Diary: Mercy me! What is MERS?

For the first time in the nation's history, there is no longer an authoritative, public record of who owns land in each county." -- University of Utah law professor Christopher Peterson

There is an unbelievable scandal in the making that threatens to subvert our four-century-old method for guaranteeing a fundamental building block of the American republic--property ownership.

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Like a babe in the woods, I'm begging OEN members to enlighten me. We bought our house in 1977 and I sold it in 1999. both times for cash. Even so we paid for a title search, being from out of state and careful with our money. End of story. I took the cash and was glad to avoid lawn mowing and leaf raking. But bubbles are bursting and I am curious as to why some people don' have proof of what they own--or owe.

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Alternet writes on the problem:

Property Rights
By Yasha Levine, AlterNet
Posted on December 16, 2010, Printed on December 22, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/149189/

Apparently this is an introduction to what has become known as ForeclosureGate. And it is alleged to be a political and economic ticking time bond.

Can some members research this phenomenon? If there's a snake in the grass where should we best go for snake hunting?

Thank you.