MERS Enters into Pilot Project re Vacant Property Registration
by Randall Bueter; Wilson & Associates, PLLC - USFN Member
(AR,TN);
Robert Klein, CEO; Safeguard Properties, LLC - USFN Associate
Member;
and Douglas Licker, Mortgage Contracting Services, LLC - USFN Associate
Member
On the heels of the foreclosure boom have come a vast and rising number
of vacant properties. Municipalities throughout the country are enacting
new ordinances, or enforcing existing ones, requiring the registration
of vacant properties. Vacant property registration (VPR) ordinances
require owners of properties that have become vacant or abandoned for a
certain length of time to register formally with the local government.
These VPR ordinances are as varied as the municipalities enacting them,
but they all have the common goal of protecting their communities from a
blight of neglected houses. Cities are challenged with determining a
manner in which to make contact with property owners or mortgage
servicers who control the destiny of the property, while servicers are
frustrated by fines that show up in the title work just prior to an REO
closing.
As a result of
a cooperative effort of the MBA, several national servicers, and MERS,
MERS is offering a solution to bring the parties together. MERS is
making its database available in a pilot program enlisting Boston,
Massachusetts; Chula Vista and Stockton, California; St. Paul,
Minnesota; and St. Louis County, Missouri. Property preservation
companies are being added along with the servicer, and the cities are
being allowed free access to the system. MERS iRegistration provides
servicers with a cost-effective additional option to utilize the MERS
system strictly for this initiative. Some of the cities involved
are waiving “hard copy” registration and fees for those that
are posting their information with MERS.
This program
offers a great deal of promise in achieving the goal of protecting
communities. Experience has shown that when the cities and servicers
communicate, both sides win. This program provides the vehicle to make
that happen. For more information about MERS, see http://mersinc.org/.
Editor’s Note: A VPR
article appeared in the Sept.
’08 USFN e-Update, containing a link to a VPR Matrix and
soliciting readers’ assistance in keeping the matrix current.
©
Copyright 2008 USFN. All rights reserved.
Nov./Dec. e-Update
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