Montgomery County Real Estate
Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds NANCY J. BECKER is urging recorders/registers of deeds across state and the country to withdraw public money from any banks affiliated with the Mortgage Electronic Registry System (MERS), which she claims is undermining the practice of accurate land recording.
In recent years, mortgages have been assigned and reassigned multiple times, and when a bank or other entity doesn’t properly report these transfers, it makes it very difficult for homeowners to determine who holds their mortgages.
“It clouds the chain of title, and it’s prohibiting (officials) from recording revenues they are entitled to,” Becker said. It’s just sloppy sloppy work.
Since 2004, she estimates the county has lost $15 million in fees from 139,798 mortgages recorded via the electronic recording system that fails to reflect assignments. Becker said she fields calls about once a month from a homeowner seeking help finding proof a mortgage has been satisfied, so the person can sell their house.