REFinBlog

Editor: David Reiss
Brooklyn Law School

December 12, 2013

Missouri Court Dismisses Predatory Lending & TILA Claims

By Ebube Okoli

The court in deciding Fleming v. Bank of Am., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150758 (W.D. Mo. Oct. 21, 2013) found the plaintiff’s argument and complaint to be filled with legal conclusions and disjointed, conclusory allegations. The court noted that the complaint frequently referred simply to “Defendant” or “Defendants” with no indication as to which specific defendant was implicated, and sometimes seemed to confuse “Plaintiff” with “Defendant.”

Plaintiff asserted the following eight claims: (1) predatory lending and violations of the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq.; (2) servicer fraud; (3) violations of the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (“HOEPA”)’s amendments to TILA, §§ 1639 et seq.; (4) violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), 12 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq.; (5) breach of fiduciary duty; (6) identity theft; (7) civil liability under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1964; and (8) quiet title to real property.

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), defendants moved to dismiss Fleming’s complaint for failure to state a claim. After considering the plaintiff’s arguments the court ultimately granted defendants Bank of America and MERSCorp Holdings, Inc.’s motion to dismiss.

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