Okay all. You need to get on the phones and send emails on this one ASAP.

This can not be passed. This can not be the framework for things to come.

Spread the word! Email it, facebook it, digg it, stumble it, tweet it, repost it, etc.

If you live in Oregon, get over to the hearing and make some noise.

This is absolutely unacceptable!

A bid by major financial institutions to retroactively waive Oregon recording requirements blocking foreclosure sales appears in jeopardy but will get at least one more day, a legislative leader says.

The Oregon House Judiciary Committee today postponed until Wednesday a hearing on Senate Bill 519 which largely deals with publicly subsidized housing in foreclosure. But an amendment to that bill introduced last week would relieve lenders of ensuring a property's ownership history is properly recorded in public records before foreclosing outside a courtroom.

Committee co-chair Jeff Barker, D-Aloha, said after today's hearing that the committee supports the bill, which protects affordable housing financing in units under foreclosure. A "dash-six" amendment to the bill, allowing public agencies to buy subsidized housing in foreclosure, also garners support, he said.

But Barker said he did not find support to pass a "dash-seven" amendment put forth Thursday at the financial industry's request. That would rid the recording requirement that has hung up foreclosures across the nation involving the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS. Federal judges in Oregon have blocked such foreclosures, saying MERS failed to record them properly.

"From the people I've talked to, there's consensus to move the dash six amendments but not the dash sevens," Barker said.

Co-chair Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Thursday's amendment has drawn opposition from the National Association of Independent Title Agents and 90 percent of more than 900 readers voting over the weekend on an OregonLive.com poll.

Representatives of the Oregon Financial Services Association, the Northwest Credit Union Association and the Oregon Land Title Association support the bill, saying the fix is needed to remove a cloud on many foreclosure sales and lift the housing market. The American Land Title Association, Bank of America and other large banks own shares in MERS.

An affordable housing advocate today accused the financial industry holding the affordable housing bill hostage to fix MERS's legal problems.

"They did an end-run around a centuries-old land recording system guaranteeing that we know who owns the underlying IOU on our property," said Angela Martin, executive director of Economic Fairness Oregon. "They did an end-around around that and now it's backfiring and they want a do over."

-- Brent Hunsberger

Below are some reasons why this "FIX" is a bad idea...

Feel free to add your reasons as well...

The proposed amendment is a transparent attempt to legalize an illegal and highly profitable violation OR law after being "caught" by OR citizens and judges. The existing OR law is intended to protect property owners, especially important in states with a non-judicial foreclosure process MERS data is wholly unreliable The Hooker decision was not judicial activism from a rogue Oregon BK judge. Here are previous recent MERS smackdowns by other Oregon judges:

http://4closurefraud.org/2011/03/06/oregon-foreclosure-sales-stopped-after-judges-rulings/ Changing the current OR law to a MERS favorable position would not address the industry created clouded title problem for subsequent property owners or those with MERS satisfactions & thus does nothing to restore confidence in the authenticity of fraudulent property records. MERS is under investigation by US House, US Senate, federal banking regulators (FDIC, the Fed, OCC), MERS is the subject of countless civil lawsuits across the nation. MERS has a fraudulent corporate officer structure which has been thoroughly exposed, denounced, debunked, and discredited Loss of millions in recording revenue to counties. Oregon case study here: http://www.foreclosurehamlet.org/profiles/blogs/oregon-a-trio-of-floridian

Here are links to the reps...

Email addresses for each are on there individual pages...

Be sure to contact them on the issues...

House Judiciary Committee

Click here to return to individual Committee Pages

Committee Services Office:

900 Court St. NE, Room 453 Salem, Oregon 97301

Phone: 503-986-1813 Fax: 503-986-1814

Can't believe I put this post together while chillin (drinkin) at our local spot in So FL watchin the Heat game.

GO HEAT!

Proposed Amendments to a-Engrossed Senate Bill 519

Some rulings on why this "fix"

is being pushed

A number of federal court decisions in Oregon raise questions about the legality of hundreds of foreclosures in the state:

Burgett v. MERS, et al

Ekerson v. MERS, CitiMortgage Inc., et al

McCoy v. BNC Mortgage Inc., MERS, U.S. Bank, Finance America LLC, et al

Barnett v. Bac Home Loan Servicing LP, Federal National Mortgage Association Fka Fannie Mae, Rec on Trust Co

Rinegard-Guirma v. Bank of America, et al