U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, has introduced the Arbitration Fairness for Consumers Act. The legislation, introduced on March 7, proposes to amend Title X of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to prohibit pre-dispute arbitration agreements and class-action waivers in contracts
On February 22, the Fourth Circuit clarified in a published opinion what communications constitute a qualified written request (QWR) under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The Fourth Circuit held that “where a written correspondence to a loan servicer provides sufficient information to identify the account and an alleged servicing error, such correspondence is
In the recent case Stepp v. U.S. Bank Trust, N.A., the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit narrowed the applicability of 24 C.F.R. § 203.604, a federal regulation that requires a face-to-face meeting prior to foreclosure for certain mortgage loans insured by the Fair Housing Act.
The contested regulation, issued
Please join Troutman Sanders’ attorneys, Andrew Buxbaum, Jon Hubbard, Mohsin Reza, and Elizabeth Briones for the Complimentary Webinar: “Lessons Learned from the Great Recession” on April 16, 2020 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET.
The economic consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are proving to be far-reaching as millions of American consumers are finding
On April 6, the California Judicial Council, which is the policymaking body of the California court system, adopted 11 emergency rules in light of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic.
Emergency Rule 2 suspends all judicial foreclosures, including actions for deficiency judgments. All judicial foreclosures are stayed and the statute of limitations is tolled until 90 days
On April 1, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order against Cottonwood Financial, Ltd., a short-term, small dollar lender located in Texas. After reviewing the lender’s installment lending, payday lending, title lending, marketing, collections, and furnishing practices, the CFPB identified a number of violations, including those under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15
In a published opinion that should be advantageous to foreclosing parties, the Supreme Court of Virginia found that if a borrower cannot plead that he or she could have cured a mortgage loan default, then a foreclosure sale is “inevitable” and alleged defects in a notice of default cannot support a claim for rescission of
In Salinas v. R.A. Rogers, Inc., debtor Marco Salinas obtained a personal loan that was silent as to whether interest or charges could accrue in the event of default. After Salinas defaulted, debt collector R.A. Rogers, Inc. sent a letter informing him of the total amount due and warning that interest and other charges
Freddie Mac announced on March 18 that it is taking action to protect those affected—either directly or indirectly—by the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. Freddie Mac announced a nationwide suspension of all foreclosure sales and evictions of borrowers living in homes owned by the company.
It also announced additional mortgage relief options, including an expansion of its
On March 18, the Court of Appeals of Maryland has stayed all residential foreclosures and evictions during the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. The Court determined that the “[e]scalation of the emergency has required comprehensive measures to protect the health, safety, and well-being of Maryland residents and judiciary personnel.” The Court further ruled that all “[f]oreclosures of