The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a borrower’s claim, holding that a mortgage servicer’s motion to reschedule a previously set foreclosure sale after it approved the borrower for a trial loan modification plan did not violate the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act because the motion to reschedule did not move for an order of sale. A copy of the decision in Landau v. RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corp. is available at: Link to Opinion. A borrower defaulted on her mortgage loan and her lender filed a foreclosure action. The lender obtained final summary judgment in…
Posts published in “Foreclosure”
The Supreme Court of Texas held that the contractual waiver of the statute of limitations on deficiency claims contained in a guaranty agreement was sufficiently “specific and for a reasonable time” as to be enforceable and not void as against public policy. Accordingly, the Texas Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the appellate court, although it disagreed with portions of the appellate court’s reasoning. A copy of the opinion in Godoy v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA is available at: Link to Opinion. The lender extended a loan to the borrower, which loan was secured by property owned by the borrower. A guarantor…
The Court of Appeal for the Fifth District of California recently held that a court may award attorneys’ fees pursuant to Civil Code § 2924.12(h) when a borrower obtains a temporary restraining order to stop a non-judicial foreclosure sale. A copy of the opinion in Hardie v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC is available at: Link to Opinion. The borrowers filed an ex parte application for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) to enjoin the trustee’s sale of their home. The application contained a request for attorneys’ fees and costs. The trial court granted the TRO and set a hearing to show cause for a…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that a mortgage servicer only had to comply with the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act (RESPA) requirements regarding loss mitigation applications once when the servicer had already provided the same reasons for the denial of a loan modification in response to a prior loss mitigation application. A copy of the opinion in Germain v. US Bank National Association is available at: Link to Opinion. In 2005, a borrower executed a deed of trust in favor of a lender to refinance his home. In 2012, the servicer began servicing the…
The Court of Appeal for the Fourth District of California recently held that a trustee conducting a non-judicial foreclosure is not subject to tort liability unless it violated duties established by the deed of trust and governing statutes, or if the trustee has effectively taken on a different or modified duty by its actions. A copy of the opinion in Citrus El Dorado, LLC v. Chicago Title Company is available at: Link to Opinion. A commercial developer purchased real property and obtained a loan to fund construction. The loan was secured by a deed of trust on the property. The lender…
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down its much-anticipated opinion in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP on March 20, ruling the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not cover persons engaged in “non-judicial foreclosures” except with respect to a single provision contained in the FDCPA. Colorado, like many western states, has a procedure that allows a lender to foreclose property without the need to file a lawsuit. Here, as you may recall, a Colorado borrower defaulted on his home loan and the mortgage servicer hired a law firm to pursue a non-judicial foreclosure. The borrower informed the law firm he was disputing…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that Texas law contains no detrimental reliance exception to a lender’s unilateral right to withdraw an acceleration notice. A copy of the opinion in Jatera Corporation v. U.S. Bank National Association is available at: Link to Opinion. A borrower defaulted on a Texas home equity fixed adjustable rate note secured by a Texas home equity security instrument. In 2010, the mortgagee through its then loan servicer sent the borrower notice of its intent to accelerate the note and demanded full payment of the debt. The mortgagee filed suit and…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that a mortgagee could unilaterally cancel an erroneously recorded satisfaction of the loan where the borrower had not yet detrimentally relied on the erroneous satisfaction. A copy of the opinion in Trinity 83 Development, LLC v. ColFin Midwest Funding, LLC is available at: Link to Opinion. A company took out a loan from a bank secured by a mortgage. The bank sold the loan to a debt buyer. The debt buyer used a debt collector to collect payments. The debt collector inadvertently recorded a satisfaction of the debt releasing the mortgage before the…
The Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, recently held that a borrower’s general denial that the mortgagee performed the conditions precedent of the mortgage contract prior to filing a foreclosure action was insufficient under Illinois Supreme Court Rules and therefore constituted a forfeiture of the issue. Accordingly, the Appellate Court affirmed the ruling of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of the mortgagee. A copy of the opinion in The Bank of New York Mellon v. Wojcik is available at: Link to Opinion. After the borrower defaulted on her mortgage loan, the bank sent her a letter titled “Notice…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that a mortgagee’s failure to take a deficiency judgment against a borrower who filed bankruptcy in a concluded state foreclosure action precluded the mortgagee from making a deficiency claim in the borrower’s bankruptcy proceeding. A copy of the opinion in BMO Harris Bank N.A. v. Anderson is available at: Link to Opinion. Two borrowers received a loan secured by a mortgage. They defaulted on the loan and the mortgagee filed a two-count complaint in Illinois state court seeking relief under the mortgage and the note. One of the borrowers and his wife later filed…
Reversing a ruling by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Florida recently held that a mortgagee’s voluntary dismissal of an appeal made the borrower the prevailing party entitled to recover appellate attorney’s fees because the mortgagee maintained its right to enforce the mortgage contract that contained a prevailing party attorney’s fees provision until it dismissed the appeal. A copy of the opinion in Glass v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC is available at: Link to Opinion. A mortgagee filed an in rem foreclosure action on a reverse mortgage on real property. The borrower moved to dismiss the complaint for…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently held that a mortgage loan with a post-plan maturity date was not discharged in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy because the plan did not “provide for” the debt and modify the repayment terms of the mortgage. The Eleventh Circuit also held that the debt was not discharged because discharge would violate 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2)’s anti-modification provision for mortgages secured by the debtor’s principal residence. A copy of the opinion in Mildred M. Dukes v. Suncoast Credit Union is available at: Link to Opinion. The debtor had two mortgage loans on her…