Mealey's Mortgage Lending : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Mortgage Lending

October 21, 2022
Borrower’s State Law Claims In Loan Modification Suit Preempted By HAMP Rules

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey on Oct. 20 ruled that a lender is entitled to summary judgment in a mortgage loan modification dispute because the borrower’s state law claims are preempted by the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) under conflict preemption.
October 21, 2022
Judge: Defendant Not Liable For Mortgage Debt In Foreclosure Action

PORTLAND, Maine — A federal judge in Maine ruled that a borrower is entitled to judgment on the pleadings on two claims brought by Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) in a foreclosure proceeding, agreeing with the borrower that Freddie Mac has failed to state those claims because the borrower “has no personal liability for the debt secured by the Mortgage."
October 21, 2022
Law Firm Denied Judgment On The Pleadings Over Borrower’s FDCPA Claim

AKRON, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on Oct. 19 denied a law firm’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a mortgage loan dispute with a borrower, ruling that the law firm failed to provide any statutory analysis or case law to support its motion seeking to dismiss the borrower’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claim against the law firm.
October 20, 2022
Mortgage Borrowers Seek Approval Of $2.8M Convenience Fee Settlement

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A judge should preliminarily approve a nearly $2.8 million revised class action settlement between borrowers and mortgage loan servicers PHH Mortgage Corp. and Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC over the loan servicers’ alleged charging of illegal “processing fees” to the borrowers for paying their mortgage loans over the telephone or online because the revised settlement avoids “features of the previously proposed settlement that gave the Court pause” and meets all statutory requirements for approval, lead plaintiffs argue in a motion filed in Florida federal court.
October 20, 2022
Affidavits Rightly Considered In Deciding Lender’s Summary Judgment Motion

CHICAGO — A federal district court did not err in granting a mortgage lender’s motion for summary judgment in a dispute over the lender’s issuance of force-placed flood and wind insurance on the borrower’s property because the lower court properly considered affidavits filed by the borrower and the lender in rendering its decision, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed.
October 19, 2022
Judge Inclined To Dismiss Most Claims In Foreclosure Suit Against Servicer

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A federal judge in California issued a tentative ruling in a foreclosure dispute between borrowers and their mortgage loan servicer, opining that he is inclined to dismiss portions of the borrowers’ claims stemming from the servicer’s alleged failure to properly notify them that it had assumed the servicing responsibilities for their mortgage loan.
October 18, 2022
Mortgage Loan Servicer Complied With Foreclosure Notice Requirements

NEW ORLEANS — A federal district court did not err in granting a mortgage loan servicer’s motion for summary judgment in a foreclosure dispute, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Oct. 17, because the loan servicer satisfied its notice obligations before initiating the foreclosure proceedings.
October 18, 2022
Mortgage Debt Fraudster’s Conviction Upheld On Appeal To 2nd Circuit

NEW YORK — A woman charged in connection with her role in orchestrating a fraudulent mortgage debt assistance program is not entitled to a new trial based on her allegations that her pretrial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to transmit a plea offer from government prosecutors to the woman before it expired because the woman waived her appellate argument when she chose to proceed to trial after receiving the details of the plea offer, a divided Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed Oct. 14.
October 17, 2022
Arizona Panel: Borrower’s Claims In Foreclosure Dispute Waived, Time-Barred

PHOENIX — An Arizona trial court did not err in granting judgment on the pleadings to a mortgage lender in a dispute stemming from the lender’s sale of a borrower’s home in a foreclosure because the borrower waived his claims when he failed to seek the necessary injunctive relief to halt the sale, an Arizona appellate panel ruled in affirming.
October 13, 2022
Borrower’s Dilatory Conduct Dooms Bid To Amend Complaint Against Loan Servicer

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia denied a borrower’s motion for leave to amend her complaint against her loan servicer stemming from the defendant’s servicing of the borrower’s mortgage loan, ruling that the borrower was “dilatory” in seeking to file her motion and because the loan servicer would be prejudiced if the judge allowed the borrower to add new claims “at this late hour.”
October 11, 2022
Borrower Claims Against HELOC Owner, Subservicer Dismissed As Insufficient

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted motions to dismiss filed by defendants in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lawsuit brought by a home equity line of credit (HELOC) borrower, ruling that the borrower has failed to show that the owner of the HELOC is not a debtor and cannot be held liable under the FDCPA and that the borrower has failed to sufficiently plead any violation of the statute against the subservicer of the HELOC.
October 07, 2022
Lender: Claims In FCA Suit Properly Dismissed On Materiality, Causation Grounds

CHICAGO — A federal district court did not err in granting summary judgment against a relator in a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit in which the relator alleged that a mortgage lender fraudulently approved insurance for Federal Housing Authority Administration (FHA) loans that did not meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requirements because the relator failed to produce, on a loan-by-loan basis, “evidence sufficient to create a triable issue of fact on the FCA’s materiality and causation elements,” the mortgage lender argues in an appellee brief filed in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
October 06, 2022
Lender’s Ability To Foreclose On Reverse Mortgage Note Not Time-Barred

DALLAS — A reverse mortgage note holder’s ability to foreclose on the borrower’s property is not barred by the relevant statute of limitations because the note holder’s predecessor filed a foreclosure action in 2019 and received a final judgment that preserved the note holder’s right to foreclose, a federal judge in Texas ruled.
October 05, 2022
Homeowner’s 2nd Suit Over Force-Placed Insurance, Insurers’ Letters Is Dismissed

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Ruling in part that claim preclusion applies to kickback allegations and that other allegations fail to state a claim under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) and Connecticut Unfair Insurance Practices Act (CUIPA), a Connecticut federal judge dismissed a mortgagor’s suit over force-placed residential flood insurance and letters that insurers filed with the Connecticut Insurance Department.
October 04, 2022
High Court Will Not Hear Appeal In Mortgage Loan Purchase Agreement Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 3 declined review of an appeal of a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming the dismissal of loan purchasers’ breach of contract claims against JPMorgan Chase Bank NA and two of its related entities in a mortgage loan purchase agreement (MLPA) dispute because the loan purchasers waived their continuing violations doctrine argument by failing to raise it in the district court.
September 30, 2022
Lender Had Presumptive Legal Title To Property After Foreclosure, Panel Rules

ATLANTA — A federal district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of a lender in a borrower’s negligence and unjust enrichment lawsuit, in which the borrower claimed that the lender negligently allowed his property to fall into disrepair while in its possession after obtaining it in a foreclosure sale because the borrower failed to dispute that the lender had “presumptive legal title to the property during the time” it was alleged to have been negligent and unjustly enriched, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Sept. 29 in affirming.
September 27, 2022
Appellees In Class RESPA Suit: Late Evidence Ruling Was Not Abuse Of Discretion

SAN FRANCISCO — Arguing that the trial court did not abuse its discretion and that the challenged ruling was not a case-ending sanction, the appellees in mortgagors’ long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) class action over captive reinsurance agreements urged the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to uphold a decision denying modification of a final pretrial order (PTO).
September 23, 2022
Judge Sides With Lender, Servicer In Foreclosure Prevention Suit

HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas ruled that a loan holder and loan servicer are entitled to summary judgment on three declaratory relief claims brought by a property owner stemming from a foreclosure sale because the defendants’ claim to the property is not barred by res judicata or collateral estoppel and the property owner’s other claims fail as a matter of law.
September 23, 2022
Wells Fargo Was Not Negligent In Denying Borrowers’ Loan Modification

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York granted summary judgment in favor of Wells Fargo Bank NA, ruling that borrowers have failed to plead any viable claims against the mortgage lender that support their allegations that Wells Fargo was negligent in failing to approve the borrowers for a loan modification before foreclosure on their property due to a software problem.
September 23, 2022
Borrower Stipulates To Dismissal With Last Defendant In FCRA Suit

CAMDEN, N.J. — A borrower brought an end to her lawsuit against two credit-reporting agencies (CRAs) and a mortgage loan servicer for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) based on their roles in causing the borrower’s credit report to show her mortgage loan as delinquent even though she had entered into Chapter 13 bankruptcy after stipulating to the dismissal of her claims against the last remaining defendant in a stipulation of dismissal filed in New Jersey federal court.
September 21, 2022
Lender: Home’s Sale Price Does Not Help Borrower’s Wrongful Foreclosure Claim

NEW ORLEANS — A federal district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of a mortgage lender in a lawsuit brought by a borrower alleging that the lender wrongly foreclosed on her mortgage loan because the selling price on the home was not “grossly inadequate,” the lender argues in a Sept. 16 appellee brief filed in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
September 21, 2022
Settlement In Wrongful Foreclosure Suit Against Loan Servicer Confirmed

SAN DIEGO — A federal magistrate judge in California issued an order Sept. 16 confirming a settlement in principle between a borrower and her mortgage loan servicer in a wrongful foreclosure action and ordering the parties to file their joint motion for dismissal by Dec. 8.
September 21, 2022
Homebuyer’s Claims Over Property Damage Nondisclosures Dismissed

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Sept. 19 granted several motions to dismiss in a borrower’s lawsuit against her mortgage lender, real estate agent and others stemming from the borrower’s purchase of a home based on alleged nondisclosures of water intrusion and settling issues, ruling that several of the borrower’s claim were time-barred while others were not sufficiently pleaded.
September 20, 2022
3rd Circuit: District Court’s Discharge Of Consent Judgment In Loan Dispute Proper

PHILADELPHIA — A federal district court did not err in discharging a consent judgment in a breach of contract case brought by a loan’s assignee against a borrower and an individual after the borrower defaulted on the loan because the consent judgment “was satisfied as written,” a divided Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Sept. 15 in affirming.
September 16, 2022
RESPA Claims Trimmed In Borrower Suit Against Mortgage Lender, Loan Servicer

WICHITA, Kan. — Borrowers have sufficiently pleaded only a portion of their claims for violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) against their mortgage lender, mortgage loan servicer and the servicer’s vendor because they have failed to show that their loan servicer failed to accept their mortgage loan payment under the terms provided and failed to provide accurate payoff balances the borrowers owed, a federal judge in Kansas ruled Sept. 2 in granting a pair of dismissal motions in part and denying them in part.