Here's some background on MERS, and why it is an issue in the mortgage mess.

Law Expert: MERS Mess Could Have “a Massive Effect on the Economy” | FDL News Desk

"It’s important to know from the beginning that MERS is a wholly owned subsidiary of big financial institutions. The mortgage bankers wanted to avoid recording fees and reduce their overall expenditures. So they basically devised a method that would free them from those fees, ran an accounting study showing the savings, and just created MERS. There was no public debate or legislative statute to overturn what had been the customary practice for generations. The money backing MERS came from investors, according to Peterson, including some of the biggest banks and mortgage brokers in the country like Bank of America, Citi, and Countrywide, as well as Fannie Mae. You can see all their shareholders right here. It’s just a creation of the banks."

"While MERS stipulates that the servicers must convey the promissory notes to MERS, it appears they didn’t do that in all or even most cases, and the underlying paperwork could be lost."

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Also, when the mortgages were bundled in the securitization process, I think the "loss of paperwork" makes them in violation of Trust law, and the tax treatment they receive.

It looks like a mess, and the "robo-signing" used to "fix" it is another story altogether.

cedar 

Not all OWS protestors live in tents in Zaccotti park, only a tiny minority. Cold weather will be an issue, but not a big one. With $500,000 in the bank and about 100k pouring in every week, a lot of momentum. Good luck to them, about time someone stood up for the 99%.

What? money in the bank? So do you think they have a account at one of the banks they are protesting?

Wonder if they are paying taxes? if not they should be. To my knowledge they are not a non-profit therefore they should be paying taxes. After all they should pay there fair share too!!

500,000 is nice piece of change. Under the obama tax code they are considered rich. In which case they should be taxed more!

Kinda of catch 22... How do you protest the rich without becoming rich yourself? It appears they are well on their way at failing at this too.

Did you hear they are paying bums to protest? 10 bucks a hour! They might even hire you Zondor!


SD

Video proof of what happened to Scott Olsen, the man critically injured by police at an Occupy protest:



I'm also attaching the mp4 video to this post.

Mike

Quoting 

From yesterday in New York, which people keep trying to tell me is full of Marxists and Communists, with the entire protest run by George Soros and kicks out anyone who actually makes sense.

But The News Said They're All Marxists? in [Market-Ticker]

Quoting 

Rachel Maddow Makes Sense?! I must be seeing and hearing things - both at once. I've never watched this show as my first reaction when someone has it on is to immediately be compelled to stimulate the economy (to replace my smashed television set.) But this is a watershed moment. Really.

Rachel Maddow Makes Sense?! in [Market-Ticker]

Big Mike 

Video proof of what happened to Scott Olsen, the man critically injured by police at an Occupy protest: I'm also attaching the mp4 video to this post. Mike

Great video Mike. Lets look this guys mistakes:

• The guy was standing between the barricades, a place where he not supposed to be! These barricades are there for a reason!
• He was standing 5 feet from people with guns! As the video pointed out, when you stand too close to guns you tend to get shot!
• After the first shot was fired, he did not duck. Interesting that a veteran of a war did not duck when shots were fired.

This video should sent out to all other protestors on “what not to do at a protest”. I wonder if this guy was even a vet. He didn’t even duck when the first shot was fired. Probably a homeless guy dressed up as a vet. Either that or he was higher than the profits of the banks they are protesting.

I have to laugh. You guys are trying to make a hero out of idiot.


SD

Quoting 

Great video Mike. Lets look this guys mistakes: The guy was standing between the barricades, a place where he not supposed to be! These barricades are there for a reason! He was standing 5 feet from people with guns! As the video pointed out, when you stand too close to guns you tend to get shot! After the first shot was fired, he did not duck. Interesting that a veteran of a war did not duck when shots were fired. This video should sent out to all other protestors on “what not to do at a protest”. I wonder if this guy was even a vet. He didn’t even duck when the first shot was fired. Probably a homeless guy dressed up as a vet. Either that or he was higher than the profits of the banks they are protesting. I have to laugh. You guys are trying to make a hero out of idiot.

I have to cry that an adult human being can think like this. Very sad. Or maybe deliberate provocation.

When the City of Oakland is sued, we'll see if this proves to be a durable defense argument.

Quoting 

The cops have been trying to suppress dissemination of video evidence of their unlawful behavior as well. So far Google (which owns Youtube) is refusing at least some of the removal requests, although the most-recent report pre-dates these protests. Now why would the authorities want video documentation of their lawless behavior removed from view, eh? "Freedom of the Press", right? Uh huh... just like all the "mainstream media" reports of the protesters all being hippies and Communists are true.... right? .... (Karl Denninger)

Right, they are doing that to protect the privacy of the demonstrators so that people don't see that the demonstrators are idiots

https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=196695

Zondor 

I have to cry that an adult human being can think like this. When the City of Oakland is sued, we'll see if this proves to be a durable defense argument.

Attached is your box of tissue.

if they do sue it proves they can not take responsibility for their own actions.

SD

I think the OWS may only be about Wall St peripherally. It may be more about equal justice (of lack of it) under the law. The way the polticians/courts treat robo-signing will be telling. It doesn't matter if you believe those being foreclosed on are all deadbeats - perjuring the court system is not the approach to take.

The protests look more to be about the tendency that people/companies who have lots of money having more influence to turn government in their direction, and visa versa in a feedback loop.

I would agree that protestors might be better served protesting in D.C., but advocates for that never mention that they would not be going there to demand government keep it's hands off Wall St. Maybe the Tea Party would, but not OWS people. So advocating they march on D.C. to change D.C.'s approach would likely bring more regulation, not less.

Also, as far as location, there are enough people who move back and forth between business to lobbying firms to DC anyway.

The former top bank regulator/investigator/prosecutor who put thousands of banksters in jail after the S and L fiasco....

Bill Black @ #occupywallstreet on Arresting Banksters - YouTube

Since rampant runway FRAUD caused the mess we are in, the Hands Off Wall Street approach may not be the best, since it is guaranteed to lead to a repetition of the same behavior. That is, if we even ever get the chance to have a "next time".

This is what I posted on facebook under the Scott Olsen vid from BigMike, I downloaded to FB.

"Go OWS, (Tiberius) is behind you all the way. Down with the fascist police. But OWS you are looking the wrong way; it is the Obama Fannie Mae Adminstration that is in place to cover up the crimes of the Clinton Dream Team: Rubin, Greenspan & Summers; and the "3 who took down Wall Street": Raines, Howard & Johnson. WAKE UP OWS."

And I posted this as a reply to another story post.

"I am a liberal. A libertarian, the original liberal who wants liberty and prosperity for all. You must be talking about the progressive liberal that infests the Democratic party, who wants the opposite. Don't even get me started with the progressive conservative Republican party, who hand in hand with their DC counterpart has destroyed Amerika."

Remember this IMHO. That's all, not earth shaking. I share futures.io (formerly BMT) stuff on FB too. Just click "like".