The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that a liability insurance policy that broadly excluded coverage for invasion of privacy claims also excluded coverage for claims for violations of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. A copy of the opinion in L.A. Lakers v. Federal Ins. Co. is available at: Link to Opinion. In 2012, a class action complaint was filed against the Los Angeles Lakers for allegedly sending text messages using an automatic telephone dialing system in violation of the TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227, et seq. The Lakers asked their insurer to defend them against…
9th Cir. Limits Subsequent Good-Faith Transferee Exception in Bankruptcy Fraudulent Transfer Actions
9th Cir. Limits Subsequent Good-Faith Transferee Exception in Bankruptcy Fraudulent Transfer Actions
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that a debtor corporation’s sole shareholder and third parties who sold real property and services to the sole shareholder could be liable for fraudulent transfers. In so ruling, the Ninth Circuit held that the third parties were initial transferees of the debtor corporation’s funds because the sole shareholder paid the third parties with checks directly from a corporate account, even though the third parties did not have a pre-existing relationship or an ongoing relationship with the sole shareholder, his family, or any of his businesses. A copy of this…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently held that a borrower’s claim under the Massachusetts Predatory Home Loan Practices Act (MPHLPA) was barred by the applicable five-year statute of limitations where the loan was extended more than five years before the complaint was filed and the borrower did not allege facts to demonstrate that tolling should apply. Accordingly, the First Circuit affirmed the ruling of the trial court dismissing the borrower’s complaint with prejudice, and denying his motion for leave to file an amended complaint as futile. A copy of the opinion in Rife v. One West…
The Supreme Court of Missouri recently affirmed, in part, a trial court order dismissing two debtors’ petitions attempting to assert violations of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act against a hospital for failure to state a claim, holding that judgments in non-tort actions include post-judgment interest as a matter of law pursuant to § 408.040.1 even if the judgment does not expressly include post-judgment interest. A copy of the opinion in Dennis v. Riezman Berger, PC is available at: Link to Opinion. A hospital provided medical services to the debtors. After the debtors failed to…
The Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, recently held that where the beneficiary of a land trust filed a motion to intervene in a foreclosure, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to intervene because the beneficiary filed the motion after the trial court had entered the order confirming the foreclosure sale. A copy of the opinion in Urban Partnership Bank v. Chicago Title Land and Trust Company is available at: Link to the Opinion. A mother and father created a land trust for their residence with the property rights to transfer to their four…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the trial court had jurisdiction to hear a case based on a final foreclosure order entered in Texas state court, and that the borrowers’ due process rights were not violated where the state court entered a foreclosure order without first having a hearing, in violation of the state statute. Because the foreclosure order was valid, the trial court correctly found the foreclosing mortgagee was entitled to quiet title. Accordingly, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the ruling of the trial court entering summary judgment in favor of the defendant mortgagee and against…
The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the decision of the Appellate Court, and held that a settlement that a borrower and a lender reached during mediation pursuant to the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program was enforceable because the borrower fulfilled all contingent terms making the agreement permanent. A copy of the opinion is available at: Link to Opinion. The borrower obtained a home mortgage loan from the lender (“bank”). In 2006, the borrower defaulted on her loan. The bank filed a foreclosure complaint in chancery court. In August 2007, the bank obtained a final judgment in the foreclosure action. In 2010,…
The U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit recently affirmed a bankruptcy court’s holding that a creditor held an unenforceable lien against a debtor’s real property because the property was owned by the entireties and the lien was thus avoidable under Bankruptcy Code § 522(f)(1). A copy of the opinion in CRP Holdings v. O’Sullivan is available at: Link to Opinion. The debtor and his wife purchased real property in Missouri in 1995. A limited liability company obtained a judgment against the debtor in Missouri and recorded the judgment in the county where the debtor lived. The debtor filed a…
In a case of first impression, the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District recently held that the Illinois Unsafe Buildings Act does not authorize a municipality to seek a money judgment for demolition expenses against the owner of a property by simply filing a motion in the same demolition action. In so ruling, the Court found that the plain language of the Act only authorizes a municipality to affirmatively recover the amount of its lien for demolition expenses by either: (1) foreclosing on the lien and obtaining satisfaction through a judicial sale of the property; or (2) filing a…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently held that a voicemail from a debt collector that merely asks for the debtor to call back constitutes an initial communication under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) requiring the so-called “mini-Miranda” warning. In so ruling, the Court also held that a debt collector employee does not need to reveal his or her name to provide “meaningful disclosure” of the caller’s identity. A copy of the opinion in Hart v. Credit Control, LLC is available at: Link to the Opinion. The defendant debt collector left a voicemail for the…
The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District recently held that the trial court correctly affirmed a judicial sale and denied a motion to reconsider where an intervenor and alleged owner of the property claimed the mortgage was wiped out by the death of the sole mortgagor, who was only a joint tenant in the property at the time the mortgage was executed. In so ruling, the Court noted that the mortgagee provided proper notice and otherwise complied with all procedural rules for foreclosures in Illinois, whereas the intervenor never recorded the deed to himself and did nothing to stop…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed final judgments against corporate borrowers and guarantors in three separate cases, holding that: (a) the Nevada statute limiting the amount of the deficiency recoverable in a foreclosure action was preempted by federal law as applied to transferees of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); (b) the plaintiff bank had standing to enforce the loans it acquired from the FDIC; (c) the bank was not issue-precluded from showing that the subject loans had been transferred to it; (d) the bank did not breach the implied covenant of good faith and…