Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were sued by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over the creation and use of a mortgage database.
The banks’ use of the database, known as MERS, has led to deceptive and fraudulent foreclosure filings in New York state and federal courts, Schneiderman said in a statement today.
“The banks created the MERS system as an end-run around the property recording system, to facilitate the rapid securitization and sale of mortgages,” the attorney general said. “Once the mortgages went sour, these same banks brought foreclosure proceedings en masse based on deceptive and fraudulent court submissions.”
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden last year sued Merscorp Inc., which operates the mortgage registry, accusing it of deceptive trade practices. Merscorp was also named as a defendant in Schneiderman’s lawsuit.
Representatives of the banks and Merscorp didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
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