Thursday, April 26, 2012

Nueces County approves contract with law firms to file suit against MERS over unpaid filing fees


—The Nueces County Commissioners Court approved a contract with two law firms to file a lawsuit over hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid filing fees.

Attorneys fees to the law firms — San Antonio-based Watts Guerra Craft and Corpus Christi-based Hilliard Muñoz Gonzales — won't be paid unless the county is able to recover the fees. However, the county will be required to reimburse the firms if they are awarded less than 19 percent of the fees.

In December, County Attorney Laura Jimenez estimated the uncollected fees related to the processing of documents at between $400,000 and $800,000. She said Wednesday the county hasn't finished going through related paperwork and the estimate could be low.

Dallas County filed a lawsuit in September accusing Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems of falsely listing itself as the beneficiary or lender in transactions. The U.S. District Court recently gave Harris and Brazoria counties permission to join it. Jimenez told the court Nueces County would file a separate lawsuit.


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