Hartford Business Journal

4 Hartford Business Journal • February 29, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com w w w. H a r t f o r d B u s i n e s s . c o m (860) 236-9998 E D I T O R I A L Greg Bordonaro Editor, ext. 139 gbordonaro@HartfordBusiness.com Gregory Seay News Editor, ext. 144 gseay@HartfordBusiness.com Matt Pilon News Editor, ext. 143 mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com John Stearns Staff Writer, ext. 145 jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com Keith Griffin Digital Producer/Reporter, ext. 127 kgriffin@HartfordBusiness.com Stephanie Meagher Research Director Heide Martin Research Assistant B U S I N E S S Joe Zwiebel President and Publisher, ext. 132 jzwiebel@HartfordBusiness.com Donna Collins Associate Publisher, ext. 121 dcollins@HartfordBusiness.com Jessica Baker Office Manager, ext. 122 jbaker@HartfordBusiness.com Kristine Donahue Administrative Coordinator, Ext. 137 kdonahue@hartfordbusiness.com Amy Orsini Events Manager, ext. 134 aorsini@HartfordBusiness.com Christian J. Renstrom Advertising Director, ext. 126 crenstrom@HartfordBusiness.com David Hartley Sr. Accounts Manager, ext. 130 dhartley@HartfordBusiness.com William C. Lambot Sr. Accounts Manager, ext. 128 wlambot@HartfordBusiness.com John Vuillemot Sr. Accounts Manager, ext. 133 jvuillemot@hartfordbusiness.com Raki Zwiebel Credit and Collections Manager Valerie Clark Accounting Assistant/Office Manager Kim Vautour HR Director Gail Lebert Chair, Executive Advisory Board P R O D U C T I O N Lynn Mika Production Director/Marketing Coordinator, ext. 140 lmika@HartfordBusiness.com Christopher Wallace Art Director, ext. 147 cwallace@HartfordBusiness.com Peter Stanton CEO pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Joseph Zwiebel President & Group Publisher, ext. 132 jzwiebel@HartfordBusiness.com Mary Rogers Chief Financial Officer; mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are $84.95. To subscribe, visit HartfordBusiness.com, email hartfordbusiness@ cambeywest.com, or call (845) 267-3008. Advertising: For advertising information, please call (860) 236-9998. Please address all correspondence to: Hartford Business Journal, 15 Lewis Street, Suite 200, Hart ford CT 06103. News Department: If you have a news item: Call us at (860) 236-9998, fax us at (860) 570-2493, or e-mail us at news@HartfordBusiness.com Hartford Business Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials and in general does not return them to the sender. Hartford Business Journal (ISSN 1083-5245) is published weekly, 52 x per year — including two special issues in December — by New England Business Media LLC, 15 Lewis Street, Suite 200, Hartford CT 06103. Periodicals postage paid at Hartford, CT. Tel: (860) 236-9998 • Fax (860) 570-2493 Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Hartford Business Journal P.O. Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894 www.copyright.com Mortgage Filing Fees ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEANS BUSINESS. Energize Connecticut — Programs are funded by a charge on customer energy bills. Get up to speed on the latest Energize Connecticut efficiency solutions for businesses. As a facilities manager, you know your property owner doesn't look to you to just manage their building. They rely on you to help them make smart decisions that make the most of their budgets. Making energy efficiency a priority will help you maximize energy cost savings, building performance, comfort and indoor air quality. Whether you're managing a large-scale office complex or running a small neighborhood coffee shop, Energize Connecticut and Eversource can get you up to speed on the latest efficiency solutions and incentives. Energize Connecticut wants to help you make smart energy choices. We can guide you to the incentive and rebate solutions that fit your projects and can offset your equipment costs. From upgrading existing equipment to building and outfitting brand-new state-of-the-art facilities, energy-saving solutions not only save you money up front, they also boost your bottom line by reducing operating costs for years to come. Contractors—Learn about the latest energy-efficient technologies and building practices to help your clients make the most of their budgets. Find the latest energy efficiency solutions by calling 877-WISE-USE or visiting EnergizeCT.com/businesses challenges to Connecticut's statute. It wasn't the first MERS appeal the state's High Court heard. In 2011, the court sided with MERS in a case that questioned anoth- er financier's standing as a "nominee'' for a mortgage originated by a MERS-affiliated lender in a foreclosure proceeding. The Connecticut Fair Housing Center filed a "friend-of-the-court'' brief in support of the state's reasoning for imposing higher fees on MERS- related filings "because it was important the court hear from someone other than the indus- try,'' said Jeff Gentes, its managing attorney. Gentes said the mortgage industry, too, submitted an "amicus'' brief in support of MERS, that contained "over the top claims" that the existence and actions of MERS were good for lenders and for borrowers. Since MERS was formed two decades ago, he said, municipalities nationwide have seen their mortgage-filing revenue drop as more lenders signed on to have MERS be their nominees in monitoring and updating mort- gages and deeds as they are either paid off, foreclosed on or assigned to other lenders. With its 2013 statute raising filing fees sub- stantially on MERS, "Connecticut essentially said, 'you have to pay us essentially what you've not been paying us','' Gentes said. The Connecticut Mortgage Bankers Asso- ciation, the industry's primary in-state lobby, said the possibility of an appeal by MER- SCORP makes the long-term impact of the state High Court ruling uncertain. Moreover, the mortgage bankers group does "not expect any increase in closing costs for borrowers because the law imposing the higher fees has been in place here in Connecti- cut since July 2013,'' association Executive Director Barbara Goodrich said via email. Goodrich declined further comment. Joseph Yenouskas, a Washington-D.C. law- yer with law firm Goodwin Procter, which coun- sels financial institutions, said he is unaware of any other state with a MERS filing-fee statute like Connecticut's. Two states, Texas and Min- nesota, actually have statutes that ease the way for MERS' filings there, Yenouskas said. Asked whether other states might use Connecticut's statute as a template for estab- lishing their own MERS filing-fee schedules, Yenouskas said, "It's always very difficult to predict what a state legislature might do.'' "MERS had strong arguments,'' he said. "I know the Connecticut court didn't accept them, but they were strong arguments.'' n The Connecticut Supreme Court case is MERSCORP Holdings Inc. v Malloy et al_ 2016-sc19376.

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