Landmark National Bank v. Kesler is a Kansas Supreme Court case involving the standing, rights, and interests of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS).
The decision also addressed the role MERS plays in clouding the ownership of the promissory note and title to the property.
Subsequently, Kesler secured a secondary mortgage for the same property from Millenia Corporation and that loan was later sold to Sovereign Bank.
[1] The Kansas Supreme Court went on to cite several other case across the nation and stated: "When the role of a servicing agent [MERS] acting on behalf of a mortgagee is thrown into the mix, it is no wonder that it is often difficult for unsophisticated borrowers to be certain of the identity of their lenders and mortgagees."
2007) and then cited the Supreme Court of New York (Kings County) that said: "[T]he practices of the various MERS members, including both [the original lender] and [the mortgage purchaser], in obscuring from the public the actual ownership of a mortgage, thereby creating the opportunity for substantial abuses and prejudice to mortgagors .