The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted allocatur in a case against MERSCORP, Inc.  The Law Center has filed three amicus briefs since becoming involved in litigation against the MERS system by local governments in Pennsylvania in 2011.

MERSCORP, Inc. operates a system of mortgage record keeping that allows for financial transactions involving the transfers of mortgage ownership to occur while MERS maintains nominal ownership. The MERS system therefore allows financial institutions to trade mortgages without filing records with local governments for these transactions and without paying the fees associated with filing such records with county recorders of deeds. A Commonwealth Court ruled that mortgage assignments do not have to be filed publicly. The amicus brief filed by the Law Center challenges to this ruling, arguing that the private system of mortgage records maintained by MERS violates not only Pennsylvania real estate and financial law but also harms consumers and the public at large.

We are pleased that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court accepted the appeal of county record offices, and we expect to continue to provide support to the plaintiffs.