For MERS members, April brings the notification from MERS identifying the number of your MINS on the MERS® System, when the member is named as servicer as of March 31st.
Here are some of the important numbers to remember. If your organization was identified as the servicer on less than 1000 MINS as of March 31st, you are required to reconcile your portfolio with the MERS system every quarter. If the number is 1000 or more, you must reconcile monthly.
In addition, you are then required to engage an independent 3rd party to conduct the mandatory annual MERS quality assurance review. The independent 3rd party must also complete and submit the MERS eAnnual Report form by December 31st of the calendar year.
If you must engage a 3rd party reviewer, you should be confident that the vendor is committed to reviewing and testing all MERS processes, procedures, and transactions utilized by the member to meet the requirements outlined in the MERS eQA Plan and the MERS Procedures Manual.
The annual review process should incorporate an examination of your organization’s current MERS policies and procedures, the identification of any gaps or deficiencies that can be remedied prior to testing, and then a complete testing of the remediated procedures. The review should also include an examination of all forms of recordable documents executed by the organization to ensure compliance with the standards for MERS verbiage.
A complete and thorough review takes planning and preparation. The eAnnual report can be filed any time after MERS publishes the form for the current year. So, if your organization is required to engage a 3rd party reviewer, now is the time to start the process to avoid a year-end crunch.
I wouldn’t tell you this if I couldn’t help you with this. If you have some questions or need help with your review reach out to me and we can get you on the path to a successful MERS review.