UPDATE: Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) has released a statement in regards to JPMorgan Chase's earlier announcement that it was no longer using MERS: "JPMorgan Chase is a valued member of MERS. They currently have their correspondent loans registered on the MERS System. They do not, nor have they ever, registered their retail loans on the MERS System. As members of MERS and for loans registered on the MERS System, banks have the option of foreclosing in their own name, or MERS foreclosing for them. JPMC has chosen to foreclose in their own name, which is a common decision that is allowed under the structure of MERS."
JPMorgan Chase has announced that it is no longer using the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) due to the fact that there are issues with the system properly being able to prove the ownership of mortgages. The company's exit from the MERS comes on the heels of its announcement that is has increased its foreclosure freeze to 41 states and 115,000 loan files. The foreclosure suspension was due to the emergence of the "robo-signer" issue where tens of thousands of important foreclosure proceeding documents were singed off on without proper review and notarization.
"With millions of Americans facing foreclosure, every element of the housing finance system is under tremendous strain," said R.K. Arnold, president and chief executive officer of MERS. "What we’re seeing now is that the foreclosure process itself was not designed to withstand the extraordinary volume of foreclosures that the mortgage industry and local governments must now handle.
In the third quarter of 2010, Chase's net income was $4.42 billion, an increase of 23 percent from $3.59 billion in the third quarter of 2009. Earnings per share were $1.01, compared to $0.82 in the prior-year quarter. In the preceding second quarter, JPMorgan's net income reached $4.80 billion or $1.09 per share.
“Our third-quarter net income of $4.4 billion was the result of the good underlying performance of our businesses," said JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon. "The Investment Bank delivered solid earnings while maintaining its number one ranking in Global Investment Banking Fees. Retail Financial Services reported strong mortgage loan production. Card Services increased sales volume by seven percent compared with the prior year, and positive credit trends assisted in delivering improved results. Commercial Banking reported record revenue, while Asset Management had strong net inflows of $38 billion this quarter.”
The company stated that it expects mortgage credit losses to remain at high levels for the next several quarters, and those losses could trend higher if economic conditions worsen. The company also said that it is on track to add 10,000-plus employees in the U.S. this year.
For more information, visit www.mersinc.org or www.jpmorganchase.com.
