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The court of appeals affirmed the district court's decision, stating, "As long as the parties involved in the sale are MERS members [as are most large financial institutions], MERS remains the mortgagee of record (thereby avoiding recording and other transfer fees that are otherwise associated with the sale) and continues to act as an agent for the new owner of the promissory note." Writing on behalf of the panel, Circuit Judge Helene N. White wrote, "It is undisputed that the Kentucky recording statutes … do not expressly provide the clerks with a cause of action . . . . Clerks are not within the class of persons the Kentucky legislature intended to protect under the recording statutes." In a statement, Jason Lobo, director for corporate communications at MERS, said, "The statutes' intent is to assure that liens are discharged when an underlying loan is paid off, to give subsequent purchasers and lenders notice of recorded liens, and to allow creditors to give notice of their secured interest in the property. MERS' business model is consistent with these purposes." MERS has won similar recording fee cases in Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois. rank: 22 Foreclosure Rate January 2013 3.67% Unemployment Rate 2.87% 5.9% year ago 3.73% 3.46% 7.0% year-over-year change -1.7% -17.1% -15.7% Top County ST. Bernard PariSh 90+ Day Delinquency Rate January 2013 6.34% Foreclosure Rate 6.22% year ago 6.55% 7.18% year-over-year change -3.1% -13.4% Top Core-Based Statistical area BaSTroP, La 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate January 2013 7.32% 4.51% year ago 6.10% 6.44% year-over-year change 20.0% note: -30.1% The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the January 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary January 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. 94 Maryland rank: 5 90+ Day Delinquency Rate rank: 9 Foreclosure Rate January 2013 2.85% Unemployment Rate 5.55% 7.3% 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate January 2013 4.39% 2.66% 6.7% year ago 5.74% 7.4% 4.94% 3.83% year-over-year change 6.8% Unemployment Rate 3.98% year ago 6.8% year-over-year change -3.3% -1.4% -11.0% 4.1% Top County DorChesTer CounTy -1.5% Top County WashingTon CounTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate 90+ Day Delinquency Rate January 2013 4.98% 11.47% 5.49% 7.50% year ago 3.91% year ago 12.46% 7.10% year-over-year change 27.2% 5.61% year-over-year change -8.0% Top Core-Based statistical area -22.7% 33.7% Top Core-Based statistical Area LeWisTon-auBurn, Me 90+ Day Delinquency Rate CAMBriDge, MD Foreclosure Rate 90+ Day Delinquency Rate January 2013 3.82% 7.20% 5.49% 7.50% year ago 7.08% 7.10% year-over-year change 7.9% Foreclosure Rate January 2013 year ago 3.55% Foreclosure Rate January 2013 5.61% year-over-year change 1.7% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the January 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary January 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. IN THE NEWS Louisiana 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Maine Maine Experiencing 'Dangerous Foreclosure Flare-ups' Foreclosure activity in Maine soared 408 percent in February compared to the same period in 2012, RealtyTrac reported last month. Between January and February of this year, the foreclosure tracking company recorded a 44 percent increase in filings in the state. RealtyTrac warns that while the nation's "foreclosure inferno" appears to be contained, "dangerous foreclosure flare-ups" are erupting in states where lengthy court proceedings have delayed the process and contributed to significant case backlogs. Maine is one of those lengthy judicial foreclosure states. A total of 503 homes in the state were hit with a foreclosure filing in February. Of those, 360 were lis pendens, signaling the borrower had slipped into default status; 87 were notices of foreclosure sale; and 56 were completed foreclosures, adding to the state's inventory of REO homes. -22.7% 33.7% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the January 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary January 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. IN THE NEWS Home Prices Show Small Gains in Baltimore as Days-onMarket Decline Home prices continue to rise in Maryland, especially in Baltimore. At the beginning of the year the state ranked No. 27 on Realtor.com's list of highest home prices in metropolitan areas; it ended February at No. 25. The median home price in Baltimore was $240,000 in February, which is a 0.2 percent increase from a year earlier and a 0.84 percent increase from the previous month. On average, Baltimore homes stayed on the market for 97 days in February before they were sold. Compared to a year earlier, days-on-market are down 19.16 percent and compared to the previous month they're down 11.82 percent. This trend is in line with national data, which shows days-onmarket are declining 9.26 percent monthover-month.