Jacksonville-Area Clerk Of Court Joins Others In Tagging MERS w/ Lawsuit Over Alleged Mortgage Recording Fee-Dodging Racket; Action Seeks Class Status

In Jacksonville, Florida, the Jacksonville Business Journal reports:

• Duval County Clerk of the Court Jim Fuller has filed a class action suit against the mortgage servicing company Merscorp Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc.



• The suit, filed in the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville on behalf of all Florida Clerks of Court, claims that the defendants created a private mortgage recording system called MERS to circumvent state law that requires mortgages to be recorded publicly by the clerks of the court.



• “MERS is listed as the ‘mortgagee’ on millions of loans throughout the nation,” the suit states. “However, MERS does not originate any loans, lend any money, or own or hold any promissory notes. MERS instead acts merely as a straw man — a placeholder in the public records — allowing the true, beneficial owner of a loan to remain anonymous and to be changed at will without notice to the public and without recording an assignment in the official records or paying the fees.”



• The eight-count suit, filed Oct. 31, claims civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment, fraudulent misrepresentation and negligent misrepresentation.

For the story, see Duval County Clerk of Court sues mortgage servicer.