Law 13-316(e)(1), and "actual damages," 12 U.S.C. Rules Prof'l Conduct 3.4 cmt. Since Mr. Robinson has the same goal as the other class members of establishing that Nationstar violated Regulation X with respect to his loan, he will adequately protect their interests. even after that settlement was reached. Id. In Accrued Financial, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that where commercial real estate tenants assigned their potential claims against their landlords to a commercial real estate auditor under an arrangement through which the auditor would receive a percentage of any recovery in litigation, the assignments violated public policy because where the auditor's employees could testify in such litigation, the assignments "provide for supplying expert testimony for a contingent fee." DEMETRIUS ROBINSON and TAMARA ROBINSON, Plaintiffs, v. NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC, Defendant. White setting Settlement Conference for 10/3/2023 at 9:00 AM in Chambers, Room 327, US Courthouse, . 1024.41(b)(1), which requires reasonable diligence in obtaining documents and information to complete a loss mitigation application; and Md. Nationstar further argues that summary judgment must be entered in its favor on the Robinsons' claims under 12 C.F.R. The regulation is silent on whether a loss mitigation application submitted before January 10, 2014 could qualify as the "single complete loss mitigation application." When combined with the state settlements, Nationstar is on the hook to pay a total of $91 million overall: $85 million to harmed consumers and $6 million in civil penalties. Gunnells v. Healthplan Serv., Inc., 348 F.3d 417, 458 (4th Cir. Law 13-316(e), for the reasons stated above, see supra part I.B.4, the Robinsons have provided sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact whether they have suffered economic damages, in the form of administrative costs, fees, and interest. Following protracted litigation, Nationstar, and the Robinsonsnegotiated a $3,0 00,000 settlement. McLean v. GMAC Mortg. The company has already paid about $57.5 million in restitution to affected consumers, according to the CFPB. Nationstar also asserts that the Robinsons have not identified evidence sufficient to support their MCPA claims. 2605(f)(2); Wirtz, 886 F.3d at 719-20, that the individualized damages inquiry would need to precede the award of statutory damages based on a finding of a pattern-or-practice of RESPA violations is a distinction without a difference: whether individual damages are shown before or after the pattern-or-practice liability, the common issues of liability predominate over the individualized questions of damages. In assessing this element, "numbers alone are not controlling" and a district court should consider "all of the circumstances of the case." Summ. Nationstar also argues that Oliver's report should be stricken as unreliable under the Federal Rules of Evidence and Daubert. In addition to the fee paid to PaCE, the Robinsons also assert as damages $50.58 in administrative costs, specifically postage fees for sending information relating to their loan modification application to Nationstar, and 120 hours of time expended on the loan modification process. He was retained by the Robinsons under an arrangement through which he is to be paid a flat fee of $125,000: $62,500 up front, with an additional $62,500 to be paid if a class is certified in this case. 1024.41(h)(1), (4). 12 U.S.C. 1024.41(c)(1)(ii), which requires a servicer to respond to a completed loan modification application; or Md. "Since then, we have continued to invest in technology, people, and leadership to ensure that our compliance and risk management programs not only meet our regulators' expectations but also support sustainable growth and maintain our position as an industry leader.". It follows that only borrowers may bring a claim that a loan servicer has violated Regulation X. 2014))). Filing fee paid $ 402, Receipt number AOHNDC-10680087. MCC JR 318, 530-531. 1024.41(c)(1)(i). Nationstar sent Mr. Robinson two letters denying his loan modification application on July 17, 2014 and September 9, 2014, but there is no evidence in the record that the Robinsons submitted an appeal to either of those letters. Johnson, 374 F. App'x at 873; Keen v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, No. Where the cost of litigation as compared to the potential recovery gives class members little incentive to bring suit, and there is little reason to individually control the litigation, a class action is a superior method to vindicate the rights of class members. Nationstar employees use four software applications and databases to store and track electronic information relating to loans: (1) Loan Services and Accounting Management System ("LSAMS"), Nationstar's primary loan servicing software, which contains data for loans, including the permanent records of the accounting history, communication logs, and letters documented with codes that were sent to the borrower; (2) Remedy Star, Nationstar's proprietary loss mitigation and loan modification management system, which, among other tasks, tracks the status and timeline of a loan modification and links to documents stored in FileNet; (3) LPS Desktop ("LPS"), an application which Nationstar uses to track and manage foreclosure processes and communicate with outside attorneys; and (4) FileNet, a platform that houses PDF images of documents, including letters sent to borrowers by Nationstar. Because such a common question would have to be resolved in many if not all individual cases, it advances, rather than undermines, the argument in favor of predominance. Id. Hickerson, 882 F.3d at 480 (quoting Cooper, 259 F.3d at 199). The Robinsons and Nationstar then engaged in a series of tortured exchanges over the next several months. On July 16, 2018, the Court affirmed the Magistrate Judge's ruling and required Nationstar to produce all outstanding "records subject to discovery orders." 2002) (affirming without addressing the propriety of the striking of the expert testimony). Nationstar, the fourth-largest mortgage servicer in the U.S., is set to pay $91 million to settle claims brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state attorneys general alleging that the company failed to honor mortgage forbearance agreements and unfairly foreclosed on homeowners. See Stillmock v. Weis Markets, Inc., 385 F. App'x 267, 275 (4th Cir. Nov. 12, 2011), the court held that a plaintiff who signed a deed of trust on a property and was a joint tenant with her son, but did not sign the promissory note, had constitutional standing to bring a RESPA claim because she stood to be injured if a default on her son's loan led to the loss of her equitable interest in the property. 1024.41(i). . "); cf. Specifically, if a loss mitigation application is received "45 days or more before a foreclosure sale," the loan servicer must provide a notice to the borrower "in writing within 5 days" of receiving it in which the servicer acknowledges receipt of the application and states whether the "application is either complete or incomplete." See Md. In approving such a modification, Nationstar made a mistake: the underwriter working on the Robinsons' loan had erroneously double-counted their income. Some courts have held that administrative costs that predate the alleged RESPA violation cannot constitute "actual damages." It will be otherwise denied. First, as a threshold matter, the Court notes that in ruling on Nationstar's Motion for Summary Judgment, it will grant judgment in favor of Nationstar as to Mrs. Robinson's claims, Mr. Robinson's RESPA claims under 12 C.F.R. Actual damages may also include "non-pecuniary damages, such as emotional distress and pain and suffering." Nationstar's reliance on Accrued Financial Services v. Prime Retail, Inc., 298 F.3d 291 (4th Cir. Regulation X's effective date reflected "an intent not to apply it to conduct occurring prior to that date." Furthermore, the Robinsons have made a sufficient showing that a central computerized analysis of Nationstar data would substantially, if not completely, resolve questions of whether RESPA violations occurred. Robinson v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC. Subsequent Loss Mitigation Application. Corp. ("McLean I"), 595 F. Supp. In this photo illustration, the Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. logo seen displayed on a smartphone. Signed by Judge Theodore D. Chuang on 8/18/2015. But see Sutton v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 228 F. Supp. In support of these claims, Mr. Robinson testified in his deposition that the $141,000 in interest represents the amount that the Robinsons have been overcharged over the life of the loan. The use of a class action is primarily justified on the grounds of efficiency, because it advances judicial economy to resolve common issues affecting all class members in a single action. 15-05811, 2016 WL 3055901 (N.D. Cal. See Krakauer v. Dish Network, L.L.C., 925 F.3d 643, 658 (4th Cir. application to Nationstar after January 10, 2014, and through the date of the Court's . The Court does not find such a prohibition in the Maryland Attorneys' Rules of Professional Conduct. 89, 90, ECF No. McLean v. GMAC Mortg. After this missed payment, Nationstar assessed a late fee. J. Id. For example, since default fees are often paid by sources other than the borrower, such as in a short sale or refinancing, Nationstar challenges Oliver's assessment that fees identified through LSAMS can be deemed to constitute damages from RESPA violations, because the software does not reflect who paid the fee. Whether an application is complete depends on the requirements of the investor who holds the loan. If you want a reissue with no changes to the check, simply email, phone, or write us at: : info@NationstarConsentOrder.com. is generally unproblematic as the non-injured parties can just be sorted out at the remedies phase of the suit."). Motor Freight System, Inc. v. Rodriguez, 431 U.S. 395, 403 (1977))). Settlement. Through both a declaration by a Nationstar Vice President of Default Servicing, Brandon Anderson, and an expert report by Stuart D. Gurrea, Nationstar contests Oliver's analysis and endeavors to establish that the only way to identify RESPA violations using Nationstar's data is through a file-by-file review. Mot. 2015) (holding that Regulation X did not apply to loss mitigation applications submitted before the effective date). The Magistrate Judge ordered Nationstar to run those scripts and return the electronic data to the Robinsons. Current Outline Item. R. Civ. Messner v. Northshore Univ. In the samples . In 2020, the Robinsons and Nationstar filed a notice of settlement and a joint motion to proceed before a magistrate "A loss mitigation application is a request from a borrower to change the terms of their payment obligations to avoid delinquency or foreclosure." J.A. Cent. 2013) (holding that the plaintiff sufficiently pleaded actual injury or loss under the MCPA where he alleged that he suffered "bogus late fees," damage to his credit, and attorney's fees); see also Cole v. Fed'l Nat'l Mortg. v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC Nationstar Call Settlement Administrator PO Box 3560 2003). On March 8, 2014, Nationstar sent to Mr. Robinson a letter stating that he was ineligible for a HAMP modification, but on March 15, 2014, it sent a different letter offering a loan modification under which Mr. Robinson would receive a reduced interest rate for two years. See 12 C.F.R. Feb. 14, 2017) (holding that the plaintiff sufficiently pleaded damages under the MCPA where she alleged that the defendant's failures to respond "resulted in the continual assessment of accruing interest, fees and costs on the mortgage account," as well as "stress, physical sickness, headaches, sleep deprivation, worry, and pecuniary expenses").
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