Is anybody following the litigation involving MERS (Mortgage Electronic Recording System) and county records? After hearing a presentation at the civil law seminar back in May, I started keeping tabs on this.

I know some of the larger counties have lawsuits going on (including one possible class-action), but I was curious what folks in some of the smaller counties think.

Back in May, a U.S. District Court heard a motion to dismiss the claims brought by Dallas and Brazoria Counties (named parties). The court dismissed the statutory and negligence claims, but denied the motion to dismiss on the claims for fraudulent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, conspiracy, piercing the MERS corporate veil, declaratory relief, and injunctive relief.

There was a meeting on June 15 in Grapevine, TX to meet with attorneys from other states to collaborate.

I am advising my county leaders to sit tight for the moment. I am still waiting to see if a class will ever be certified with the Dallas litigation. It seemed that Steve Malouf, who presented at the civil seminar, hinted that it would not be beneficial for each county to go out and get their own outside counsel until it was determined whether or not a class would be certified, at which point each Texas county could then decide to opt out or not.

Both the Dallas County and Bexar County lawsuits have class action certification motions pending. I am waiting to see if class action is granted before considering any individual action by Kerr County.

Last Thursday, the USDC in Dallas denied plaintiffs' request for class action status.

Here's the court order:

0212_Memo_Opinion_and_Order_on_Mtn_for_Class_Cert_and_Mtn_to_Strike.pdf (230 Kb, 14 downloads) class certification denial