Solving the MERS Mystery
Many foreclosure investors consider MERS a four-letter word. That’s because when they see MERS — or its expanded manifestation, Mortgage Electronic Registration System — listed as the lender for a property, it often means extra work finding contact information for the actual lender who is foreclosing.
MERS is a system used by many in the finance industry to track loans and the lenders in charge of servicing those loans — including any foreclosure proceedings — without all the paperwork.
Foreclosure documents often list MERS as the lender even though it is not able to answer any questions about the property, let alone entertain offers from interested buyers or investors. But a new online search is allowing anyone to lift the MERS veil and find names and contact numbers for the “real” lenders. This new search, which was created by MERS, is available on the MERS website or directly from any MERS-registered property listed on RealtyTrac.
To access the search from RealtyTrac, users can click on the “Mortgage Electronic Registration System” hyperlink in the Contact area of the property details page. Clicking on that hyperlink will open a new window that allows them to search for the current lender using the property address.