First e-Note Registered on MERS

MERS has reported the registration of the first electronic promissory note on the MERS eRegistry.The MERS registration, by 1st Advantage Mortgage LLC on July 23, makes the eNote "the first truly uniform electronic note that can be bought and sold on the secondary mortgage market," MERS said. It ensures that only 1st Advantage is recognized as the owner, and offers investors confidence that they can gain the benefits of buying the eNote while maintaining "holder in due course" status. "This technological advancement will dramatically change the way we do business," said Paul Lueken, president of 1st Advantage. ".... Electronic closing packages will allow us to be more efficient in getting closing documents to the title companies, and the cost of copying and shipping loan documents will be eliminated." The eNote and the closing documents were electronically signed at a standard settlement conference in the offices of Chicago Title, and the electronic closing was accomplished using patent-pending technology developed by Document Processing Systems of Novi, Mich., MERS said.