Attorney General Martha Coakley is investigating allegations that robo-signing practices are continuing to plague land records in Massachusetts.
Coakley will meet with the Massachusetts Registers of Deeds Association next month, and MERS will be on the agenda. According to a letter obtained by Banker & Tradesman, Coakley has declared she is investigating "creditor misconduct in connection with unlawful foreclosures…as well as filing false or misleading documents with registries in the commonwealth." Coakley will focus "particularly on creditors’ reliance on MERS and whether MERS conforms to the requirements of Massachusetts law," according to the letter addressed to the association.
The attorney general will begin gathering evidence from all the Registers, seeking evidence of misconduct and fraudulent documentation, the letter says.
The letter also addresses the proposed settlement between large servicers and the 50 state’s attorneys general in the wake of an investigation of the robo-signing scandal. Negotiations have dragged on for months, with recent rumor alleging that the attorneys general were willing to waive liability for the servicers on a number of issues in exchange for a multi-billion dollar settlement. Coakley’s letter shoots down that idea, saying "we have made clear that Massachusetts will not sign on to any global agreement with the banks if it includes a comprehensive liability release regarding securitization and the MERS conduct. We strongly believe that these investigations must continue and responsible parties must be held accountable in order to fully protect homeowners and return to a healthy economy."
The news was hailed by John O’Brien, registrar at the Southern Essex Country Registry of Deeds, whose office has been trying to draw attention to alleged problems with documents being submitted for recording since last fall.
"I’m very, very pleased with the decision and her comments in the letter," said O’Brien. He’s hopeful that Coakley’s move will make "banks get message loud and clear that public officials, at least in Massachusetts, are going to hold them accountable for their actions."
He was particularly pleased by the letter’s comments on the 50-state settlement.
"You can’t settle something until you know the extent of the damages, how much money they fleeced the tax payers out of," he said. "I know in Salem we’re getting new documents every day [with problems]." O’Brien’s office had begun rejecting documents with signatures that appear to be those of "robo-signers," asking banks who wish to resubmit them to do so along with an affidavit swearing authenticity.
