Many loan modification attorneys claim they can attack the bank by claiming that Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, is a fraudulent entity or doesn’t have the note (part of the failed “produce the note” frenzy). Those arguments, however, completely failed again in the California Court of Appeals.
In the case Taasen v. Family Lending Services, the appellate court upheld a lower court's decision by finding even though MERS did not have physical possession of the original note, it still could initiate a non-judicial foreclosure as long as it was the nominated beneficiary of the deed of trust. MERS' authority to assign mortgages has been upheld in hundreds of lawsuits, and the claims are becoming tiresome to the courts here in Southern California.
Even though the argument that MERS doesn't have authority to assign the note has been routinely rejected as baseless by courts here in California, it still remains a favorite lure by loan modification lawyers and consultants to collect large up-front fees from desperate homeowners. Dozens of attorneys have been disbarred using this tactic and many more “consultants” have been arrested using the same ploy.
Attorneys and so-called “Loan/Securitization Auditors” try desperately to get homeowners to pay large up-front fees to commence litigation. These homeowners are deceived as to the likelihood of success and become victims in an ongoing scam. Within 60 or 90 days of commencing this type of case, the homeowner will have lost the case and be facing foreclosure and eviction with no warning or preparation.
Please search for “MERS” on our website to discover the extent and scope of the MERS/Loan Audit scams.
