FORECLOSURES

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”) is a proper party that can lawfully foreclose as the mortgagee and note-holder of a mortgage loan. MERS Membership Rule 8 provides required guidelines that must be followed when MERS is the foreclosing entity. Please click here to access the Rules of Membership, and reference the Rule 8 requirements.

In mortgage foreclosure cases, the plaintiff has standing as the holder of the note and the mortgage. When MERS forecloses, MERS is the mortgagee and it is the holder of the note because a MERS officer will be in possession of the original note endorsed in blank, which makes MERS a holder of the bearer paper. MERS will not foreclose unless the note is endorsed in blank and held by MERS.

The MERS Legal Primer provides a sampling of cases that address the standing of MERS to foreclose its mortgages. These cases are not meant to be an exhaustive list involving MERS but are merely to serve as a primer for the legal arguments.

BANKRUPTCY

MERS may file Motions for Relief from Stay and Proofs of Claim related to mortgages that it holds. Each MERS member, through its duly appointed MERS officer(s), is responsible to ensure that pleadings on behalf of MERS in bankruptcy court properly describe MERS.   The MERS officer(s) must also ensure that all necessary proof is attached to the pleadings to show MERS has standing at the time the pleading is filed. Please click here to reference MERS requirements.