Weekly Brief: BoA Sued; SCOTUS Shortlists; Fund Fights Argentina
What Happened? On March 13, 2024, Fannie Mae issued Servicing Guide Announcement (SVC-2024-02) (the “Announcement”), which announced, among other things, updates to Fannie Mae’s Loan Modification Agreement (Form 3179), with...more
The New York Court of Appeals’ decision last week, Freedom Mortgage Corp v. Engel, contains two “reliable and objective rules permitting consistent application of the statute of limitations.” What are those rules? ...more
Economic turmoil brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has created much concern about a potential rise in residential foreclosures. On August 5, 2020, Governor Jim Justice followed his presentation on school reopening...more
On August 27, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the extension of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moratorium on single-family foreclosures from August 31, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The moratorium on...more
Three federal agencies who make, guarantee, and insure mortgage loans, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department...more
On March 24, 2020, in response to the growing anticipation that renters in multifamily properties are being negatively impacted by the implications of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”), the Federal Housing Finance...more
The COVID-19 crisis has led to foreclosure moratoriums at the regulatory, executive, and judicial level. Servicers should consider that compliance with these, regardless of level, may not protect them from later challenges to...more
During a COVID-19 press briefing at the White House on March 18, 2020, President Donald Trump announced that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will temporarily suspend “all foreclosures and evictions.” The...more
In In re Fortin, 598 B.R. 689 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2019), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts considered whether a lender may enforce a mortgage despite the unenforceability of the underlying...more
The past year saw the lower courts wrestle with the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bank of America Corp. v. City of Miami that, like the Court’s previous ruling in Texas Department of Community Affairs v....more
Two recent Massachusetts Appeals Court decisions offer both clarity and caution to mortgage lenders seeking to enforce their loan documents. These decisions address the importance of properly drafting prepayment provisions in...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
As we’ve discussed on this blog before, Nevada’s courts remain a battleground for lenders seeking to establish that their security interests were not eliminated by homeowners’ association foreclosure sales under NRS 116. In...more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a significant decision in favor of lenders and mortgage servicers fighting off claims that their mortgage liens were extinguished by Nevada homeowners...more
If you purchase a mortgage, how can you prove the amount due in a subsequent foreclosure lawsuit? That is the question that is raised in a series of recent Florida court cases. Proving the amount due at trial is sometimes...more
The state of Michigan has supplied the Sixth Circuit with no shortage of foreclosure-related decisions since the financial crisis, but the court’s recent decision in Garcia v. Federal National Mortgage Association, No....more
Attacking sufficiency, accuracy, or validity of assignments of mortgages and deeds of trust has been among the most common strategies employed by borrowers to challenge foreclosures. Allegations regarding the status of MERS,...more