2601 et seq. Ward, 595 F.3d at 180 (quoting Gunnells, 348 F.3d at 430). 877-683-9363. The Robinsons assert, and Nationstar does not argue otherwise, that litigation regarding Regulation X is not proceeding against Nationstar in another forum. 2605(f), is common question of law and fact that Mr. Robinson and the class members would all be required prove in their individual cases in order to qualify for statutory damages. Nationstar argues that it should be granted summary judgment on all of the RESPA claims because Nationstar was required to comply with Regulation X only as to a borrower's first loss mitigation application, and the Robinsons' March 7, 2014 application was not their first loan modification application. In the Amended Complaint, the Robinsons claim that Nationstar's representations that it offered many loss mitigation plans and "would evaluate" borrowers "for eligibility for all these loss mitigation plans" were false. On July 16, 2018, the Court affirmed the Magistrate Judge's ruling and required Nationstar to produce all outstanding "records subject to discovery orders." See 12 C.F.R. 2006). 3d 1011, 1015 (W.D. 15-05811, 2016 WL 3055901 (N.D. Cal. Where the PaCE consulting fee was a one-time fee to advise the Robinsons in their interactions with Nationstar paid in August 2013, several months before they first submitted the March 2014 loan modification application, this cost was incurred "whether or not [Nationstar] complied with its obligations." Before the error was discovered, Mr. Robinson appealed this offer as insufficient on April 10, 2014. This is not the first time Nationstar has been the subject of federal and state investigations. 218. MSJ JR 0284. 1024.41(b)(2)(B). Since the Court already considered and ruled on these issues, see supra part I.B, it will not revisit those arguments here. . Finally, the named plaintiff must "fairly and adequately protect the interests of class" without a conflict of interest with the absent class members. Messner v. Northshore Univ. Several states also fined Nationstar in 2018 over failing to have proper procedures in place and "unfair and deceptive" mortgage modification policies. See Fed. From this approach, Oliver concluded that for approximately 60 percent of the sampled loans, Nationstar failed to comply with the requirement that it inform the borrower of loss mitigation application determination within 30 days of receiving a complete application. The servicer "is liable for any economic damages caused by the violation." Law 13-301 and 13-303, and that Mr. Robinson therefore may not assert such claims on behalf of the class, Mr. Robinson's remaining claims and defenses are typical of the class members. Docket for Robinson v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC, 8:14-cv-03667 Brought to you by the RECAP Initiative and Free Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to creating high quality open legal information. at 358. After attempts to modify the loan failed, the Robinsons filed a class action Complaint against Defendant Nationstar Mortgage, LLC ("Nationstar") for alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA"), 12 U.S.C. At this stage of the proceedings, the Court must rely on facts in the record, and not assertions in the pleadings. That claim will be subject to common proof, namely sampling and analysis of loan files along the lines suggested by Oliver. The Robinsons' Motion for Class Certification will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Thus, the nature of the proof of whether there has been a pattern or practice of RESPA violations provides substantial support for a finding of predominance. Day to address discovery issues. Accordingly, Nationstar did not send the Robinsons an acknowledgment letter within five days stating that it had received the application, as required by Regulation X. In February 2014, after their income had further decreased, the Robinsons ceased making payments on the mortgage loan. Fed. Law 13-316(c), which requires a response to a loan modification application within 15 days. Some of the alleged damages are not supported in law or in fact. Code Ann., Com. 2017), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that postage costs incurred by the plaintiff to send the "initial request for information is not a cost to the borrower 'as a result of the failure' to comply with a RESPA obligation," because a violation has not occurred and will not "necessarily occur" at the time the plaintiff paid the postage. Similarly, since Mr. Robinson has not suffered injury under these provisions, he may not bring those claims on behalf of the class. Certification will also be denied as to the claim under 12 C.F.R. Under the terms of the Settlement, if nothing else occurs in the litigation, then the Settlement will become effective 95 days from the date of that decision by the Court of Appeals. See Broussard, 155 F.3d at 344. Id. Many impacted consumers have already received refunds and more will be contacted by the settlement administrator in the coming weeks. 2010). Law 13-316(c), the Court will grant class certification as to those class members and claims. In Frank v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. Nationstar's Motion will be denied as to this claim. Therefore, Nationstar was required to comply with section 1024.41 in processing it. Id. 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. The distinction is crucial. While she is trained as a bookkeeper, at the time of the Robinsons' 2014 application for a loan modification and in the subsequent months, Mrs. Robinson was not employed in any capacity. The Robinsons own a business called Green Earth Services, which provides waste and recycling services to clients. A code is entered in Remedy Star when the letter is sent. 1024.41 2605(f)(2). From this methodology, Oliver concluded that Nationstar failed to inform borrowers of their appeal rights in 39 percent of the sampled loans and failed to exercise reasonable diligence by improperly requested the same documentation already provided in 18 percent of the loans. McLean v. GMAC Mortg. Law 13-316(c). 19-303.4 cmt.3. A fact is "material" if it "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Reg. 2003) ("[I]f Lierboe has no stacking claim, she cannot represent others who may have such a claim, and her bid to serve as a class representative must fail. Sept. 29, 2017); Billings v. Seterus, Inc., 170 F. Supp. J. Plaintiffs "must present specific evidence to establish a causal link between the [servicer's] violation and their injuries." 2601-2617 (2012), specifically RESPA's implementing regulations known as "Regulation X," 12 C.F.R. As the Supreme Court noted in Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137 (1999), Daubert "made clear that its list of factors was meant to be helpful, not definitive," and it is not always the case that an expert witness's claim will have been subjected to peer review. Co, 445 F.3d 311, 318 (4th Cir. 2013)). Mot. These fees allegedly violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Washington state Collection Agency Act. Proof of these claims requires a showing of the dates that an application was received, an acknowledgment letter was sent, an application became complete, Nationstar sent a decision letter to the borrower, and a foreclosure sale is scheduled. . 15-0925, 2015 WL 5165415, at *4 (D. Md. The "Maryland Subclass" consists of "[a]ll persons in the State of Maryland that submitted a loss mitigation application to Nationstar after January 10, 2014, and through the date of the Court's certification order." Northern District of Ohio, ohnd-1:2021-cv-00452 of 0 An error occurred while loading the PDF. MCC JR 0003. United States v. Valona, 834 F.2d 1334, 1344 (7th Cir. 2002) (affirming without addressing the propriety of the striking of the expert testimony). 8:2014cv03667 - Document 18 (D. Md. You will not receive a payment if you fail to timely submit a completed Claim Form, and you will give up your right to bring your own lawsuit against the Defendant about the claims in this case. The Robinsons do not address this argument in their Opposition. Discovery Order, ECF No. 3d 249, 266 (D. Md. During this period, in August 2013, the Robinsons retained a forensic loan auditor, Professional Compliance Examiners ("PaCE"), and paid it $2,275 to help them communicate with Nationstar. In assessing the Motion, the Court views the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, with all justifiable inferences drawn in its favor. Although the parties have not offered specific details on the nature and timing of those costs and fees, it is reasonable to infer that at least some portion of them were incurred after they submitted their March 7, 2014 loan modification application and after Nationstar had violated Regulation X. See Lierboe v. State Farm Mut. To the extent that, as Nationstar claims, such a determination could not be fully accomplished through computerized analysis alone, the resources needed to resolve this question would be even greater, such that the importance of having it resolved in a common fashion for all claims would be heightened. 1024.41(f), (g), and (h), and Md. 2605(f). Instead, the Robinsons assert that Nationstar has not affirmatively proven that it conducted such reviews. Distribution of funds to Class Members, however, could not occur because a member of the Class filed an objection to the Settlement and a subsequent appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. However, Nationstar did not comply with all requirements of Regulation X, which became effective on January 10, 2014. See Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 178 (1974) ("In determining the propriety of a class action, the question is not whether the plaintiff or plaintiffs have stated a cause of action or will prevail on the merits, but rather whether the requirements of Rule 23 are met."). "[N]amed class representatives [must] demonstrate standing through a 'requisite case or controversy between themselves personally and defendants,' not merely allege that 'injury has been suffered by other, unidentified members of the class to which they belong and which they purport to represent.'" 1024.41(i). Throughout discovery, Nationstar repeatedly stated that it could not produce the data on loss mitigation or loan modification applications from its databases in the form requested by the Robinsons. 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." An "unfair or deceptive" trade practice includes a "false . In the case of Tony Robinson and Debra Robinson vs Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, the appeals court ruled that the lender did not actually have the right to foreclose on the property. Between July 2010 and November 2013, the Robinsons submitted and Nationstar denied three applications for a loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program ("HAMP"). Regulation X went into effect on January 10, 2014. To calculate damages, Oliver stated that he would look to data from the LSAMS application, including data tables that contain fee information, to identify fees that would not have been charged but for Nationstar's various RESPA violations, but that he was not able to evaluate this data in his report because it had not been provided to him. Oliver's expert report focuses on the use of Nationstar's internal databases to determine whether Nationstar has systematically failed to comply with various requirements of Regulation X. Id. Furthermore, determining whether statutory damages are available will require no individualized consideration, because the pattern-or-practice claim "would be based solely on" Nationstar's conduct and can be established through sampling. Nationstar broke that trust by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices," Kraninger added. A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit alleging Nationstar Mortgage LLC (Nationstar or Defendant) violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by failing to adhere to its requirements with respect to its customers loss mitigation applications and that Nationstar violated Maryland law by not timely responding to its customers mortgage servicing complaints. Finally, while Nationstar presented arguments for why the Robinsons have not shown damages as to most of the asserted categories, it did not advance any argument for why the interest damages claimed by the Robinsons were not attributable to Nationstar's Regulation X violations and thus is not entitled to summary judgment on that issue. Because Oliver analyzed proprietary databases and data specifically disclosed for this litigation pursuant to a protective order, such that Oliver's peers lack access to the same information, Oliver's expert testimony is not of the type that ordinarily would be subject to peer review, and it would be unfair to require "general acceptance within a relevant scientific community."
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