REFinBlog

Editor: David Reiss
Brooklyn Law School

September 24, 2013

Federal Judge Declares War on Wells Fargo

By David Reiss

Never saw this before:

And so, Wells Fargo wins on a technicality.  The Court never addresses the merits of this case and expresses no opinion thereon. Still, it is appropriate to point out that, were Henning to prove his case on the merits, the conduct of Wells Fargo would be shown to be nothing short of outrageous.  On the other hand, perhaps if Wells Fargo addressed the merits, its conduct would be vindicated by fair-minded American jurors.  A quick visit to Wells Fargo’s website confirms that it vigorously promotes itself as consumer friendly, Loans and Programs, page within Home Lending, wellsfargo.com, https://www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage/loan-programs/ (last visited September 17, 2013); a far cry from the hard-nosed win-at-any-cost stance it has adopted here.

The technical (and now obsolete) preemption defense upon which Wells Fargo relies is an affirmative defense which can be waived.  See, e.g., Tompkins v. United Healthcare of New England, 203 F.3d 90, 97 (1st Cir. 2000).  The disconnect between Wells Fargo’s publicly advertised face and its actual litigation conduct here could not be more extreme.  These facts lead this Court to inquire whether Wells Fargo wishes to address Henning’s claims on the merits.  After all, it may be that Wells Fargo has done nothing wrong.

ACCORDINGLY, it is ORDERED that Wells Fargo, within 30 days of the date of this order, shall submit a corporate resolution bearing the signature of its president and a majority of its board of directors that it stands behind the conduct of its skilled attorneys and wishes to avail itself of the technical preemption defense to defeat Henning’s claim.

Should it do so, judgment will enter for Wells Fargo. If no such resolution is filed, the Court will deem the preemption defense waived and both Wells Fargo and Henning will have the opportunity to address the merits (i.e., what really happened) at a trial before an American jury. (36-37)

So ends District Judge Young’s (D. Mass.) opinion in Henning v. Wachovia Mortgage, F.S.B., n/k/a Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 11-11428 (Sept. 17, 2013). Henning brought suit against his lender, which sought to have it dismissed, arguing in large part that the state law claims are preempted by the federal Home Owners’ Loan Act.

Judge Young does not make clear the basis for his authority to require such a resolution from Wells Fargo. I am guessing that we will see a motion for reconsideration pretty soon.

[HT April Charney]

| Permalink