PRESS RELEASE | April 7, 2011 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Greensboro, NC
April 7, 2011
Contact:
Jeff Thigpen, Guilford County Register of Deeds
Ph. 336-451-5300
Ph. 336-641-3239
REGISTER OF DEEDS JEFF THIGPEN (NC) AND JOHN O’BRIEN (MA) ASK 50 STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL FORECLOSURE WORK GROUP TO REQUIRE ALL PAST AND PRESENT MERS ASSIGNMENTS TO BE FILED!
JOHN L. O’BRIEN, JR. JEFF L. THIGPEN
Register of Deeds Register of Deeds
Commonwealth of Massachucetts Guilford County, North Carolina
Phone: 978-542-1704 Phone: 336-451-5300
Fax: 978-542-1706 Fax: 336-641-5778
website: www.salemdeeds.com website: www.guilforddeeds.com
April 6, 2011
The Honorable Tom Miller
Iowa Attorney General
1305 E. Walnut Street
Des Moines IA 50319
Dear Attorney General Miller,
We appreciate your leadership in the mortgage foreclosure working group, as part of a coordinated national effort by states, to review the practice of “robo-signing” within the mortgage servicing industry. We understand this investigation is nearing conclusion, but we want to implore you to act on a very important issue to homeowners across the country.
As County Land Record Recorders in Massachusetts and North Carolina, we have been gravely concerned about the role of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) in not only foreclosure proceedings, but as it undermines the legislative intent of our offices as stewards of land records. MERS tracks more than 60 million mortgages across the United States and we believe it has assumed a role that has put constructive notice and the property rights system at risk. We believe MERS undermines the historic purpose of land record recording offices and the “chain of title” that assures ownership rights in land records.
As a result, we are asking as part of your probe, that this task force and the National Association of Attorney Generals require that all past and present MERS assignments of deeds of trust/mortgages be filed in local recording offices throughout the United States immediately. Assignments are required by statute to be filed in Massachusetts, however they are not currently required to be recorded in North Carolina. We feel, that it is important that the Registers of Deeds should have representatives at the table before any settlement is discussed or agreed to as it relates to MERS failure to record assignments and pay the proper fees.
This action would serve three specific purposes. First, the filing of all assignments would help recover the chain of title that determines property ownership rights that has been lost and clouded over during the past 13 years because of the scheme that MERS has set in place. Second, transparency and confidence in ownership rights would be restored and this would prevent the infringement upon those rights by others. Third, this action would support a return to sound fundamentals in our economy between the financial services industry and public recording offices.
MERS has defended their practices by saying that they were helping the registries of deeds by reducing the amount of paperwork that needed to be recorded. This claim is outrageous. This is help we did not ask for, nor was it help that we needed. It is very clear that the only ones that they were helping were themselves. Over the past 10-12 years, recording offices across the United States have upgraded their internal and external technology to meet the demands of lenders, title underwriters, title searchers and citizens. In fact, in 1998 the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds in Massachusetts became the first registry of deeds to provide both document images and indices available to the public, 24 hours a day, free of charge on the world-wide-web. In doing so, the Registry received a Computerworld Smithsonian Award which recognized the innovative use of technology to benefit society. In 2009, the Guilford County Register of Deeds was given a Local Government Federal Credit Union Productivity Award by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners for their technological innovations. Nationally, over 93% of the public land records are up to date and current, according to Ernest Publishing.
As of today, there are over 600 recording jurisdictions, covering 43% of the US population that have incorporated an eRecording model into their document recording operations. We believe these jurisdictions cover nearly 80% of the volume of assignments that should be recorded. The remaining areas could be covered quickly, with legislation requiring such action by state legislatures.
Quite frankly, we believe this can and should be done. It’s the right thing to do.
In the coming weeks, we will be working with our national organizations, the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks (NACRC) and the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials, and Treasurers (IACREOT) to take the same position. We are also sending a copy of this letter to the National Conference on State Legislatures (NCSL) and the National Association of Counties (NACO).
Thank you for your immediate attention.
Sincerely,
Jeff L.Thigpen
Guilford County Register of Deeds, NC
John O’Brien
Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds, MA
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SOURCE: Jeff Thigpen
In case you missed it:
*April 2, 2011 60 Minutes segment on Mortgage Mess:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7361572n
~
Here is an interesting video about the NOT AMERICAN OWNED, MULTINATIONAL BANKSTERS/WALL STREET CABAL: http://maxkeiser.com/ Please watch the latest Keiser Report and share this with everyone that you can. Bloomberg reported today that George Soros A/K/A ONE OF THE MANY FACES OF THE U.N./ NEW WORLD ORDER is meeting today to discuss the institution of a ONE WORLD CURRENCY and he reportedly said WE NEED A NEW WORLD ORDER HERE IN AMERICA. He also said that this NEW WORLD ORDER will allow the BIG BANKS TO FAIL. WTF? WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS KIDDING? THE BIG BANKS ARE THE NEW WORLD ORDER. BANK OF AMERICA, CHASE, WELLS FARGO ARE NOT AMERICAN BANKS, THEY ARE MULTINATIONAL BANKS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY THE SMOM/JESUIT/VATICAN NEW WORLD ORDER. SCREW GEORGE SOROS, HE IS A PIECE OF SHIT. NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY WILL PREVAIL.. AMERICA IS THE WEALTHIEST COUNTRY ON THE PLANET. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THEIR LIES. AMERICA IS NOT BROKE. THE US DEBT IN NO WAY EXCEEDS OUR GDP. Even with Japan’s tragedy, they are no where near insolvency and either is THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THE NEW WORLD ORDER IS TRYING TO TRICK US INTO ‘THINKING WE ARE BROKE’ SO THEY CAN OVERTAKE US. THEY ARE A GIANT CABAL OF LIARS. OBAMA BETTER NOT LET THAT HAPPEN. AMERICA MUST EXIT THE UN/NEW WORLD ORDER. THEY HAVE HIJACKED US, JUST LOOK AT THE NYSE IT IS NOW CALLED THE NYSE/EURONEXT, THAT IS BULLSHIT AND NOW THEY WANT TO COMPLETELY OVERTAKE AMERICA AND OWN US AND CONTRO US. THAT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND WE THE PEOPLE HAVE OWE NO SOVEREIGNTY TO THE UN/NEW WORLD ORDER. THE U.S. CONSTITUTION OVERRULES THEM NO MATTER WHAT LIES THEY TELL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE MUST SCREAM IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS, WE THE PEOPLE WILL HAVE NO AMERO DOLLAR AND WE WILL NEVER STAND FOR A NEW WORLD ORDER IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, NOR WILL WE EVER JOIN WITH OTHER NATIONS AND BECOME ONE GIANT FACELESS, BORDERLESS FASCIST, DICTATORSHIP NATION WITH CANADA AND MEXICO. WE OWE OUR ONLY ALLEGIANCE TO THE U.S. CONTSTITUTION. SCREW THOSE NEW WORLD ORDER TYRANNICAL BASTARDS WHO WANT A ONE WORLD TYRANNY AND A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP.. OUR FOREFATHERS WARNED US ABOUT THESE SECRET SOCIETIES. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL REMAIN A SOVEREIGN NATION, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL..DEATH TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER TYRANNY AND DEATH TO THE EUROPEAN UNION. THOSE PEOPLE WERE TRICKED OUT OF THEIR NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY, AND NOW THE PEOPLE WANT OUT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. THEY GAVE UP THEIR CONSTITUTIONS TO ENTER THE EURPOEAN UNION..WE THE PEOPLE CANNOT ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
DanJS: You are right about the notarization and certification of those documents. The clerk at my county recorder’s office told me that if you are going to court, you will need those docs certified. I know what you mean about saving a couple of bucks. Make sure you get a copy certified of that pay off letter from the second bankster that charged you a fee in good and valuable consideration for your mortgage and that mechanic’s lien pay off. Make sure you have your title insurance for your deed, an attorney told me that is the most important part of having the deed is that title insurance policy. Best of Luck!
What about California recordings?
For all of you that have lost, or are in foreclosure. keep up the fight! The rest of us can save everybody’s day by STOP PAYING YOUR MORTGAGE AND CUT OFF THE MONEY MACHINE. Greed is the source of most corruption! If nobody pays…….nobody plays.
How can MERS assign something they never owned. They are a registration system.
Just today I have uncovered more fraud by the financial terrorist trying to cover-up the ORIGINATION FRAUD in the purchase of my commercial property. Lucky for me I did a Grantor/Grantee search back in Nov. and made copies. Seems they cross-collateralized my residential property with my commercial property and that is how they FRAUDULENTLY INDUCED THE MORTGAGE AND WHERE THEY HID THE ORIGINATION FRAUD. Now the proof no longer exists at the county recorders office. The search now says *no criteria found*.. Good thing I made copies when I did because the proof of this fraud appears no where else but there. They are really on a tear now trying to cover their asses. Make sure you get all of your public recordings and make alot of copies of everything. Find that ORIGINATION FRAUD people, AND DOCUMENT ALL OF IT. THE ORIGINATION FRAUD IS THE MOTHER OF ALL OF THE FRAUD AND THAT IS WHY THERE IS THIS ENTIRE FORECLOSUREGATE SCANDAL. THIS IS WHAT THEY DID AND THIS IS NOT ONLY CRIMINAL AND WAS HIGHLY DECEPTIVE, BUT ALSO SHOULD CA– USE LOAN RECISSIONS ACROSS AMERICA.
The land records are screwed. Anyone can just start randomly looking through land records over the net and you will see that almost every single filing has some material error in every filing. Maybe you should go down to the land records and get a hard copy right out of the book and if it isn’t there you will know someone working there is an accomplice.
Thanks indioo7! That is a great idea. The couple of times That I went down there to my county recorders office, the ladies behind the counters were really great. But who knows what some of the other ones behind the scenes are up to. Show some people some money and they will do just about anthing for it.
Ivent,
Your advice is very good (and timely) since the 50 Attys General have now been asked to register all assignments since the inception of MERS.
I would add only this to your advice… Make sure all copies of courthouse records regarding your real estate are “certified.”!
I have already done exactly what you suggest, but I did not pay the extra money to make sure that I had “certified copies.” Shame on me!
Just like MERS attempted to “save recording fees” and therewith clouded all titles menitioning their “system,: I was attempting to “save a few dollarss per page: by requesting un-certified copies.
I will correct that “penny-wise, pound-foolish” mistake immediately at my courthouse…. and keep the certified copies in a safe, fire-proof location.
Thanks Again!
I have copied and pasted this article and emailed to every county in West Virginia, lets get the word out,
Yes this could be a good thing. But I agree, how can you trust the assignments now. It is obvious that correct recordings were not made. MERS, as I understand it, did not do the recording, the banks or whoever did. MERS stated that the are not responsible for any mistakes in recording. Big, big mess.
See,
That’s exactly why it is very important that each property owner, who engaged in a real estate transaction mentioning MERS anywhere on the loan or deed paperwork anytime in the past 13 years, needs to immediately go to the courthouse and get “certified copies” of the documents that MERS initially recorded.
It’s likely that banks will try to “create the correct paperwork” months (or years) after the actual real estate transactions. If their “corrections” are made after we get certified copies of their “mistakes” our properties are more likely to come out “clean” and un-clouded after we have acted to protect the current status of the recordsby filing a “Quiet Title” action.. It may even be that MERS’ initial recordings will be voided because of their banker-coordinated fraud!
…..Caveat Emptor ! ….. Don’t until it is “too late” to protect your interests!
DanJS: In my state I was told by a former loan officer of the failed bank that defrauded me, the banksters have 12 years to assign a lien. Though in my case it has been 20 years with no assignments, the statute of limitations has run out on them to assign a lien is what my county recorders office told me, I think 12 years to perfect a collateral lien is in itself ridiculously criminal. This is surely because they wanted the PERPS the MULTINATIONAL BANKSTER/WALL STREET CABAL to make as many TRILLIONS as they could off of OUR COLLATERAL. In my case 12 years was not enough time for the FRAUDSTERS. Just imagine if we all waited to pay the fraudulently induced mortgage until they perfected the lien. This mess may never have happened. Again I say, RESCIND OUR LOANS. These loans never existed because of the ORIGINATION FRAUD AND THE FRAUDULENT INDUCEMENT. GET ALL THE PROOF THAT YOU CAN OF THE ORIGINATION FRAUD. THIS WAS THE INCEPTION OF THE BIGGEST PONZI SCHEME HEIST IN HISTORY. THEY DEFRAUDED THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND IT WAS RAMPANT AND PERNICIOUS.
How are they going to authenticate and certify that the assignments MERS records are accurate. There system has virtually no security as to whether transfers of the notes actually take place. They transfer nots on the mere say so of a MERS member and not necessarily the purported note holder. They have transferred on the say so of the alleged assignee. In fact there is a suit in Florida right now over this issue because someone within MERS claimed they held the note and despite the protests of the actual note holder. I can’t remember the name of the mortgage broker but MERS is being sued over this. I think their name starts with an R…. According to the complaint MERS assigned the mortgage based on a phone call and refused to respond to any demands at all. The pretty much refused to communicate with the company .
Well, IF compliance with recording ALL assignments actually comes to pass, this will be a mixed blessing in one regard: I firmly believe that a large number of falsely generated back-dated assignments would suddenly appear.
Bring on the expert forensic document examiners before allowing any of these assignments to be used in the courts. In fact, I suggest that all these assignments should be marked as being of dubious validity.
In the response to the “60-minutes” program on the servicers falsely-created assignment documents, the claim is made that supposedly those ‘impossible’ assignments (under the rules and regulations for the REMICs and trusts) were only created for expediency rather than to have to dig the ‘real ones’ out of the vault. (GAG. I’m having trouble swallowing that crap.)
Now, with the filing of the false assignment document, the one created, say in 20010, for a Trust such as CWABS 2005-10, that title has been clouded. Digging anything out of a vault (supposedly) and trying to say that the one already recorded was only for ‘expediency’ should be held up to judicial scorn. That assignment is an attempt to create a fraud upon the court. It should also render any attempt to produce still another prior unrecorded assignment or set of assignments as null and void due to the attempt to defraud that is already apparent.
If any official wants to see such a 2010-dated and filed assignment for CWABS 2005-10, I can show you a certified copy from the local county recorders office.
The investigation of companies involved in creating these false assignments has yet to publicize another of the sources: Litton Loan Servicing and it’s employee ‘Debra Lyman’.
I agree and am Rofl. I would love to see all these Assignments. More fuel for every homeowner facing foreclosure. Those of us that are following this scam know darn well they don’t exist. Robo-signing ramped up to a new level. More $10 an hour Vice Presidents….lol. Hey all you Vice Presidents out there, start asking for at least a mid six figure income. But I must say, I do give the AG’s credit for shining transparancy on this fraud.
GREAT DAY IN AMERICA if we can get all those fraudulent assignments filed. It will add another layer of legal responsibility. MERS will not stand for this. And they will not stand to pay this fee. The millions they would have to pay, maybe billions, they would rather pay off judges with money, dope, whores, and whatever else it takes. And they will do the same for members of Congress. Talk about money flowing, if the MAFIA could learn how to get in on this, man they would leave the garbage business alone for a couple hundred years. I say, make them file all the assignments, not only the ones they have fraudulently made, but all the assignments held by the trusts need to be filed, including any and all alonges. This would put a stop to all the document mills. Will this ever happen? I doubt it. The AGs of the states will be on a payroll pretty soon. And one by one they will back out or not consent to this. We will now watch the AGs to see if they will do the right thing here, or if they give us evidence they are on a secret pay roll.
Well the prez will probably fire all the ag’s now, this was really not the right thing to do to help the banksters.
Anything like this going on in Alabama?
Great post, thanks men for thinking of us all!
More good news — and this is exactly what we need: regular Americans (as opposed to bankers and fed govt types) who are in higher office or who hold positions of authority to take a stand and say, “The buck stops here.” This news combined with the news coming out of New York yesterday is a good sign that the steamroller of angry and deternined Americans has finally begun rolling.
Love these men! THOSE ARE TRUE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE! We should support their campaigns for re-election!
Let’s connect the dots? I can see the counties and states want to recoup their losses of revenue by the crooks but MERS did not keep track of who bought and sold while these loans were in MERS and that is why ALL LOANS SHOULD BE RESCINDED. MERS DESTROYED THE TITLES TO OUR PROPERTY. All that I really see is the MOTHER OF ALL OF THE FRAUD, the fraud that gave birth to FRAUDCLOSUREGATE, THE ORIGINATION FRAUD. RESCIND OUR LOANS. I think that if homeowners in FRAUDCLOSURE CAN PROVE THE ORIGINATION FRAUD OCCURRED, THEIR LOANS SHOULD BE AUTOMATICALLY RESCINDED. THEY SAY THAT EVERYONE WAS NOT DEFRAUDED SO THEY SHOULD NOT FEAR THIS AND MAKE IT THE RULE OF LAW IN EVERY COURT ROOM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Good point, Whos going to do the recordings Mers? there is no more paper so what their really saying is that it will be ok to commet more fraud so we can have all the money you stole from us in recording fees
I really wonder if the counties have a clue about how much they lost over this fiasco. I have never read a thing in my local paper about lost revenue because of this.
As far as origination fraud, I would say 99% are fraud. The payment (including taxes and insurance) to gross monthly income ratio used to be 28% and the debt ratio (including payment which includes taxes and insurance) should not exceed 33-36%. Any borrower can look on his loan ap and do the math. If these ratios are exceeded, well then you have a predatory loan. 28 and 33 were standard in the industry based on FNMA guidelines. If your income was inflated by ‘someone’ in order to meet these guideline..that was fraud. Perhaps some of the employees of the companies doing all those wonderful sub-prime loans need to have a few files pulled…just sayin.
I said in the beginning and I will say it again…this is lawsuit heaven for the lawyers…and I am talking about honest lawyers, educated in real estate, who will take these cases on contingency because imo they will make millions. Unfortunately in my town there are only six and they are all ‘good ole’ boys who wouldn’t fight the system if their child’s life depended on it.
I know that you are talking about the Liar’s Loans and those are indeed criminal. The part of the Origination Fraud I am talking about was the fact that these mortgage loans never really existed, they were fraudulently induced so the PERPS could then participate in the PONZI SCHEME HEIST up on WALL STREET with OUR PAID OFF COLLATERAL THAT THEY CHARGED US A NOMINAL FEE FOR THE DEED AT ORIGINATION and then a SECOND BANKSTER came along unknow to us and F/K/A the pretender lender that ORIGINATED THE FRAUD and charged us a fee in due consideration for our MORTGAGE of $1.00 and RIGHT BEFORE THEY PUT OUR LOANS INTO MERS, so they could take the COLLATERALIZED DEBT AND SPECULATE/ GAMBLE OFF OF EVERY ASPECT OF THE FRAUDULENTLY INDUCED LOANS UP ON WALL STREET IN THE MOTHER OF ALL PONZI SCHEME HEISTS. THESE LOANS NEVER EXISTED, MY TITLE PROVES THIS AS THERE IS NO ORIGINATION OF MY LOAN ANYWHERE ON THE TITLE NOR HAS THEIR EVER BEEN A MORTGAGE ASSIGNMENT IN 20 YEARS. THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IS 12 YEARS AND MY COUNTY RECORDERS OFFICE TOLD ME TIME HAS RUN OUT ON THEM TO ASSIGN A DEBT. THEY HAD 18 YEARS OF FUN MAKING TONS OF WEALTH OFF OF ME ON WALL STREET. BY THE TIME THEY WERE DONE DEFRAUDING ME, THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS RAN OUT ON THEM. WHAT A PITY.