Case Law

A borrower who was unemployed and did not have phone service sued his servicer for RESPA violations, stating the servicer did not respond to his concerns except in form letters, limiting communication to telephone, even though they knew he lacked telephone service.

The Pennsylvania district court judge determined that there was nothing in Regulation X which required a servicer to respond in writing when a borrower lacks access to telephone service.

Read on for more, including an examination of the borrower’s claims for actual damages.

Wells Fargo did not improperly handle a New Jersey man’s loan modification request because bank officials were not “servicers” under RESPA at the time the documents were mailed, a federal judge has ruled.

The plaintiffs also claimed the defendants failed to respond to multiple Notices of Error (NOEs).

Read on for the judge’s reasoning on why the case was dismissed in light of New Jersey law.

A federal judge in Louisiana has dismissed a lawsuit alleging a loan servicing company violated RESPA by not responding to a couple’s Qualified Written Requests (QWRs) seeking insurance proceeds to repair a hurricane-damaged home.

The plaintiffs claimed Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. also violated RESPA by maintaining an excessive balance in their escrow account, instead of disbursing insurance proceeds which would have allowed them to repair the property  damaged by Hurricane Isaac.

Read on to learn why the case was dismissed.

Wells Fargo Bank may have violated RESPA by failing to evaluate a California couple’s loan modification request within 30 days.

In addition, the couple may have suffered actual damages because of their alleged emotional distress from their four-year battle to obtain a fair review for modification of their West Covina property, a federal judge ruled recently.

Read on for more highlights from the opinion, including why Wells had to comply with Regulation X on a second completed modification application.

SunTrust Mortgage did not violate RESPA when servicing a Pennsylvania woman’s attempts to obtain a loan modification or an extended forbearance agreement because the plaintiff did not prove damages after the company allegedly failed to respond to a qualified written request.

For the second time in two years, a federal judge has dismissed Jackie Stefanowicz’s claims. She originally filed pro se TILA and RESPA claims in U.S. District Court in 2016 claiming the company failed to return her phone calls or provide her with requested forms.

Read on for highlights of Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson’s opinion.

The decision in PHH Corp.’s case against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) played a major role in a federal appellate court’s recent opinion declaring the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to be unconstitutional.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ FHFA ruling was the second time in a month that a federal regulatory body was deemed unconstitutional.

Read on to find out what the majority panel found in Collins v. FHA.

RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corp. did not violate RESPA’s requirement that a loan servicer send verification of ownership or proper payment documents to a Texas woman who sought to have a lien declared void and unenforceable, a federal judge ruled recently.

Nathalie Sims filed suit in U.S. District Court in 2016 after Roundpoint began the foreclosure process on her property by sending her a notice of default and intent to accelerate. Sims claimed that she was forced into Chapter 13 bankruptcy as a result of the foreclosure order.

Read on for more details.

The lead attorney who represented PHH Corp. in a landmark case against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed new court documents to bolster his argument that a lawsuit against a Mississippi payday loan company should be dismissed because the bureau is unconstitutional.

Armed with the support of recent rulings in other high-profile cases, attorney Theodore Olson of Gibson Dunn recently filed his appellate brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of All-American Check Cashing.

Read on for highlights of Olson’s latest brief in the Mississippi case.

A Virginia couple who was applying for a loan modification agreement with Wells Fargo four years after completing an earlier application sued the servicer for RESPA violations before a scheduled foreclosure sale.

The couple alleged that Wells did not review its latest application, despite having submitted it more than 37 days before a foreclosure sale, as RESPA rules require.

Keep reading for highlights of U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr.’s opinion.

Rushmore Loan Management Services did not violate RESPA by failing to grant a modification after a Kansas couple breached multiple reinstatement payment plans, according to a recent opinion by a federal judge.

Mortgage debtors Douglas and Serenity Boedicker filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in 2016 following a series of missed payments dating back to 2008.

Read on for more details of the lawsuit.