A Florida federal court reportedly declared a class action lawsuit against an accredited debt collection agency, which is owned and operated by Bank of America, could go forward. According to Law 360, the decision was based on the conclusion that Bank of America’s Servicers’ Fund had improperly pooled together Servicers’ Adjustable Rate Mortgages into one adjustable rate mortgage package. The class action suit claims that this was done in violation of the law, specifically the Debt Settlement Practices Act. The suit further claims that Bank of America’s Servicers’ Fund targeted low-income and minority borrowers, who are considered a higher risk population for defaulting. In addition, the suit further claims that the Bank of America’s Servicers’ Fund made the decision based on an intentional policy of excluding African Americans and Native Americans from high-risk loans that it guaranteed.
Class Action Lawsuit Ocwen Loan Servicing
Bank of America’s Servicers’ Fund is a huge part of what keeps Bank of America in business, and this ruling could threaten the financial stability of the banking industry in Florida, as well as throughout the country. On November 19, 2021, a majority of the class members of the Ocwen Loan servicing lawsuit filed suit against Bank of America, and claimed that they were owed compensation amounting to billions of dollars by Bank of America as a result of being improperly charged interest rates and serviced mortgages. A previous suit, brought against Bank of America by the same lawyers who handled the Ocwen Loan servicing case, was ruled in favor of Bank of America. However, this ruling is being challenged by Bank of America in its motion to dismiss the case.
The class action suit further claims that Bank of America’s Servicers’ Fund arbitrarily decided to charge interest rates above allowable amounts, and force borrowers into an agreement with higher monthly payments and a corresponding increase in mortgage processing fee.
This would force borrowers to pay an additional thirty percent in processing fees and an additional twenty percent in interest. The increased mortgage processing fee would then cause Bank of America’s Servicers’ Fund to incur legal costs of over one million dollars.
In its answer to the complaint, Bank of America attempted to defend itself on several different levels, arguing that it has a contractual obligation to treat all borrowers equally under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
The bank further claimed that it has every right under RESPA to charge whatever it deems appropriate based on the current market value of the property it is financing. In addition to charging market value based on current market prices, the complaint maintains that the bank’s failure to disclose this information to its borrowers resulted in an unfair and deceptive practice in violation of that federal law. In addition to calling into question Bank of America’s claims, the complaint also refers to an internal investigation, which indicated that the bank routinely engages in such practices. Finally, Bank of America contends that the case cannot be upheld on the basis of an illegal practice known as “discriminatory underwriting.” According to this argument, it is beyond cavil that the bank routinely determines whether a borrower may qualify for a loan based on race, gender, or ethnic origin.
On April 8, Florida’s State Attorneys General filed a complaint against Bank of America for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and for charging housing costs in excess of applicable amounts.
In the complaint, Florida State Attorneys General alleges that Bank of America violated a part of RESPA known as the Credit Practices Act. According to the FCRA, this part of RESPA requires each nationwide financial institution that allows loans to require applicants to provide documentation of their payment histories. Additionally, the FCRA requires that any person making a credit application meet certain standards regarding education, job history, and current income. Florida Attorneys General contends that although Bank of America did submit the requested documentation to Florida’s Department of Financial Services (DFRS), the monitoring agency failed to provide the required documentation in a timely manner causing Bank of America to improperly deny the loan application.
In early August, Bank of America sent a letter to Bank of America’s chief financial officer denying the charges against Bank of America; however, Bank of America did allow the complaint to proceed in the state court system.
The bank is scheduled to begin trial in November. If successful, Bank of America will have to pay all costs associated with the lawsuit, including attorney fees and settlement costs. The terms of settlement in Class Action Lawsuit Ocwen Loan Servicing cases vary from state to state. Before signing any agreement in connection with a Bank of America lawsuit, you should consult with a qualified Ft. Lauderdale or Palm Beach real estate lawyer who has experience in litigating these types of cases.
Owen charge me a 12 percent interest rate for years. My house should be paid off by now. They later gave me over to PHH Mortgage without my knowledge or consent about 2 years ago, more or less.
In 2015 PHH (Ocwen) sent me a loan modification offer in the mail. The letter stated there were several ways that my mortgage could be reduced to help me including but not limited to reduction of interest rate, and principal balance. I called the number provided and was told in order to qualify for the offer I had to default on my mortgage first. So at their advice of numerous agents I stopped paying for three months in order to default.
When the default letter came to me in the mail, I immediately called them for the next steps of the loan modification process. I repetitively received different explanations of how I hadn’t met the requirements. Example. Bank statements, income verification etc… None of which was explained to me needed before I defaulted. Every time I called I was answered by a different off shore agent in a call center with a different Agent ID each time. It got so bad that I could recognize an agents voice, and was given a different ID from them each time.
After what seemed a hundred phone calls, I was finally told that Deutsche Bank , my lender does not do loan modifications and that was that. I asked why they sent me modification offers, advised me to default if they knew Deutsche Bank did not participate? I was never given a reason. I then immediately paid the last three months that I had fallen in arrears as they advised, but was told they would not stop the foreclosure unless I paid them almost 8 thousand in attorney fees. I had no choice to pay the attorney fees to keep my home. This was the most criminally deceptive attempt to steal my home and they should be stripped of all licensing and put out of business by all the states attorney generals. I thank the Lord my credit was good enough to get a loan to pay their ransom and keep my home.
If there are any attorneys reading this with experience in what happened to me, I would love to speak with you.