Matt Taibbi bombshell: Mortgage market was a giant criminal enterprise

[Are_grits_groceries]

A landmark ruling in a recent Kansas Supreme Court case may have given millions of distressed homeowners the legal wedge they need to avoid foreclosure. In Landmark National Bank v. Kesler, 2009 Kan. LEXIS 834, the Kansas Supreme Court held that a nominee company called MERS has no right or standing to bring an action for foreclosure. MERS is an acronym for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, a private company that registers mortgages electronically and tracks changes in ownership. The significance of the holding is that if MERS has no standing to foreclose, then nobody has standing to foreclose – on 60 million mortgages. That is the number of American mortgages currently reported to be held by MERS. Over half of all new U.S. residential mortgage loans are registered with MERS and recorded in its name. Holdings of the Kansas Supreme Court are not binding on the rest of the country, but they are dicta of which other courts take note; and the reasoning behind the decision is sound.

via Landmark Decision: Massive Relief for Homeowners and Trouble for the Banks.

This is a potentially gigantic story. It seems that a court has ruled that about half of the mortgage market has been run as a criminal enterprise for years, which would invalidate any potential forelosure proceedings for about, oh, 60 million mortgages. The court ruled that the electronic transfer system used by the private company MERS — a clearing system for mortgages, similar to a depository, that is used for about half the mortgage market — is fundamentally unreliable, and any mortgage sold and/or transferred through MERS can’t be foreclosed upon, at least not in Kansas

http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/09/22/landmark-decision-massive-relief-for-homeowners-and-trouble-for-the-banks/

Boom goes the dynamite!!!

[Mist]

1. Good news for many. Thanks for posting this. nt

[Myrina]

2. Duplicate thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6605962

[spanone]

3. k&r.....

[flvegan]

4. Pinellas County, Florida did that to MERS a few years ago.

Completely crippled the foreclosure "industry" for months. The judge was absolutely brilliant. I've read the testimony and arguments many times over and each time I get another laugh.

Problem is that the mortgage and note is directed "MERS as nominee for..." entity. All it takes is a simple assignment into the proper foreclosing lender and an amendment to the style of the complaint to move it forward, unfortunately.

[chalky]

8. But hasn't it been shown lately that many times the actual lenders can't be tracked?

Wasn't that the whole point behind the "Produce the note" movement?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUZdANb6UaY

[flvegan]

12. The lenders can be tracked through the MERS system

the problem is that the Note itself can't be found/tracked. The foreclosing lender doesn't have it and had no intention of "taking possession" of it. In Florida, every time a Note is "sold" it needs to be stamped on the back and signed by someone authorized to do so.

The "produce the note" idea is one that I've been pushing for almost 15 years here in Florida.

[AllentownJake]

9. Dupe

Which will be a step in the right direction.

No one knows what is on any of these banks balance sheets.

[AllentownJake]

10. It will force them to unwind the products to foreclose

Which will be a step in the right direction.

No one knows what is on any of these banks balance sheets.

[flvegan]

13. Agreed.

I think that transparency in these dealings is important and right now there is none.

[TroubleMan]

5. Score one for the good guys....

at least temporarily.

[lysosome]

6. This is bullshit. Next you'll be telling me Enron fixed energy prices.

Nothing but conspiracy theories. :freak:

[intheflow]

7. No shit.

File this one under "Stating The Obvious." Next up: the Bush administration was a giant criminal enterprise. :eyes:

[blm]

11. Just like the S&Ls were deregulated and set up to line the pockets of the greedy.

.