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Mealey's Mortgage Lending

  • May 14, 2021

    Credit Reporting Agency Granted Summary Judgment In Borrower’s FCRA Dispute

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on May 12 ruled that a borrower has failed to plead sufficient facts showing that a credit reporting agency (CRA) is liable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for inaccurately reporting the borrower’s mortgage as past due because no dispute of material fact exists as to whether there was an inactionable inaccuracy or whether the CRA’s reinvestigation of the borrower’s dispute was reasonable.

  • May 11, 2021

    Judge: Lender, Loan Servicer Must Defend RESPA, Other Claims In Borrower Suit

    COLUMBIA, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee on March 7 ruled that a mortgage lender and loan servicer are not entitled to judgment on the pleadings regarding claims for breach of contract and violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) brought by borrowers who alleged that the defendants failed to make a decision on their loan modification application within the statutorily required timeframe before foreclosing on their home because a “factual determination” is required to determine the actual date their application was completed.

  • May 11, 2021

    Borrowers Have Standing To Sue Over Failure To Timely Record Mortgage Discharge

    NEW YORK — A federal district court did not err in denying a mortgage loan servicer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a class action lawsuit brought by borrowers who alleged that the loan servicer violated New York’s mortgage-satisfaction-recording statutes when it waited nearly a year to record the satisfaction of mortgage documents with the county clerk’s office as required because the borrowers had the necessary standing to bring their claims, a divided Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled May 10 in affirming and remanding.

  • May 07, 2021

    Borrowers Sufficiently Plead RESPA Damages In 3rd Bite At The Apple

    TAMPA, Fla. — After twice finding that borrowers failed to sufficiently allege that they suffered any damages as a result of their loan modification provider’s actions as required to state a valid claim for violations for the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), a federal judge in Florida on May 6 ruled that the borrowers have now properly pleaded their RESPA damages requirement in their second amended complaint.

  • May 06, 2021

    Claims Relating To Servicer’s Placement Of Loan In Forbearance Dismissed

    PRESCOTT, Ariz. — A federal judge in Arizona on May 3 granted a mortgage loan servicer’s motion to dismiss a borrower’s claims stemming from the loan servicer’s alleged placement of the borrower’s mortgage loan into an “undisclosed forbearance” pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) in violation of state and common law, ruling that the borrower failed to sufficiently state a claim for relief.

  • May 05, 2021

    State Supreme Court Precedent Deemed Properly Considered In Foreclosure Suit

    HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut trial court properly considered the reasoning of the state Supreme Court in its holding in U.S. Bank National Association v. Blowers when it granted summary judgment in favor of a mortgage loan servicer in a strict foreclosure action, a Connecticut appeals panel ruled May 4 in affirming.

  • April 30, 2021

    FCRA Suit Gets 2nd Life After Summary Judgment Ruling Is Partially Overturned

    ATLANTA — A federal district court err in determining that a borrower’s claims that credit reporting agency (CRA) Experian Information Solutions Inc. violated provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to undertake all reasonable procedures in investigating the accuracy of the borrower’s claim that his former mortgage debt was improperly appearing on his credit report and to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation of the borrower’s dispute, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled April 28 in partially reversing the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the CRA.

  • April 30, 2021

    Panel:  Court Properly Determined Guidelines Loss In Mortgage-Fraud Suit

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal district court did not clearly err in determining the guidelines loss attributable to a man charged with orchestrating a nearly $2 million mortgage loan fraud scheme, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled April 28, rejecting each of the man’s arguments to the contrary.

  • April 28, 2021

    Borrower Files Class Action Against Mortgage Loan Originator Over Data Breach

    PHOENIX — An originator and provider of residential mortgage loans acted with negligence in failing to properly secure the personal identifying information (PII) of its customers, which allowed an unknown third party to electronically access the PII, exposing the customers to damages and the risk of identity theft and cybercrimes, a borrower alleges in a class action complaint filed April 26 in Arizona federal court.

  • April 26, 2021

    U.S. Supreme Court Declines Review Of FHFA Separation Of Powers Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 26 declined review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) and M&T Bank had standing to bring a quiet title action against a company that purchased property in a foreclosure sale because Freddie Mac was standing in the shoes of its conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

  • April 22, 2021

    Counties Ask Judge To Deny Amendment Request In Discriminatory Lending Suit

    BALTIMORE — Two Maryland counties on April 2 asked a federal judge in Maryland to reject a motion filed by Wells Fargo & Co. and two of its related entities to amend his ruling substantially denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss to allow them to certify for immediate appeal the question of whether the counties sufficiently alleged a direct relationship between their alleged injuries stemming from the defendants’ alleged discriminatory lending practices as required to meet the proximate cause requirement of the Fair Housing Act (FHA).

  • April 22, 2021

    9th Circuit To Rehear Appeal In City Of Oakland’s Discriminatory Lending Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 20 ruled that it will rehear an appeal in a Federal Housing Act (FHA) lawsuit brought by the city of Oakland, Calif., against Wells Fargo & Co. and Wells Fargo Bank over the lenders’ alleged discriminatory lending practices.

  • April 20, 2021

    VA Regulations Did Not Create Conditions Precedent In Lender’s Foreclosure Suit

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida trial court did not err in ruling that a borrower’s cited portions of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs regulations in his answer to a lender’s complaint seeking foreclosure on real property did not create a conditions precedent to foreclosure because the borrower failed to meet his burden of showing that the VA regulations created such conditions precedent, a Florida appellate panel ruled April 16 in affirming in part, reversing in part and remanding.

  • April 20, 2021

    Lost Promissory Note Did Not Deprive Mortgage Assignee Of Right To Foreclose

    FRANKFORT, Ky. — A state trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to a promissory note holder in a foreclosure action because although the note holder was not in possession of a lost promissory note, it was still entitled to enforce the note under Kentucky law, a Kentucky Court of Appeals panel ruled April 16 in affirming.

  • April 19, 2021

    Man Found To Lack Standing To Bring RESPA, Contract Claims In Mortgage Dispute

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts on April 14 granted summary judgment in favor of a mortgage lender and loan servicer on claims that they breached the terms of a bankruptcy reorganization plan and violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and state law, ruling that no genuine questions of material fact exist because the plaintiff was not named as a borrower in the mortgage.

  • April 15, 2021

    Judge:  Loan Assignee Failed To Show It Held Mortgage Note Before Foreclosing

    PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon on April 12 declined to grant summary judgment in favor of defendants in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lawsuit, ruling that defendants failed meet their burden of showing that no questions of fact remains as to whether they held a mortgage note when they initiated foreclosure proceedings on a borrower’s home after defaulting on the note.

  • April 14, 2021

    Borrower’s FRCA Claim Sufficient To Avoid Dismissal At This Point, Judge Rules

    RICHMOND, Va. — A federal judge in Virginia on April 12 denied a loan servicer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a lawsuit alleging that a loan servicer and three credit reporting agencies (CRAs) violated provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to investigate a borrower’s dispute showing a negative report on his credit report, ruling that although the borrower’s allegations in support of his claims are scant, they are sufficient to survive dismissal at this stage of the litigation.

  • April 13, 2021

    Summary Judgment Motions Granted In Declaratory Relief Action Over Home Foreclosure

    HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on March 26 ruled that a mortgage loan servicer and its assignee are entitled to summary judgment on a borrower’s claims seeking to bar foreclosure on her property after she defaulted on her mortgage loan because the foreclosure is not barred by the statute of limitations.

  • April 12, 2021

    Settlement Agreement Results In Dismissal Of Borrowers’ TILA Rescission Suit

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington on April 9 issued an order dismissing a Truth in Lending Act (TILA) rescission lawsuit brought by borrowers against their lenders and others after the parties notified the judge that they had reached the terms of a settlement agreement.

  • April 12, 2021

    Court Had Jurisdiction In Foreclosure Action After Dissolving TRO, Panel Rules

    ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 9 affirmed a federal district court’s dismissal of a borrower’s lawsuit against his mortgage lender that sought to halt a foreclosure sale on the borrower’s property, ruling that the lower court had jurisdiction over the lawsuit after it dissolved a temporary restraining order (TRO) the borrower sought to halt the foreclosure sale.