Civil Remedies › Finance & Banking

Incentive Awards Corrupted Class Action Settlement By Undermining Adequacy Of Class Representatives And Counsel

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently considered “the issue of whether class representatives and class counsel are adequate where the settlement agreement conditions payment of incentive awards on...more

Rogers Towers: Post-Judgment Recovery of Attorney’s Fees and Costs

One of the issues faced by a judgment creditor in pursuing collection of the judgment is the amount of attorney’s fees and costs that will be incurred in the collection efforts. They can be substantial and are generally not...more

California Federal District Court Reinstates Order In Overdraft Class Action

On May 14, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California reinstated a prior order enjoining a national bank from engaging in false or misleading representations relating to certain overdraft practices and...more

CFPB Issues Rules Governing Use of Civil Penalty Funds

One of the most intriguing aspects of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the agency's novel power not only to assess civil penalties against those entities that violate its rules and federal consumer laws, but...more

Loan Modification and the Failure to Mitigate Damages

Freddie Mac has announced the immediate implementation of its Streamlined Modification program, a no-document modification program offered to severely delinquent borrowers. The implementation of the program, originally set to...more

The Federal Reserve's Minimum Standards for Prioritization and Handling Borrower Files with Imminent Foreclosure Sale

The Federal Reserve's Minimum Standards for Prioritization and Handling Borrower Files with Imminent Foreclosure Sale. The Federal Reserves guidance is significant because it applies to all regulated bank servicing, rather...more

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Minimum Standards for Prioritization and Handling Borrower Files Subject to Imminent...

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Minimum Standards for Prioritization and Handling Borrower Files Subject to Imminent Foreclosure Sale for all OCC Regulated Banks. The OCC guidance is significant because it...more

New Justice Department's FIRREA Cases Against Banks: Holding The Victim Responsible

The government’s ever-evolving response to the United States financial crisis has come full circle, as civil Justice Department Attorneys seek to rely on legislation enacted to protect financial institutions from fraud to sue...more

Federal Court Dismisses United States Action Against Countrywide In Part

On May 8, Judge Jed Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed claims by the United States for damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act against Countrywide and...more

VERONICA GUTIERREZ, ERIN WALKER, and WILLIAM SMITH v WELLS FARGO BANK N.A.

CLASS ACTION FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AFTER BENCH TRIAL AWARDING $203 MILLION TO WELLS FARGO'S CALIFORNIA CUSTOMERS

CLASS ACTION FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AFTER BENCH TRIAL AWARDING $203 MILLION TO WELLS FARGO'S CALIFORNIA CUSTOMERS. A California judge ordered Wells Fargo to pay California customers $203 after finding that...more

Assured and UBS Agree to Settle RMBS Litigation for $358 Million

On May 6, monoline insurer Assured Guaranty Ltd. announced a $358 million settlement with UBS and its affiliates stemming from losses on residential mortgage-backed securities that were issued, sponsored or underwriten by...more

Senator Elizabeth Warren's May 14, 2013 letter to Ben Bernanke, Eric Holder, & Mary Jo White

Senator Elizabeth Warren's May 14, 2013 letter to The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, U.S. Department of Justice...

Senator Elizabeth Warren Pushes Feds For Answer On Big Bank Enforcement WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) raised the stakes of her quest to find out why a single Wall Street bank has not been prosecuted in the...more

Real World - Spring 2013: Damages include fall in market

Two recent cases have highlighted circumstances in which damages for breach of contract may include loss caused by a fall in market values....more

Bank Did Not Alter Right To Foreclose By Agreeing To Work With The Debtor After Bankruptcy Dismissal

In Branch Banking and Trust Company v. TCI Luna Ventures, LLC, BB&T appealed a temporary injunction order prohibiting it from foreclosing on two properties owned by TCI Luna. No. 05-12-00653-CV, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 1745...more

The ERISA Litigation Newsletter - May 2013

This month our articles focus on the availability of damages in complex ERISA class actions and withdrawal liability actions. Jackie Len first provides Proskauer's perspective on the implications for ERISA litigation arising...more

InfoBytes Special Alert: CFPB Issues Final Civil Penalty Fund Rule With Request For Comment

On April 26, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or the Bureau) issued a final rule, effective immediately, that sets forth procedures for the administration of the Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund (Civil...more

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA vs. JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.; CHASE BANK USA, N.A; CHASE BANKCARD SERVICES, INC.

Complaint for Fraudulent and Unlawful Debt-Collection Practices against tens of thousands of Californians.

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today filed an enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (Chase) alleging that the bank engaged in fraudulent and unlawful debt-collection practices against tens of thousands of...more

The SCRA and Motor Vehicles - Auto Loans Vroom into the Forefront of Enforcement

In 2003, Congress passed the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA or “Act”), which updated and replaced the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act. The SCRA has been described as the “greatest single statutory source of...more

Tenth Circuit Holds Affidavit Sufficient To Avoid Summary Judgment On FCRA Emotional Damage Claim

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s award of summary judgment to a mortgage servicer who provided a negative credit report after the borrower...more

GSEs: Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgages

Yesterday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it is directing Fannie Mae ("Fannie") and Freddie Mac ("Freddie") to limit their future mortgage acquisitions to loans that meet the requirements for a...more

CFPB Explains Use Of Civil Penalty Fund

On April 26, the CFPB issued a final rule that (i) establishes the governance structure of the Civil Penalty Fund, including the position of Civil Penalty Fund Administrator, (ii) identifies categories of victims who may...more

Wartime Suspension Of Limitations Act Suspends Statute Of Limitations In False Claims Act Cases

The False Claims Act (FCA), which allows both the government and whistleblowers to seek treble damages for claims of civil fraud on the United States, is a powerful tool. In the past two years, the government has aggressively...more

FTC: Data Brokers That Compile Tenant Data May Be Covered by FCRA

On April 3, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission issued a press release that marks yet another step in its continuing trend of actions involving data brokers and data providers. As we have noted in earlier blog posts, the...more

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman To Sue Wells Fargo & Bank Of America For Violating National Mortgage Settlement

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman To Sue Wells Fargo & Bank Of America For Violating National Mortgage Settlement...more

Credit Crunch Digest -- April 2013

This issue of the Credit Crunch Digest focuses on the dismissal of antitrust claims against major banks in Libor-related litigation; settlement in the Merrill Lynch/Bank of America merger case; settlement in the SAC Capital...more