Mealey's Mortgage Lending
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December 14, 2023
Pretrial Conference Set In Suit To Halt Foreclosure After Claims Largely Dismissed
AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on Dec. 13 set an initial pretrial conference in a lawsuit by a Texas woman seeking to halt foreclosure of her home; the order came three weeks after the loan servicer’s motion to dismiss was granted, leaving only a portion of the plaintiff’s declaratory judgment claims.
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December 14, 2023
Class Claims Over Timeliness Of Mortgage Payments Partially Survive Dismissal
EUGENE, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon partially granted and partially denied dismissal of putative class claims under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RSPA) and Oregon law in a case accusing a mortgage servicer of incorrectly reporting a mortgagor’s payments as late and denied an alternative motion to strike the class allegations, finding that the request was filed too soon.
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December 14, 2023
11th Circuit: Mid-Foreclosure Escrow Statements Were Not Discrete FDCPA Violation
ATLANTA — A mortgagor’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claims against his mortgage servicer based on statements made by that company’s representative as part of a foreclosure action more than a year after it was first filed were time-barred as the statements were “not independently actionable” under the FDCPA, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled.
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December 13, 2023
Kansas Couple Ask 10th Circuit To Revive Claims Over Disputed Mortgage Status
DENVER — A Kansas husband and wife who allege in a case referred to as “unusual” and “strange” that they have a lien on their home while their loan servicers claim that they own the house free and clear filed a reply brief in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that summary judgment for the servicers must be reversed because a pretrial order that limited their claims and their Kansas Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) claim were subjected to “inappropriately strict construction” and the trial court “disregard[ed] . . . laws pertaining to the filing of documents necessary to affect title to real estate.”
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December 11, 2023
Mortgagors Tell U.S. High Court N.Y. Escrow Law Is Not Preempted By Federal Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New York’s escrow-interest law was wrongly found by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to be preempted by the National Bank Act (NBA) because the appellate panel’s test is “squarely reject[ed]” by 12 U.S. Code Section 25b, mortgagors argue in their petitioner brief filed Dec. 8 in the U.S. Supreme Court.
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December 08, 2023
Default Entered Against Mortgage Lender In Class Action Alleging Kickbacks
BALTIMORE — A federal court in Maryland entered default against a mortgage lender facing class claims that it engaged in an illegal kickback scheme in response to a judge’s Dec. 1 order indicating that the lender missed the deadline to obtain new counsel or indicate why default should not be entered against it.
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December 07, 2023
Court Dismisses Mortgage Borrower’s Suit Against Lender For Modification Dispute
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge on Dec. 6 docketed an order granting a mortgage borrower’s request to voluntarily dismiss her lawsuit accusing a lender of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by not contacting her for years after her loan went into default following a modification request, one day after the magistrate recommended dismissing her suit.
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November 29, 2023
On Remand, Parties Dispute Expert Exclusion Bids In RESPA Class Lawsuit
FRESNO, Calif. — Parties in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) class action involving captive reinsurance agreements are sparring in California federal court over expert testimony regarding whether the plaintiffs have standing under an economic harm theory.
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November 29, 2023
5th Circuit Dismisses Borrower’s Appeal Of Dismissal Of ECOA Suit
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 28 dismissed a borrower’s appeal challenging the dismissal of his lawsuit alleging that a lender violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) by denying him a mortgage loan based on an allegedly incomplete loan application, noting that the borrower failed to file his appellant brief on time.
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November 27, 2023
Condo Owner Dismisses Suit Against Mortgage Servicer After Settling FDCPA Claims
MIAMI — The owner of a condominium unit on Nov. 24 filed a notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice of its class action complaint alleging that a mortgage servicer violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and state laws by allegedly including excessive, unauthorized and fraudulent fees in a payoff quote, just days after the parties notified a federal court in Florida that they had reached a settlement in the case.
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November 21, 2023
Judge Denies Reconsideration Of Order Dismissing Remaining Claims Against Lenders
ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in Missouri has denied a motion to reconsider his order dismissing with prejudice the remaining claims against two mortgage companies asserted by self-represented litigants who alleged that one of the companies used bait-and-switch tactics to entice them into a loan forbearance program, reiterating his findings that the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) does not apply to the loan in question, that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) does not include a private right of action and that the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA) does not apply to one of the companies as it is regulated by the Missouri Division of Finance.
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November 21, 2023
Couple Sufficiently Alleges Facts To Support RESPA, Unfair Practices Claims
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge denied motions to dismiss filed by a mortgage lender and a realty company after determining that a couple has standing to allege that the companies engaged in an unlawful kickback scheme in which the realty company would steer all of its clients to the mortgage company for their loans and sufficiently allege facts in support of their claims for unfair trade practices and civil conspiracy.
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November 21, 2023
District Court Erred In Finding Credit Bureau Did Not Report Inaccuracy, Borrower Says
CHICAGO — A district court erred in entering summary judgment in favor of a credit reporting bureau in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suit because the credit bureau inaccurately reported late payments on a borrower’s mortgage, the borrower says in a reply brief filed in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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November 21, 2023
3rd Circuit: Mortgagors Failed To Show Failed Foreclosure Suit Violated Pa. Law
PHILADELPHIA — A failed foreclosure lawsuit by a lender and loan servicer did not violate Pennsylvania’s Dragonetti Act as there was no showing that the filing of the case was improper, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for the lender and servicer.
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November 20, 2023
Florida Federal Judge Approves $9M Settlement Between DOJ, Bank On Redlining Claims
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida has approved a consent order under which Ameris Bank agrees to pay $9 million to resolve the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining in predominately Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville.
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November 20, 2023
Louisiana High Court Refuses To Review Ruling In Suit Alleging Insured Stole Files
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court refused to disturb a Louisiana appeals court’s finding that a residential mortgage broker’s electronic loan files are “tangible” under state law and, therefore, can be defined as “‘property’ that is susceptible to ‘loss of use’” under a competitor’s business liability insurance policy, allowing to stand the lower court’s reversal of a summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer that intervened in the broker’s lawsuit alleging that its insured used stolen files to broker mortgage loans for its customers.
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November 20, 2023
Lender Urges 4th Circuit To Review Class Certification In Alleged Kickbacks Case
RICHMOND, Va. — Review of a class certification ruling by a trial court in a case brought by mortgagors who allege that they paid excess charges due to illegal kickbacks should occur as the borrowers have failed to show that damages can be measured on a classwide basis, lender Mr. Cooper Group Inc. argues in its Nov. 17 reply brief filed in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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November 17, 2023
Nationstar Granted Dismissal Of Claims That It Unjustly Denied COVID-19 Aid
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted a loan servicer’s motion to dismiss putative class claims accusing it of denying a borrower a COVID-19 loss mitigation option on the ground that it would not have reduced the principal and interest portions of his Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage, opining in a footnote that the borrower failed to “adequately plead a violation.”
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November 17, 2023
$3.58M Settlement Granted Preliminary Approval In Mortgage Pay-To-Pay Suit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia granted preliminary approval of a $3,587,254 class settlement to be paid by Nationstar Mortgage LLC, doing business as Mr. Cooper, to end a complaint over the company’s practice of charging mortgagors “convenience fees” to pay their mortgage over the phone.
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November 17, 2023
Judge Dismisses Unfair Practices Claims For Lender’s Inquiries About Ex
SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted a mortgage lender’s motion to dismiss a woman’s suit accusing it of allegedly harassing her and accusing her of mortgage fraud in violation of the California debt collection law and unfair competition law (UCL) by sending her and her accountant questions about her former husband, alimony payments and finances, with the judge finding that debt collection claims don’t apply because she had no outstanding debt at the time.
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November 14, 2023
Judgment Issued For Mortgagee In Row With Estate Administrator Over Fire Loss
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge granted judgment in favor of a mortgage company in an estate administrator’s breach of contract suit against it over failure to return $312,034.34 in fire loss draft funds to the estate, finding that because the company’s limited time offer to settle the loan balance did not include an agreement to return the loss draft funds, the administrator failed to prove his breach of contract claim.
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November 13, 2023
Class Claims ‘Pure Profit’ Fees Tacked On After Condo Foreclosure Sale
MIAMI — A mortgage servicer violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and state laws when it allegedly included excessive, unauthorized and fraudulent fees in a payoff quote that were “nothing more than pure profit,” the owner of a condominium claims in a class action filed in a federal court in Florida.
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November 13, 2023
Counsel Exits Case After Citing Lender-Client’s Inability To Pay
BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland granted a law firm’s motion to withdraw as counsel after it told the judge that its client — a mortgage lender facing claims that it engaged in an illegal kickback scheme — lacked the assets or resources required to continue paying it for its services.
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November 10, 2023
Borrowers Voluntarily Dismiss UCL Claim Against Mortgage Servicer, Beneficiary
SAN FRANCISCO — Two borrowers who were facing foreclosure due to a severely delinquent loan filed notice in California federal court of voluntary dismissal of their claim against a mortgage loan servicer and beneficiary for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) after a judge dismissed their other federal and California law claims on statute of limitations grounds and for failure to state a claim.
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November 06, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Appeal Over FCRA And Sovereign Immunity
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress did not waive the United States’ sovereign immunity when it amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to provide that an individual who violates the FCRA is liable for monetary damages, the assistant to the solicitor general told the U.S. Supreme Court Nov. 6 during oral arguments in an appeal concerning a borrower’s attempt to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Rural Housing Service for allegedly misrepresenting that he was past due on his mortgage.