The Oregon State House Judiciary committee is considering Senate Bill 519. It seems the bill is for afordable housing. However, amendment 7 attempts to legalize ex post facto the MERS system in Oregon. Think about the fake Linda Greens on the 60 Minutes story signing hundreds of documents for twelve bucks an hour. Then think about Wall Street giving themselves a free pass with this amendment to foreclose on properties that were not assigned properly according to Oregon law.
Committee co-chair/Democrat Jeff Barker supports amendment 6 allowing the state to buy foreclosed properties. (from Oregon Live):
But Barker said he did not find support to pass a "dash-seven" amendment put forth Thursday at the financial industry's request. That would rid the recording requirement that has hung up foreclosures across the nation involving the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS. Federal judges in Oregon have blocked such foreclosures, saying MERS failed to record them properly.
The arrogance shown by the legalese in the amendment makes my blood boil.
“SECTION 7.(1) The amendments to ORS 86.705, 86.735, 86.755 and 86.780 by sections 1 to 4 of this 2011 Act apply to:“(a) Trust deeds that are executed before, on or after the effective date of this 2011 Act;
The reason the bankers are so eager to slip this amendment in is because of judicial action:
Since October, federal judges in six separate Oregon cases have halted foreclosures involving MERS, saying its participation caused lenders to violate the state's recording law. At least one federal judge has ruled in favor of MERS, industry lobbyists said.
Illegally bypassing title recording laws is one of the ways banks could obfuscate loans, slice & dice them, keep the money rolling in, and leave the mess to us to clean up. There is little enforcement action being taken against the to big to fails by the Feds. If you live in Oregon, make sure the foreclosed upon have appropriate due process. The bill made it through the Oregon State Senate and is passing through the Oregon House Judiciary Committee Wednesday June 1st.
Contact info:
http://www.leg.state.or.us/...
I originally heard about this at this 4closurefraud.org story
Bank lobbyists are probably trying to pass state bills which make MERS legal in other states, so keep an eye out.