mr. kowalski? >> with regard to the issue of whether issue of -- issue of whether or not mers transparent -- mers is transparent, one of the things that are being asked is whether the investor guidelines have been seen. this is a service id from last week. the servicer is gmac mortgage. this investor has chosen not to display their information. for assistance, please contact the servicer. if you are trying to find out who don't -- who owns your loan from the mers system, you cannot do it anymore. >> with all due respect, the state of maine is one of the first state supreme courts to address the legitimacy of mers' right to foreclose. it says they have no right to foreclosed mortgages. there has been a number of lower-level trials that are going both ways. when he suggests that 46 states have blessed the concept of mers our closing on mortgages, i suggest he is not be accurate. >> your silence is not pulling me one bit. -- is not fooling me one bit. >> the emphasis has been on recording and assignme

mr. kowalski. >> i read for a week that treasury out-sourced an opinion letter to a banking law firm to issue an opinion as to whether or not the hardest hit funds could go to legal aid groups and h.u.d. counselors to assist with foreclosure prevention and not surprisingly the banking law firm gave -- i'm not sure why the treasury lawyers couldn't do this work, but the banking law firm gave the opinion to treasury it couldn't. of course it can. the only system we've been able to develop in florida, at least, is a cooperative agreement between the legal services groups, h.u.d. counselors, who are properly aware of what's going on with these loan mod fantastics, and pro bono lawyers working in cooperation with the judiciary. the florida stream court traded the entire judicial foreclosure system for example. it needs to be strengthened, not abandoned. it is not voluntary. it is tied to t.a.r.p., it was always tied to t.a.r.p., and h.u.d. regulations make it clear it is tied to t.a.r.p. at the end of the day, the servicers are all regulated by the federal government. the servicers make all of the

mr. james kowalski. he specializes in consumer protection litigation. mr. kowalski serve as an assistant state attorney for florida from 1989 until 1996 where he prosecuted public corruption, sex crimes, and homicides. he is a graduate of the university of california at berkeley and at the university of san francisco's school of law. mr. kowalski also brings the perspective of having practiced in florida, one of the states, like my state of georgia, which has been hardest hit by the ongoing foreclosure crisis. he has also been on the forefront of the foreclosure documentation scandal. welcome, sir. >> is mr. thomas cox. he has been a lawyer for more than 40 years and is currently a program coordinator at the main attorney savings home project. it is jointly sponsored by the pinetree legal assistance. he brings a unique perspective. while the currently represents homeowners facing foreclosure, he used to represent letters seeking to foreclose. i think is perspective will be particularly interesting on the foreclosure documentation issues that we are consideri