The mortgagors and a West Virginia class in _Delebreau v. Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC,_ 6:09-CV-00245 (S.D.W. Va. Jan. 18, 2011) brought an action against their mortgage loan servicer following the servicer’s commencement of a foreclosure alleging the servicer assessed illegal late fees and default fees in violation of the West…
Read More »The U.S. District Court in Maine dismissed claims from homeowners seeking damages against a servicer for improper foreclosure. In _Bradbury v. GMAC Mortg., LLC,_ CIV. 10-458-P-H (D. Me. Feb. 16, 2011) the mortgagor filed a class action suit against the servicer after reports that the serivicer’s employees were found to…
Read More »Three recent opinions have confirmed the long-standing evidentiary rule (which courts routinely ignore) that if a mortgagor wishes to contest standing he or she needs to raise that defense at the pleading stage of the case; otherwise it’s waived. In Mortgage Electronic Registration Sys., Inc. v. Barnes , 1-09-2345, (Ill.…
Read More »At the time of filing their bankruptcy action the borrowers in In re Rodriguez , No. 09-2724 (3d Cir. Dec. 23, 2010) had an escrow account arrearage with the loan servicer of $5,657.60: $3,869.91 was the amount the servicer had paid for taxes and insurance and $1,787.69 was for 2…
Read More »In Catalan v. GMAC Mortgage Corp. , No. 09-2182 (7th Cir., January 2011), the Seventh Circuit Court reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of a servicer, finding that the District Court erred when it held that the servicer qualified for RESPA’s Safe Harbor with respect to its failure…
Read More »In Bonte v. U.S. Bank, N.A., No. 09-2455 (7th Cir., October 19, 2010), the plaintiff’s asserted that there were misstated charges on the TIL disclosure and the HUD-1 settlement statement, both of which were attached to the complaint. The disputed charges related to the disbursement of the loan proceeds including…
Read More »In Redmond v. Fifth Third Bank, No. 08-4288 (7th Cir., October 2010), the debtor filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection after he defaulted on his mortgage. In 1998 there was an agreed order under which the debtor agreed to make monthly payments for a period and then a final balloon…
Read More »A timely decision out of Florida throws some welcome light on the affidavit controversy swirling around the default servicing world. In Freemon v. Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas as Trustee, No. 4D09-4275 (4th Dist. Fl. Nov. 2010), the mortgagee moved for summary judgment in a foreclosure action after the mortgagor…
Read More »The issue at bar in Medeiros v. Client Services, Inc., 09 CV 6170 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 17, 2010) was whether a debt collectors efforts to collect the debt by contacting the debtor’s attorney violated the FDCPA. After the debtor received a dunning letter it sought legal assistance from a legal…
Read More »In Hofstetter v. Chase Home Finance, LLC, C 10-01313 (N.D. Cal., Aug. 16, 2010) the mortgagors had a home equity line of credit that had no opening balance. The lender suspended future draws because the mortgagors’ properties had declined in value. After the credit was suspended the lender advised the…
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