The North Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday, May 23 held that a credit union’s unilateral update to add an arbitration provision and class action waiver to its contract with one of its customers was valid under North...more
Got any old judgments you were hoping to collect? If so, you may want to take a hard look at pursuing collection in North Carolina. An August 3 ruling from the North Carolina Court of Appeals regarding out of state judgments...more
Well that was unexpected. In a major ruling on March 12 (Chisum v. Campagna), the North Carolina Supreme Court set aside almost 40 years of established precedent and held that the “discovery rule” applies to the accrual of...more
2020. What a year! While many of us were expecting that an economic downturn was due after so many years of positive economic growth, none of us were expecting it to come in quite this fashion. But one positive change has...more
The current good economy (going on almost 10 years now) has meant that North Carolina appellate decisions affecting lenders trying to collect defaulted debt have been few and far between in the last couple of years. The North...more
3/29/2019
/ Appeals ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Default ,
Fannie Mae ,
Foreclosure ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Non-Judicial Foreclosures ,
Primary Residence ,
Reversal ,
Reverse Mortgages ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wells Fargo
When a lienholder starts a foreclosure, it usually is focused on getting money into its pocket. Yet a recent opinion from the North Carolina Court of Appeals (In re: Ackah – Sept. 5, 2017) should provide a warning to all...more
Here we are nearing the end of another U.S. Supreme Court term, and it has been a busy one in the creditors’ rights arena – and a particularly good one for debt buyers. On June 12, 2017, the Supreme Court issued its second...more
Readers of my case alerts may remember a July 2015 alert about the troubling North Carolina Court of Appeals decision in United Community Bank v. Wolfe, which made it a lot harder for lenders to obtain a post-foreclosure...more
Late December is a time of family, mistletoe and “presents under the tree.” It’s not usually the time when minds switch to the specifics of foreclosure procedure. Yet just before they retired for their Christmas break, the...more
May is usually a busy month on the Supreme Court before the justices head off for some summer R&R. It is historically a time when many opinions are issued, and May 2016 has been no exception. ...more
5/19/2016
/ Article III ,
Chapter 7 ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtor-Creditor ,
Dischargeable Debts ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraudulent Conveyance ,
Husky International Electronics v Ritz ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Personal Liability ,
SCOTUS ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Statutory Damages
It was a busy week in the fabled halls of justice last week as judges undoubtedly worked to get out a few more opinions before Easter break. Two opinions, one from the Supreme Court and one from the Fourth Circuit Court of...more
4/1/2016
/ Class Action ,
Commercial Loans ,
Creditors ,
Debt Collectors ,
ECOA ,
Family Status Discrimination ,
FDCPA ,
Guarantors ,
Hawkins v Community Bank of Raymore ,
SCOTUS ,
Spousal Guaranty ,
Waivers
Put down your remotes for just a minute and let’s talk about res judicata. You remember that lovely Latin legal concept don’t you? Or maybe you prefer the more modern English version of “claim preclusion”? Either way it means...more
Fall is football time. And as every football fan knows, not every player on the line of scrimmage is an eligible receiver. Imagine how dramatically it would change the game if the entire offensive line were eligible to catch...more
Ya’ll. (I’m in the South so it’s ok to say “ya’ll” even in a legal update). It shouldn’t be that hard to get a deficiency judgment in North Carolina. To start with, unlike some other states, North Carolina does not have a...more
North Carolina courts have long held that a lender does not owe a fiduciary duty to its borrowers. But what about a “Duty to Negotiate in Good Faith?" In a recent opinion (RREF BB Acquisitions, LLC v. MAS Properties, June 9,...more
Defaulting borrowers sure do keep trying hard to get foreclosures kicked out on any procedural grounds possible. In our last go around, dear readers, you’ll recall the North Carolina Court of Appeals weighed in on the NC...more
Let’s face it. Zombies are everywhere. I can’t seem to pass a movie theater or flip a TV channel without seeing or hearing something about them. So of course they were top of mind when I read the North Carolina Court of...more
As the Bard’s Juliet famously mused, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” One might similarly wonder at the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision yesterday (March 2, 2015) to grant...more
Beware!! The story brought to us today courtesy of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (In re: Motor Liquidation Co., 13-2187) is one that should strike fear into the hearts of all bankers and lawyers. It is a cautionary tale...more
1/23/2015
/ Appeals ,
Banks ,
Collateral ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Financing ,
General Motors ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Secured Debt ,
Termination Statements ,
UCC Financing Statements ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
North Carolina Court of Appeals – No Causes of Action against Financial Institutions for Aiding and Abetting Breach of Fiduciary Duty or Bank Secrecy Act Violations -
While many bank employees were counting down to...more