… but I agree with Rep. Bob Marshall.
In a op-ed published in The Virginian-Pilot today, Marshall discussed the need for his bill, HB1506. Most of you are familiar with some of the issues in related to foreclosures. Part of the problem relates to the difficulty in determining who actually holds the mortgages. Marshall explains:
With no legislative or judicial authority, the Big Banks created the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, as its own system of land records, bypassing the clerks of the courts. This helped the banks avoid recording fees, and in some cases recordation taxes, which in Virginia are 25 cents per $100 on the mortgage. When the initial sale or refinance of a home was recorded with county clerks, MERS was recorded as the beneficiary of the note or nominee.
As individual mortgages within a larger mortgage-backed security are sold multiple times, no one at MERS thought it necessary to record subsequent sales with county clerks because MERS claimed it had legal title for the mortgage notes registered in its database.
The banks avoided the recording fees but in doing so, have created a mess. In addition to the loss of revenue on the recordation fees, the titles of many homes are screwed up. Guess who’ll end up paying for that? You and me. One of the requirements when you buy or refinance your mortgage is that you obtain title insurance. With so many titles unclear, expect the insurance companies to jack up the premiums.
Interestingly enough, I’m told that Virginia does not currently require recordation of assignments – when the loans are transferred from one owner to another. Marshall’s bill would correct that oversight.
So yeah, I agree with Marshall.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
UPDATE: Del. Marshall, along with Del. Robin Abbott and Senators Don McEachin and Chap Petersen will be holding a press conference Monday morning “to discuss their pending bills to address the foreclosure crisis.”
- What: Press Conference
- Where: Senate Room 1, Capitol
- When: Monday, January 17, 2011, 10:50 am
- Who: Legislators, victims and their attorneys
- Why: Foreclosure crisis and legislation to address it
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
It does seem like a common sense measure. When Bob’s not dealing with issues that are related to any aspect of human sexuality, he’s actually a pretty bright guy.
had the same thoughts, Vivian.
Particularly after reading his rant about asking Cuccinelli to get involved with the monitoring of abortion facilities.
Which of you is the broken clock? 😉
Now that’s an odd little gathering of legislators there.
Yeah – I thought the same thing when I saw the list.
When he isn’t talking about social issues, you’d be hard pressed to find a smarter, more thoughtful legislator than Bob Marshall.
If it wasn’t for him, we’d likely all still be paying $2,000 fines for an improper lane change.
For obvious reasons, I have real problems with Marshall. I think this is the first time I’ve agreed with him on anything.
Those reasons are the same ones I’ve been using to vigorously dissuade everyone I know from supporting him for any kind of Senate run. I’ve been pretty successful so far. So many people don’t know about his bigoted stances.
I’ve never understood how someone can claim to be so constitutionally conservative and for civil liberties and yet be totally against them for people whose personal lives have absolutely no effect on them whatsoever.
I can understand abortion to an extent, but everything else is just ridiculous. Sadly electoral math means the GOP can’t win without those people…
I don’t really understand what he’s talking about here. To disburse a loan after closing, the deed of trust has to be recorded in the circuit court first. That’s when recording taxes are paid. Assignments don’t have recording taxes attached to them; they just have a flat recording fee (usually around $21). And on the deed of trust, MERS is listed as the beneficiary along with the lending institution; it doesn’t just say MERS.
I also don’t understand why he says this is messing up the title. Regardless of whether an assignment is recorded or not, the original deed of trust should be on record in the circuit court clerk’s office. Anyone with half a brain doing a title search should be able to find it, as long as it’s not mis-indexed, and it’s usually up to the title company to acquire a payoff for the mortgage, not the homeowner.
This might be a good idea, I just don’t understand his reasoning.
As I understand it, Virginia is only one of a few states that does not require assignments be recorded. So that’s one part.
The other part is that where MERS is listed as the lender/beneficiary, a refinance of the loan has not been recorded.
Yes, the original deed was recorded. But when it changes hands and that is NOT recorded, it is a problem.
Del. Bob Marshall is outstanding in some areas. It is mostly in social issues where he goes awry. Some issues more than others. On some topics of individual liberty he is darn good really. Unfortunately, he is just awful on others.
I had hoped that he had learned that trying to legislate religion based social mandates wouldn’t fly. I wanted very badly to support his senate bid, but his attempt to make it illegal for homosexuals to serve in the Virginia Guard proved that he hasn’t learned a thing and will remain a loose cannon. Consequently, I dropped my support for him as did many other Libertarians I know.
I would have been ok if he merely stuck to vocalizing his social views I so strongly disagree with. He is entitled to that as a free man. However, when he starts trying to legislate it, that can’t be overlooked.
Vivian, I am willing to bet that broken clock will strike the correct time for you in the future. Kudos to you though for acknowledging something he did right. Not all people are willing to reward positive behavior of the other side with acknowlegdement.
I’ve heard a lot of interesting things about Del. Marshall since this post went up, including hearing from Marshall himself. I don’t know that we’ll ever agree again but given that I found myself in agreement with Ken Cuccinelli I guess anything is possible 😉