A Closer Look at MERS, the Industry’s Controversial Mortgage Clearinghouse

"Despite the fact that MERS keeps electronic records on about half of all home mortgages in the country, the system is hardly a household name. The New York Times published a lengthy piece about MERS over the weekend, the Washington Post has also written about it, as have ProPublica and other outlets. But given the many questions surrounding this creation of the mortgage banking industry, it’s worth reviewing what we know about what MERS was intended to do, how it works and why the controversy surrounding it has grown in the wake of the foreclosure scandal."