weighed in on the side of homeowners this week when he alleged the mortgage industry's nationwide recording system violates state law and leaves homeowners at risk of fraud and multiple debts.

In a case before the Washington Supreme Court, McKenna said that actions by the

. violate Washington's deed of trust and consumer protection laws. He said MERS has illegally deceived homeowners about the true owner of their mortgages and about its authority to foreclose and transfer deeds or loans.

"Stated succinctly, the use of MERS ... has brought chaos to the mortgage marketplace and stopped the efficient processing of foreclosures," McKenna said.

Earlier today, The Associated Press reported that

from individuals tied to Routh, Crabtree, Olsen and Northwest Trustee Services, Inc., firms that represent parties foreclosing on homeowners. McKenna, a Republican,

.

McKenna

Tuesday in a case

. Last year,

Washington's highest court decide whether MERS has standing to foreclose there and whether homeowners have any remedies against it.

A spokesperson for MERS said today that its role as "a mortgagee" has been upheld consistently by federal and state courts at every level.

"The MERS business model is legal in all 50 states," spokeswoman Janis Smith said in a statement. "Claims that MERS violates consumer protection statutes or harms consumers are without factual or legal merit."

The mortgage industry created MERS

to rapidly record the ownership of mortgages so they could be packaged and sold as securities.

Under the system, mortgage notes -- or loans -- are separated from the deed of trust. The loan goes on to be bundled with others and purchased by investors. MERS says it keeps a record of loan ownership.

But its standing has been challenged in states,

, and its recordkeeping also has been called into question. Oregon courts disagree on legal issues surrounding MERS but are months away from resolving their differences.

In the amicus brief, McKenna and assistant attorney general James Sugarman said MERS conceals the true owner of a home loan and damages "a free, fair and transparent mortgage marketplace."

He said the company commits a "classic" violation of consumer protection laws by making statements in mortgage documents that confuse the public about its identity, affiliation or status. "MERS' failure to accurately reveal the note holders and the chain of transfers remains one its most important legal failings," he said.

In the distant past, McKenna said, separating the deed and note caused some havoc for homeowners and lenders both. Now, he argues, ""what was once a sporadic problem has become a systemic and unmanageable one." Some parties have been unable to track the location of notes or trace its ownership, he said.

"Lost promissory notes may be commonplace," McKenna wrote. "This is alarming because the overwhelming majority of foreclosures never face judicial scrutiny to sort through ownership of the note."

McKenna said the MERS system also endangers past and present borrowers. Washington courts in the past have held that borrowers who pay off the wrong party risks being on the hook if another party asserts the same debt.

McKenna helped negotiate the recent

with the nation's five largest loan servicers. The settlement did not relieve MERS of any liability or legal action.