don't walk away -- stay, just don't pay

[sniglet]

This whole issue with confused mortgage assignees (i.e. where there is no documentation proving the lender owns the mortgage) is fascinating. It occurs to me that this whole problem of murky assignees might even provide opportunity for a new business opportunity.

How about a company that purposefully digs around in public records to find improper mortgage assignee documentation, and then contacts the borrowers telling them that they no longer need to pay their mortgage?

Such a company could make money either by charging a fee to the borrower for saving them so much money (i.e. they no longer have to make mortgage payments) or by asking the lenders to pay them money for not contacting borrowers.

I suppose the second revenue generating idea could border on legality, so maybe this company could just focus on asking for a fee from the grateful borrowers.

Finding mortgages with invalid designees might not be too difficult when one really starts digging into it. It's not as if you have to go through every mortgage in America. Instead, just focus on the mortgage pools that changed hands a lot. You could even speed things up by starting with mortgage pools where invalid assignee issues have already arisen in a few cases. Where there is smoke, fire is sure to be nearby...

The big unknown with this whole idea is just how public all this assignee data is? If this information is not recorded in county, or state, record offices, then it might be difficult to determine. However, even this seeming stumbling block could even be an opportunity. The don't pay, just stay firm could simply identify mortgage pools with a high likelihood of murky mortgage ownership, and sign up mortgage holders on a contingency basis to take the lender to court to vacate the mortgage. So what if 30% or 50% of the cases taken to court prove to have valid assignees after all, if you get a half-year's worth of the previous mortgage payments from the borrower as part of the contingency, then that will more than make up for any of the losses from dry holes (to use an oil prospecting analogy).

Maybe this would be a great complimentary business for the you-walk-away guys?