Calls Continue For War Against MERS Over Robosigned Mortgage Documents Littering Deed Registries, Alleged Recording-Fee-Dodging Ripoffs

In Essex County, Massachusetts, the Newburyport Daily News reports:

• According to a press release issued by [John O'Brien of the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds in Salem] Tuesday, "In 2010 alone, 286 Bank of America mortgage discharges were recorded with what (were) questionable and possibly fraudulent signatures of the notorious Linda Green."
• O'Brien's office carefully scrutinized the signatures and produced four examples of the name "Linda Green" that were clearly signed in four distinctive styles of handwriting. Among them was a mortgage for an Amesbury homeowner.
• For those unfamiliar with the recent "60 Minutes" piece on this scandal, Green was one of the so-called "robo-signers" whose job was to affix her signature to a multitude of documents in order to speed them through the foreclosure process.

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• [A]ccording to this week's release, "O'Brien fears that this fraudulent behavior is only the tip of the iceberg ... (and) actions which he originally only thought involved a scheme to circumvent the land recordation system by creating a private, for-profit cyber-registry to benefit the big banks' pocketbooks," may have mushroomed into outright fraud against consumers and the government.

For the story, see Probe has big banks on the run.

In a related story, see The Enterprise: Board to ask Coakley about possible lawsuit against mortgage corporation:

• The Bristol County Board of Commisioners voted unanimously Tuesday to send a letter to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley expressing interest in pursuing litigation against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc, commonly known as MERS, for skirting public recording laws.

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• The move comes after Essex County officials recently asked Coakley to consider suing MERS over the loss of real estate recording fees. The Essex County Register of Deeds, John O’Brien, said his agency has lost upwards of $22 million in fees because of MERS.