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Iowa Judge Dismisses Class Action Suit Against MERS

An Iowa judge ruled Tuesday in favor of ""Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc."":http://www.mersinc.org/, (MERS) dismissing a class action suit against the company and other defendants.

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U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett dismissed a five-count suit on behalf of Plymouth County and all other similarly situated counties in the state of Iowa. The suit alleged civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment and sought relief under the provisions of Iowa's Recording Statutes.

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Bennett noted in his order that the plaintiffs' case relied on a requirement to record mortgage assignments, a requirement that does not exist under state law.

""It could not be plainer that none of the statutes upon which the County relies imposes a requirement on a party assigning a mortgage or receiving such an assignment to record the assignment,"" Bennett said.

Bennett concluded that Plymouth County and the other plaintiffs were seeking an extension of certain Iowa statutes that would change their meaning and dismissed the case.

Janis Smith, VP for corporate communications for MERS' parent company, MERSCORP, maintained that the MERS System fulfills the purpose of recording statutes.

""We have consistently held that there is no basis for these suits, and the Iowa court has affirmed this by pointing clearly to the absence of any statutory requirement to record mortgage assignments,"" Smith said. ""Iowa is the third state to rule on a claim like this, and all have granted our motions to dismiss.""

About Author: Tory Barringer

Tory Barringer began his journalism career in early 2011, working as a writer for the University of Texas at Arlington's student newspaper before joining the DS News team in 2012. In addition to contributing to DSNews.com, he is also the online editor for DS News' sister publication, MReport, which focuses on mortgage banking news.
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