The “Requirements for all Recordable MERS Documents” subsection of the MERS® System Procedures Manual – Release 26.0 (pg. 189 – 190) requires that MERS must be appropriately referenced in the following ways on security instruments:
- Mortgagee (if the instrument is a mortgage)
- Beneficiary (if the instrument is a deed of trust; exceptions apply to Oregon, Montana, and Washington)
- Grantee (if the instrument is a security deed)
- Holder
- Lienholder
After auditing our security instruments to ensure compliance with such provisions, we will be modifying the following documents to refer to MERS as set forth above:
- GA Security Deed FHA (Cx371)
- HELOC Mortgage – MN (Cx1380)
- MS Deed of Trust (Cx334)
- MS Deed of Trust Second (Cx492)
- HELOC Deed of Trust – MS (Cx3033)
- HELOC Mortgage – NJ (Cx1359)
- VA Deed of Trust (Cx354)
- VA Deed of Trust FHA (Cx407)
- VA Deed of Trust Second (Cx512)
- HELOC Deed of Trust – VA (Cx1335)
- VT Mortgage FHA (Cx409)
For the Mississippi and Virginia instruments, we will be referring to MERS as the “Grantee/Beneficiary” due to state law requirements which require that the grantees of the security be referred to as such in the security instruments (see Miss. Code Ann. § 89-5-24[2][a] & Va. Code Ann. § 17.1-223[A]).
These changes will take effect on November 26, 2014. If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please contact Client Support at 1.800.497.3584.
November 19, 2014
DR 157423
Update:
We will also be updating the reference to the “Grantee” before the Definitions/Recital sections in the MERS-version of our Missouri security instruments to refer to “Grantee/Beneficiary,” due to MERS’ requirements and the provisions of Mo. Stat. Ann. § 59.310(2). These documents are:
- MO Deed of Trust (Cx333)
- MO Deed of Trust (FHA) (Cx386)
- MO Deed of Trust Second (Cx491)
- HELOC Deed of Trust – MO (Cx1355)
December 4, 2014
DR 161476