New York AG Files Suit Against MERS and Servicers Alleging Deceptive and Fraudulent Foreclosure Practices

Foreclosure Mortgage Servicing

On February 3, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against MERS and several major banks, challenging the MERS system and alleging that the defendants engaged in fraudulent and deceptive foreclosure practices in violation of state law. Among the allegedly illegal practices, the New York Attorney General claims that the defendants (i) initiated thousands of foreclosure proceedings without proper standing, (ii) submitted in court deceptive and invalid mortgage assignments, (iii) misled borrowers by submitting in court defective mortgage assignments executed by untrained and unsupervised certifying officers and assignments that were automatically generated (i.e. "robosigned"), (iv) created a system that deliberately obscures the chain of title for a loan or hides the current note-holder. The Attorney General is seeking (i) an injunction to stop the practices recited in the complaint, (ii) disgorgement of all profits obtained in connection with those practices, and (iii) payment of other damages and civil penalties.