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Mealey's Mortgage Lending

  • July 01, 2020

    High Court Denies Review In Service Members’ Class Action Suit Over Foreclosures

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by service members who asserted that a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel erred when affirming the dismissal of their class action lawsuit accusing their mortgage lenders of violating the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (SCRA) when foreclosing on their properties claim (Steven Fodge, et al. v. Trustmark National Bank, et al., No. 19-1270, U.S. Sup.).

  • June 30, 2020

    High Court Denies Review Of Ruling Finding Foreclosure Counterclaim Timely

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 denied a woman’s petition seeking review of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming summary judgment in favor of a lender and loan servicer that concluded that their counterclaim for judicial foreclosure was timely because it was tolled by the plaintiff’s filing for bankruptcy (ShaRon D. Rose v. Select Portfolio Servicing LP, et al., No. 19-1035, U.S. Sup.).

  • June 29, 2020

    Judge Refuses To Consider Disputed Documents, Denies Dismissal Of Foreclosure Suit

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts on June 24 denied dismissal of a pro se plaintiff’s lawsuit accusing a mortgage lender and loan servicer of breaching the mortgage by failing to meet face to face before initiating foreclosure proceedings, holding that he would not consider disputed documents submitted by the defendants (Cherly Thevenin v. M&T Bank Corp., et al., No. 19-11570-NMG, D. Mass., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111104).

  • June 29, 2020

    9th Circuit Finds Freddie Mac, Loan Servicer’s Quiet Title Action Timely

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 25 affirmed a ruling awarding summary judgment to a loan servicer and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) in a quiet title action over the foreclosure sale of Las Vegas property, holding that the cause of action was subject to the Federal Foreclosure Bar’s six-year statute of limitations because the claim sounds in contract (M&T Bank, et al. v. SFR Investments Pool 1 LLC, et al., No. 18-17395, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 19935).

  • June 27, 2020

    Magistrate Judge Says RESPA Class Action Suit Should Survive Dismissal

    PHOENIX — A federal magistrate judge in Arizona on June 16 recommended denying a loan servicer’s motion to dismiss a class action suit accusing it of violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by failing to timely pay property taxes and using a borrower’s escrow funds to pay the penalty, finding that the suit sufficiently states claims for relief and that striking the class allegations would be premature (Richard J. Labrecque v. NewRez LLC, No. CV-19-00465-TUC-RCC, D. Ariz., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105623).

  • June 26, 2020

    Judge Stays Rather Than Dismisses Parallel Suit Challenging Foreclosure

    AKRON, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on June 22 stayed a woman’s lawsuit against her mortgage lender and loan servicer that accuses them of violating the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA), ruling that proceedings in a state court foreclosure action brought by the loan servicer years before the present suit was filed should reach its final disposition before the federal case should proceed (Magda Firestone v. CitiMortgage Inc., No. 19-cv-1539, N.D. Ohio, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108592).

  • June 26, 2020

    11th Circuit: Lender, Loan Servicers Precluded From Removing Third-Party Suit

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 24 overturned rulings denying remand of a couple’s third-party lawsuit against their mortgage lender and loan servicers and granting the third-party counterdefendants’ motion for summary judgment after finding that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. v. Jackson, 139 S. Ct. 1743, 204 L. Ed. 2d 34 (2019), replaced the precedent that allowed the lender and loan servicers to remove the action (Philip Bowling, et al. v. U.S. Bank N.A., et al., No. 17-11953, 11th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 19435).

  • June 24, 2020

    Judge Finds Banks Provided Borrower With Single Points Of Contact

    LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in Nevada on June 12 granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Wells Fargo Bank N.A. and U.S. Bank N.A., holding that the lenders provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that a borrower who claimed that his home was uninhabitable as a result of Chinese-made drywall and construction defects was twice assigned a single point of contact (SPOC) to help him with foreclosure prevention options (Michael Hill v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., et al., No. 18-cv-1350-MMD-BNW, D. Nev., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104073).

  • June 22, 2020

    Relators’ Disclosure Statements Protected From Disclosure, Judge Rules

    SHERMAN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on June 17 denied JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.’s motion to compel production of disclosure statements submitted to the government by four relators in a False Claims Act (FCA) suit accusing the lender of falsely certifying compliance with the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), holding that the documents are protected by the work product doctrine and that the bank failed to show that it has substantial need for the information (United States, ex rel. Michael Fisher, et al. v. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., No. 16-cv-395, E.D. Texas, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106564).

  • June 18, 2020

    Judge Adopts Recommendation To Grant Loan Server’s Motion For Judgment

    DALLAS — A federal judge in Texas on June 15 adopted a magistrate judge’s May 21 recommendation to grant a loan servicer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings on the ground that a man failed to sufficiently allege that he sustained damages for breach of contract and violation of the implementing regulation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) as a result of the servicers’ denial of his request for a loan modification (Eddie Mitchell Jr. v. Money Source Inc., No. 20-cv-277-M-BN, N.D. Texas, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104855).

  • June 15, 2020

    Deed Of Trust Did Not Incorporate Regulation X, Federal Judge Finds

    LYNCHBURG, Va. — A federal judge in Virginia on June 10 dismissed federal causes of action against a loan servicer and substitute trustee saying their foreclosure activities breached the terms of the deed of trust because they did not comply with the Reals Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and its implementing regulation, Regulation X, holding that the regulations were not incorporated into the deed (Josh McMichael, et al. v. Select Portfolio Servicing Inc., et al., No. 20-cv-00004, W.D. Va., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102133).

  • June 15, 2020

    RESPA Class Action Dismissed After Judge Finds Plaintiffs’ Claims Fail

    GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge in Maryland on June 10 dismissed a class action accusing Caliber Home Loans Inc. of violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by reporting negative information to credit agencies within 60 days of receiving a qualified written request (QWR) from two borrowers, finding that the plaintiffs’ letters did not qualify as QWRs under the statute (Rogers Morgan, et al. v. Caliber Home Loans Inc., No. 19-cv-2797-PX, D. Md., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101648).

  • June 08, 2020

    Panel Reverses Dismissal Of Suit To Allow Plaintiff To Plead Wrongful Foreclosure

    SAN DIEGO — A California appeals court panel on May 26 reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a borrower’s lawsuit against banks over their right to sell her house to recover on a delinquent mortgage loan, finding that her complaint asserts facts that could support a legal theory of recovery if leave to amend was granted (Nora Masoud v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., et al., No. D075582, Calif. App., 4th Dist., Div. 1, 2020 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 3224).

  • June 08, 2020

    Magistrate Judge Recommends Certifying Class For Settling Debt Collection Suit

    PORTLAND, Maine — A federal magistrate judge in Maine on June 3 recommended certifying a class for borrowers who claim that a loan servicer violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by attempting to collect payments on defaulted mortgage loans after the borrowers discharged the debt in bankruptcy, finding that het proposed class satisfies the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 (James F. Miller v. Carrington Mortgage Services LLC, No. 19-cv-00016-JDL, D. Maine, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97524).

  • June 08, 2020

    Couple’s Consumer Fraud Suit Over Loan Modification Dismissed By Judge

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on May 26 dismissed a couple’s lawsuit against Bank of America N.A. and Bank of New York Mellon, holding that the plaintiffs’ claims stemming from denials of their requests for a loan modification were untimely under the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act (ICFA) and because the couple could not establish an agency relationship between Bank of America and two other loan servicers (Timothy R. Tyler, et al. v. Bank of New York Mellon, et al., No. 19 CV 7863, N.D. Ill., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91267).

  • June 08, 2020

    Judge Certifies Class For Borrowers Claiming Kickback Scheme Violated RESPA

    BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland on May 21 certified a class for borrowers who claim that a title services company and a loan servicer violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by engaging in a kickback scheme that resulted in the overpayment for settlement services, finding that the class representative established standing to sue under Article III of the U.S. Constitution and that individual issues did not predominate over classwide allegations (Mary Edmondson, et al. v. Eagle National Bank, et al., No. SAG-16-3938, D. Md., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89690).

  • June 08, 2020

    Class Saying Title Servicer’s Kickback Scheme Violated RESPA Certified By Judge

    BALTIMORE — A class comprising borrowers who claim that they were overcharged for settlement and title services provided by Genuine Title LLC as a result of a kickback arrangement with Acre Mortgage & Financial Inc. in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) was certified by a federal judge in Maryland on June 2 after the judge found that individual questions did not predominate over classwide issues (Renita James v. Acre Mortgage & Financial Inc., No. SAG-17-1734, D. Md., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96633).

  • June 05, 2020

    Couple’s RESPA Claim Dismissed For Failure To Establish Damages

    WORCESTER, Mass. — A federal judge in Massachusetts on May 22 denied a majority of Wells Fargo Bank N.A.’s motion to dismiss a couple’s suit seeking to prevent foreclosure on their home but found that they failed to sufficiently state a claim under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) because they did not suffer actual damages as a result of the lender’s imposition of improper finance charges (John Canty, et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., No. 19-12472-TSH, D. Mass., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90329).

  • June 02, 2020

    Judge Trims Portion Of Woman’s Debt Collection Suit Against Loan Servicer

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — A federal judge in Georgia on May 28 awarded summary judgment to a loan servicer accused of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by changing the locks on her home after she defaulted on her mortgage, holding that the plaintiff did not present sufficient evidence showing that the defendant ordered the locks to be changed and that it could not be held liable for the actions of the party that did change the locks (Barbara R. Rusk v. Specialized Loan Servicing LLC, No. CV418-211, S.D. Ga., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93445).

  • June 01, 2020

    Suit Over Loan Servicer’s ‘Rambo-Style’ Collection Actions Survives Dismissal

    ABERDEEN, Miss. — A couple sufficiently stated that a loan servicer could be found liable for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) over its “Rambo-Style” collection activities and pattern of regularly purchasing lender protection insurance (LPI) and force-placed insurance policies to capitalize on inflated premiums, a federal judge in Mississippi ruled May 26 in denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss (Pamela D. Green v. Specialized Loan Servicing LLC, No. 19-cv-076, N.D. Miss., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91403).