The Public Interest Law Center recently prepared an amicus brief in a Commonwealth Court case brought by several counties and county recorders of deeds to challenge the MERS system. This follows a case in 2011 in which the Montgomery County recorder of deeds filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and all other Pennsylvania recorders of deeds against Mortgage Electronic Recording Systems, INC. and MERSCORP, Inc.
The Public Interest Law Center prepared a third amicus brief in an appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court by several counties and county recorders of deeds who are challenging the legality of the MERS private system of mortgage records. The brief was submitted in support of Pennsylvania counties and recording officials who are appealing a Commonwealth Court decision in MERSCORP, Inc.’s favor, and the Law Center was joined by five Amici – three legal services organizations and two consumer advocacy groups who have allegedly suffered as a result of MERSCORP, Inc.’s malpractice.
According to the amicus brief, MERSCORP, Inc. disregards the law and the public’s best interest by allowing investors to bypass the county recorder’s office and withholding information regarding the transfer of loans between lenders. MERSCORP, Inc. is then able to avoid the county recording fee, depriving numerous organizations of their legally-mandated funding.
The MERS system also reduces the revenue to the civil legal service organizations, which are in part funded by the fees associated with filing records with county recorders of deed. We argue that the MERS system was created to evade these fees, and has therefore harmed the public by reducing the funds available to civil legal service organizations throughout the Commonwealth.
The Law Center challenged MERSCORP, Inc.’s practices previously. In 2011, the Law Center supported the Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds in their lawsuit against MERSCORP, Inc. At the time the judge refused our amicus brief for technical reasons and unfortunately the past case, which highlighted the fraud for the first time, failed in the third circuit. However, we stand unwavering in support of the organizations affected by the actions of MERSCORP, Inc.
We hope the Pennsylvania Supreme court will accept the appeal of county record offices, and we stand unwavering in support of the organizations affected by the actions of MERSCORP, Inc.
