JONESBORO – Another southern Illinois county is suing a collection of national banks and mortgage companies for using an electronic mortgage registry they say sidesteps recording fees the county should have been collecting while leaving many residents wrongly in the dark about who holds their mortgages.

Union County State's Attorney Tyler Edmonds, who filed the lawsuit in March, argues that using the database system called the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., also known as MERS, circumvents state property-recording laws. MERS tracks the transfers of loans between lenders and Wall Street securities entities, thereby eliminating the public's ability to see the purchase and sale of properties through the traditional public records system.

Bobby Toler, the county clerk, figures Union County has lost at least $35,000 in unpaid fees by the registry.