”Keep Chicago Renting” passes Chicago City Council 6-5-13

On June 5, 2013, in an attempt to reduce the displacement of tenants in property taken in foreclosure, maintain property values and avoid the perception of a neighborhood as being unworthy of investment, the Chicago City Council overwhelmingly passed SO2012-5127, the Protecting Tenants in Foreclosed Rental Property Ordinance Section 15-4…

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BAPCPA Allows The Stripping Off Of Valueless Liens By Chapter 20 Debtors

The debtors in _In re Davis_, 12-1184 (4th Cir. May 2013) filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy to discharge the personal liability on their unsecured debt but left their secured mortgage debt intact. A year later, they filed a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to reorganize their debts, repay mortgage arrearages and consumer…

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Diversity Jurisdiction Limit Met Where The Value Of The Property And The Loan Amount…

In _Rehbein v. CitiMortgage, Inc._, 2:13CV65 (E.D. Va. Apr. 4, 2013) a Virginia District Court recently rejected a borrower’s attempt to assert that she had a private right of action under the National Mortgage Servicing settlement and Consent Judgment. The borrower commenced proceedings by bringing a preliminary injunction action in…

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Listing Agent’s Knowledge Of Dangerous Condition Imputed To Servicer Marketing REO Property

In _Hall v. Aurora Loan Services LLC_, 215 Cal. App. 4th 1134, 155 Cal. Rptr. 3d 739 (April 26, 2013) a real estate agent was injured while showing prospective buyers a house that the servicer had taken back in foreclosure. The facts were that one of the features of the…

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Mortgagee Was Not Entitled To Recover From The Insurer For Property Damage Loss When…

In _Parkway Bank and Trust Co. v. State Farm Fire and Cas. Co._, 2013 IL App (1st) 122387 (May 2013), the mortgagee filed a declaratory judgment action seeking declaration that it is entitled to receive insurance proceeds, of $252,830.94, for fire loss that occurred to the property. The insurer answered…

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Mortgagee Successfully Fights Off Attack On Constitutionality Of Missouri’s Unlawful Detainer Statute

The Defendants in Wells Fargo Bank N.A. v. Smith, No. SC 92649, __S.W.3d__, (March 19, 2013), attacked the constitutionality of Missouri’s unlawful detainer statute, V.A.M.S §534.2 in an eviction action brought by the mortgagee following a foreclosure. Defendants’ chief argument was that the statute violated their federal and state substantive…

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Judge Slammed For Dismissing A Foreclosure And Sanctioning The Plaintiff Based On His Independent…

The Supreme Court, Kings County, New York was admonished by a state appellate court in HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Taher, 104 A.D.3d 815 (N.Y. App. Div. March 2013) for dismissing a foreclosure, voiding the notice of pendency filed against the subject property and sanctioning the plaintiff $000 for filing…

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Servicer’s Duties To Respond To QWR Are Not Triggered Until The Request Is Sent…

In Berneike v. Citimortgage, 11-4210 (10th Cir., Feb. 25, 2013), the borrower alleged that she faxed 28 different letters to her loan servicer asserting incorrect billing and overcharges and then sent a second round of 58 different letters complaining of an account shortage and certain fees that appeared on her…

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Withdraw Of Non-judicial Foreclosure Sale Renders Injunction Moot But Oregon Court Warns That Because…

In Bangs v. Quality Loan Services Corp., of Washington, 6:12-CV-1543-AA (D. Or. Mar. 8, 2013), the Plaintiffs brought suit to enjoin a non-judicial foreclosure sale alleging that the loan servicer has not complied with Oregon’s foreclosure laws. They alleged that they obtained a loan from New Freedom Mortgage Corporation and…

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Abandoned Property Act (Public Act 97-1164)

Public Act 97-1164 (the Act) amended the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law (IMFL) 735 ILCS 5/15-1101, et seq., by authorizing the plaintiff to seek an expedited judgment and sale if the real estate meets the definition of abandoned residential property. Abandoned residential property is defined as property that is either 1)…

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