On January 22, 2014, a federal judge in California denied J.C. Penney Corporation’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction following the plaintiff’s rejection of an offer of judgment. Maier v. J.C. Penney Corp., Inc., No. 3:13-cv-00163, slip op. (S.D. Cal. Jan. 22, 2014). The plaintiff has filed a…
On January 10, 2014, new CFPB amendments to Regulation X (implementing the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) and Regulation Z (implementing the Truth in Lending Act) became effective, imposing new requirements on loan servicers to respond to inquiries from residential mortgage loan borrowers within statutorily-specified time periods. An understanding of…
The future of the Government Sponsored Enterprises might be uncertain, but one aspect of their existence is becoming more clear: courts have repeatedly ruled that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are exempt from real property transfer taxes. And those decisions likely benefit servicers too. The cases deal with the exemptions…
On January 28, 2014, a federal judge indicated that home loan borrowers in California may bring breach of contract claims against their loan servicer if the servicer offers a permanent loan modification agreement that differs from what was advertised in communications before the borrowers entered into the prerequisite Trial Period…