, where applicable, the authorization under which a MERS Certifying Officer validly assigned the mortgage to the foreclosing note-holder.
5. Other business practices Members should perform on a periodic basis include:
Conduct a review of employees designated as Certifying Officers and reconcile to the CRMS to ensure MERS has an up-to-date and accurate list of Certifying Officers;
Ensure employees designated as Certifying Officers receive appropriate training to carry out their duties and responsibilities as Certifying Officers; and
Reconcile with CRMS to update corporate resolutions and signing authority agreements to ensure appropriate Certifying Officers are validly appointed.
If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact the MERS Law Department at mers@mersinc.org, or call the MERS corporate office at 703-761-1270 and ask for the MERS Law Department. The MERS Help Desk will not be able to assist in this matter.
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http://www.mersinc.org
Newest Members:
Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC (2)
Horsham, PA
Edgewater Home Loans, Inc.
St Louis Park, MN
Westfield Bank
Westfield, MA
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