Your call.I have scrapped millions of dollars of product on the POSSIBILITY that a single device could be defective....don't presume to lecture me on integrity.  

Whether a mtg was ever parked with MERS is of absolutely no concern, benefit, defect......it has no effect whatsoever.  

Now it could be that the OP is buying properties that have probate issues or some other title defects that are taking time but those should be conveyed to you very early in the process.My assumption is if these are small dollar deals.. ( and of course I have no way of knowing) they are just getting pushed to the bottom of the stack.

If the sellers failed to disclose a defect of that magnitude then you would have legal recourse.

One was huge, but needed massive work, the other two were old, but had no structural defects like the big house. 

Now here is a defect in their title.

If you purchased the title insurance for yourself (not just the bank) then they will have to defend you from any title defects and this should qualify as one of them.

Tierra,General rule is 70% of As Repaired Value  (ARV) minus cost to cure defects  (in your case 30k).

Can buyer go after it and ask for money to fix that defect ?

I did get a defective water heater initially, got it filled up to realize it didn't work...that was fun.