The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed summary judgment under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in favor of the debtor and against a debt collector, where the debt collector failed to mark the debtor’s account as disputed when it credit reported the account. The debt collector admitted that it had not marked the account as disputed because it incorrectly believed that credit reporting a debt as disputed was subject to the requirements of 15 U.S.C. § 1692g, which governs validation of a debt and the treatment of disputed debts. In so ruling, the Fifth…
Posts tagged as “Fifth Circuit”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that a group of plaintiffs plausibly alleged claims for violations of the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act by asserting that a mortgage lender refused to consider their Section 8 income in assessing their creditworthiness as mortgage applicants, and that they received mortgage loans on less favorable terms and in lesser amounts than they would have had their Section 8 income been considered. Additionally, the Fifth Circuit held that the ECOA does not encompass mortgage purchasers and investors who do not participate in the extension of mortgage loans, even when…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that claims of an opt-out class in a previously-settled California state class action that released any existing federal Fair Labor Standards Act claims by mortgage loan officers against lenders that failed to pay them overtime were precluded by res judicata because the previous opt-out state court settlement met due process requirements, and the FLSA did not expressly or impliedly create an exception to the Full Faith and Credit Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1738. A copy of the opinion in Raymond Richardson, et al v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that HUD reverse mortgage regulations and guidelines do not give the borrower a private cause of action unless the regulations are expressly incorporated into the loan agreement. A copy of the opinion in Johnson v. World Alliance Financial Corp. et al is available at: Link to Opinion. A male borrower entered into a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) with the defendant, lender. The loan was secured by the male borrower’s home, which already had two liens on it. One of the liens was held by the male borrower’s ex-wife. Later, the…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently confirmed that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq., does not allow recovery for commercial or investment property losses. The Court also concluded that where a plaintiff points to no evidence that the denial of credit was actually caused by the defendant’s inaccurate credit reporting, judgment is proper in favor of the furnisher. Finally, the Fifth Circuit concluded that a plaintiff is not entitled to emotional distress damages where the only evidence of emotional distress is the plaintiff’s own self-serving and conclusory deposition testimony. A…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that, although a bank had actual notice of an heir’s claim to her decedent father’s account funds, the bank’s compliance with the post-death affidavit provisions of California Probate § 13106(a) rendered the bank immune from liability for wrongful disbursement of the funds. In any event, the Court also held, the decedent’s surviving spouse who withdrew the funds had a probate claim that was statutorily superior to the heir’s claim. A copy of the opinion in Angelo v. Wells Fargo Bank is available at: Link to Opinion. Plaintiff heir’s father died…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a borrower’s claims against her lender arising out of a foreclosure, holding among other things that alleged discrepancies as to the lender’s automatic payment withdrawal services did not state a claim under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). In so ruling, the Court also affirmed the denial of a plaintiff borrower’s motion to join a non-diverse defendant holding that the motion was improperly brought for the purpose of defeating diversity jurisdiction. A copy of the opinion in Villarreal v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA is available at:…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that a mortgagee did not waive or abandon its right to foreclose by accepting payments after a default by the borrower, but before acceleration, when no representations were made to the borrower that payments less than the full obligation would bring the loan current. A copy of the opinion in Martin v. Federal National Mortgage Association is available at: Link to Opinion. A borrower obtained a loan secured by a deed of trust (“DOT”). The DOT obligated the borrower to make monthly payments and gave the mortgagee the right to accelerate…