A Reno law firm recently filed suits against MERS, (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) in both Nevada and California. The suits allege that MERS and dozens of lenders associated with MERS have defrauded the government of recording and filing fees. Courts have repeatedly ruled against MERS , finding that it has no standing in the foreclosure proceedings because they have no particular interest in the outcome of any particular case. (MERS does not benefit if the loan gets paid off.) Consequently, they are involved, merely to facilitate the lenders in avoiding recording and filing fees.
MERS was originally created to assist the lenders with their record keeping but has evolved as the main entity pursuing foreclosures. the majority of trust deeds show MERS as one of the beneficiaries of the mortgage.
This has previously been discussed here, here and here.