• U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger in Florida says that Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. is not bound to pay counties when it records a change in who holds a promissory note associated with a mortgage.
• The system operated for lenders and borrowers is the designated agent on the mortgage, and that does not change if one lender sells the note to another, the judge ruled.
• Duval County's circuit court clerk sued MERS claiming it is getting rich by illegally not paying recording fees. Clerks elsewhere have been making the same claim. MERS argues, "At closing, the lender and borrower agree to appoint MERS as the mortgagee on the mortgage or deed of trust. This means that when a MERS® System member sells the loan to another MERS® System member, only the promissory note – and not the mortgage – transfers, because the mortgage is grounded in the name of MERS."

From the article:

Merscorp, the parent company of MERS, lauded a U.S. District Court's decision to dismiss a Florida county lawsuit against the national mortgage registry.