This bit is slightly less removed from reality than the average SovCit rant. The collateral is the house, but the piece of paper (deed/lien) says who legally owns the house. Without that documentation, the bank wouldn’t accept the fact that a house merely exists, as collateral for the loan.
But like any good SovCit, they take the grain of truth and try to fill a canyon with it.
It’s even a bit more esoteric than that. Depending on the jurisdiction even the deed is worthless unless you registered it and/or gave adequate notice to anyone with a current or future interest in the property (newspaper announcement is a classic example). This is one of the many reasons that a County Register of Deeds is so important.