- The United States Supreme Court holds that debtors do not have an absolute right to appeal a denial of a proposed bankruptcy plan (mentioned in April 6 post).
- Maryland federal judge approves settlement between CFPB and Genuine Title and participants for illegal mortgage-kickback scheme (mentioned in May 4 post).
- CFPB settles with Florida law firm for nearly $12 million for collecting over $5 million in illegal fees. The firm enlisted homeowners to bring “mass-joinder” suits against mortgage lenders.
- Lead plaintiff in class action against Bank of America asks the Third Circuit to rehear case alleging violations of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act decided last month. The Third Circuit held that the FDCPA covers foreclosure complaints (mentioned in April 13 post).
- The Clearing House Association LLC, the American Bankers Association, the Financial Services Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce support Bank of America in its Second Circuit appeal of $1.3 billion fine for allegedly defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through its mortgage program, “Hustle.”
- In stipulation, Massachusetts Federal District Court voluntarily dismisses claims against JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other institutions in $5.9 billion MBS suit brought by Bank of Boston.
Tag Archives: Bank of America
Monday’s Adjudication Roundup
- Quicken Loans Inc. filed a complaint against the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development claiming that they tried to get Quicken to make false admissions during a settlement. The Government in turn sued Quicken under the False Claims Act for improper underwriting of mortgages and benefitting under the Federal Housing Administration insurance payouts.
- The United States Supreme Court denied cert to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which argued that using contracts rather than grants to fund Section 8 public housing projects would impair the program.
- The Second Circuit Court of Appeals revived suit against Citigroup. The claims, which alleged that Citigroup tricked a Korean bank into taking $25 million in toxic collateralized debt obligations, were dismissed in the New York District Court in March 2013.
- Federal court requires RBS Securities to hand over which specific loans it is going to re-underwrite to National Credit Union Administration after allegedly causing the failure of at least two credit unions by misleading investors over hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities.
- Bank of America asks Second Circuit to vacate a $1.3 billion fine after jury found BofA had defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac using its “High-Speed Swim Lane” program.
Monday’s Adjudication Roundup
- Bankrupt Washington Mutual settles in class action suit for $10 million after duping plaintiffs into taking out mortgages with low “teaser rates.”
- Goldman Sachs asks NY Federal Judge not to certify class action suit over its Abacus collateralized debt obligation, which caused $1 billion in investor losses.
- The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) covers foreclosure complaints in suit brought by Bank of America and a NJ law firm.
- First Horizon National Corp.’s subsidiary First Tennessee Bank settles with FDIC over violation of due-diligence regulations for Federal Housing Administration-insured home loans for $212.5 million.
- HSBC and Assurant settle for $1.8 billion over allegations that the bank got kickbacks for getting consumers to purchase inflated flood insurance.
Foreclosures and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Bloomberg BNA quoted me in Third Circuit Says Foreclosure Complaint May Serve as Basis for Claims Under FDCPA (behind a paywall). The article opens,
A foreclosure complaint may form the basis of a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claim, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held, saying foreclosure meets the broad definition of “debt collection” under the statute (Kaymark v. Bank of Am. N.A., 2015 BL 97853, 3d Cir., No. 14-cv-01816, 4/7/15).
Dale Kaymark filed a class suit against Bank of America and Udren Law Offices, P.C., a Cherry Hill, N.J., law firm, including in its claims an allegation that Udren violated the FDCPA by listing in a foreclosure complaint not-yet-incurred fees as due and owing.
Kaymark also said the firm violated the statute by trying to collect fees not authorized by the mortgage agreement.
A district court dismissed those and other claims by Kaymark, but the Third Circuit reversed April 7, allowing all but one of his FDCPA claims against Udren.
According to the court, a 2014 Third Circuit ruling on debt collection letters also applies to foreclosure complaints.
“We conclude that a communication cannot be uniquely exempted from the FDCPA because it is a formal pleading or, in particular, a complaint,” Judge D. Michael Fisher said. “This principle is widely accepted by our sister Circuits,” he said.
Wide Impact Seen
Udren Law Offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case. In separate briefs filed in August 2014 and December 2014, lawyers for the firm predicted that application of the FDCPA to foreclosure complaints might allow any state foreclosure action to spark an FDCPA suit, with ill effects for legal practice.
A Bank of America spokeswoman April 8 declined to comment on the ruling. The FDCPA claim was directed only at the law firm, not the bank. Lawyers for Kaymark also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brooklyn Law School Professor David Reiss, the Research Director of the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship, said the decision highlights increased judicial sensitivity in some areas of the law.
“It’s a well-reasoned ruling that clarifies application of the statute in the foreclosure context and that will affect contacts that lawyers have with alleged debtors,” said Reiss, who maintains a real estate finance blog. “In terms of practical effects, it won’t necessarily mean thousands of new lawsuits, but it does mean that lawyers will have to be very careful about how they communicate fees and estimates. It’s going to mean, to some extent, a cleaning-up of informal practices in the foreclosure bar, such as treating not-yet-accrued costs as accrued costs,” Reiss told Bloomberg BNA.
Monday’s Adjudication Roundup
- HSBC facing suit for breaching its duties as trustee for 271 residential mortgage-backed securities trusts.
- The US Supreme Court considered whether debtors should have an absolute right to appeal denial of proposed bankruptcy plan after three circuit courts have found that debtors can automatically can appeal, while in other jurisdictions, the bankruptcy judge must permit the appeal.
- BNP Paribas Mortgage Corp. suit from 2009 regarding Bank of America’s mishandling of hundreds of millions of dollars of mortgage-backed notes issued by Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. finally settles.
Monday’s Adjudication Roundup
- Court denies US Bank’s opportunity to revive suit against Citigroup over hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities sold during the financial crisis.
- IL court refuses to dismiss suit against Bank of America over lowering underwriting standards for borrowers protected by the Fair Housing Act.
- National Credit Union Administration sues HSBC claiming it failed as trustee for $2 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities trusts and lead to the downfall of five credit unions.
Monday’s Adjudication Roundup
- BofA has asked a PA federal judge to dismiss a class action RICO suit alleging kickbacks from overpriced mortgage insurance claiming it is the same suit that was dismissed as time-barred by Third Circuit in October.
- Deloitte is potentially facing $1.3 billion plus punitive damages to Freddie Mac for negligently auditing work for Taylor Bean, a mortgage lender with a massive employee fraud.
- Circuit split continues on whether and when lenders are responsible for development project failures when the Seventh Circuit ruled that the lender’s insurers would not cover the emergence of contractor liens in a failed $118 million real estate development.
