Excessive Attorney Mortgage Fees: "I Almost Lost My Home"

Quincy, FLAnnie Green was forced into bankruptcy two years ago, mainly because of excessive attorney fees she had to pay when [MERS] took over her mortgage.

"My first home was destroyed by a storm in 1998 and I got a mortgage through FEMA a year later to purchase this home," says Annie. "Small Business Administration, a government agency, helped me with a low interest rate."

But about two years later, Aurora Loan Services took over the mortgage. "I had no idea that the government could do that—sell my loan to a private company," Annie explains. "After they took over the loan (my mortgage) I ran into some financial problems. To make matters worse, Aurora put a lot of interest on my mortgage and for about six months I tried to get in touch with them and reach an agreement where we could settle on an amount that I could manage; I wanted to catch up on my payments.

"They would never give me an amount that I could manage to pay in order to catch up with my payments-- instead they ignored me. I believe they wanted to foreclose all along.

They tried to foreclose on my house in September of 2005. That is when I filed for bankruptcy—that was the only way I could stop foreclosure. Then I got a bill from Aurora and MERS for $7,000 in attorney's fees to do the foreclosure paperwork. Apparently in 2002 Aurora merged with MERS and now I had to pay MERS. I had never heard of this company until they sent the attorney's invoice. Even though they didn't foreclose, I still had to pay.

I called and sent letters to MERS, asking them to justify this excessive fee. They just said too bad, I have to pay it. In October, 2005 I made my first payment to MERS. I couldn't afford to go to a lawyer and that is how MERS gets you—they count on the fact that people like me can't afford legal counsel. And we just have to bite the bullet and pay. They are nothing but predators.

I will be making payments to MERS for a long time to come--I have to pay them through my bankruptcy agreement. Luckily I was able to keep my house but if MERS attorneys had their way, they would have taken it from me.

I feel let down by everyone. The government knows this is going on—why do they help us and then turn around and shaft us? I almost had my life ruined. This bankruptcy is hanging over me for 10 more years; I could sure use that $7,000 that went to these attorneys right about now."