Specifically, the application itself would have to be reviewed to determine when it was stamped as received by Nationstar. Nationstar employees use four software applications and databases to store and track electronic information relating to loans: (1) Loan Services and Accounting Management System ("LSAMS"), Nationstar's primary loan servicing software, which contains data for loans, including the permanent records of the accounting history, communication logs, and letters documented with codes that were sent to the borrower; (2) Remedy Star, Nationstar's proprietary loss mitigation and loan modification management system, which, among other tasks, tracks the status and timeline of a loan modification and links to documents stored in FileNet; (3) LPS Desktop ("LPS"), an application which Nationstar uses to track and manage foreclosure processes and communicate with outside attorneys; and (4) FileNet, a platform that houses PDF images of documents, including letters sent to borrowers by Nationstar. which has the capacity, tendency, or effect of deceiving or misleading consumers." A magistrate granted preliminary approval. Reg. It is the plaintiffs who bear the burden of proving their claims. Case No. The Motions are fully briefed, and no hearing is necessary to resolve the issues. Motor Freight System, Inc. v. Rodriguez, 431 U.S. 395, 403 (1977))). v. W.R. Grace & Co., 6 F.3d 177, 188 (4th Cir. In Frank v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1024.41(d). Id. During this period, in August 2013, the Robinsons retained a forensic loan auditor, Professional Compliance Examiners ("PaCE"), and paid it $2,275 to help them communicate with Nationstar. Rules Prof'l Conduct 3.4 cmt. But see Ayres v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 129 F. Supp. While Demetrius Robinson did appeal Nationstar's March 15, 2014 offer of an in-house modification, the requirements of subsection (h) were not triggered because the offer was not a denial of a loan modification application. A code is entered in Remedy Star when the letter is sent. 1972). The Nationwide Class and the Maryland Subclass are ascertainable and satisfy the Rule 23(a) factors. MSJ JR 0284. If the application is denied, a notice to that effect is sent to the borrower. Similarly, though the precise nature of the fees imposed was not specified, it is reasonable to infer that some were attributable to delays linked to RESPA violations. In focusing on whether RESPA violations can be established through computerized analysis rather than individual file review, the parties lose track of the fact that because statutory damages are predicated on a finding that there has been a pattern or practice of RESPA violations, that issue common to almost any individual claim plays an outsized role in the predominance analysis. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). On August 26, 2014, Nationstar mailed another letter acknowledging 1024.41(f), (g), and (h); and (4) there is no evidence of actual damages from any RESPA violation. Indeed, Mr. Robinson testified that Mrs. Robinson did not sign the Note because she did not purchase the property with him. 12 C.F.R. 8:2014cv03667 - Document 18 (D. Md. J. MCC JR 530. And given that the class includes all borrowers who have submitted an application since January 10, 2014, joinder of all members is eminently impractical. 0 According to Nationstar's Underwriting Workflow Procedures, which sets forth the steps followed to review loans for modifications, when a borrower submits a loan modification application, a code is entered into LSAMS and updates the loan's substatus in Remedy Star. . THEODORE D. CHUANG United States District Judge. The Motion will be granted as to all of Tamara Robinson's claims and as to Demetrius Robinson's claims under 12 C.F.R. This Court previously held that a loan modification application can be an inquiry under the MCPA that triggers a duty to respond, and that in the case of the Robinsons, the loan modification application that was "submitted at the request of Nationstar[] necessarily seeks a response." at 151. The language of the regulation states not that a loan servicer must comply with Regulation X's requirements only for a borrower's first loss mitigation application, but that a loan servicer must "comply with the requirements" only "for a single complete loss mitigation application." The Robinsons have not made any mortgage payments since January 2014 and have not been assessed any late fees since February 2014. However, Nationstar did not comply with all requirements of Regulation X, which became effective on January 10, 2014. Because of the manner in which class discovery was conducted, see supra part II.A, Oliver did not have access to all of Nationstar's data fields for the representative sample of loans. The Court will therefore deny the Motion for Summary Judgment as to this argument. Code Ann., Com. See, e.g., Ward v. Dixie Nat. 222. The predominance and superiority requirements under Rule 23(b)(3) are designed to ensure that the class action "achieve[s] economies of time, effort, and expense, and promote[s] . Check out:Covid-19 pandemic is the first time 40% of Americans have experienced food insecurity, Don't miss:Amex Blue Cash Preferred is offering an elevated welcome bonus for a limited time, Get Make It newsletters delivered to your inbox, Learn more about the world of CNBC Make It, 2023 CNBC LLC. Thus, a loan servicer could not have complied with Regulation X for a loss mitigation application submitted before January 10, 2014 because there was no regulation in effect with which to comply. Reg. Where such statements in no way promise approval, the Robinsons appear to claim that such statements are false or misleading because Nationstar never intended to, and did not, evaluate the Robinsons for the various loss mitigation options. 1024.41(c)(1)(ii), 1024.41(b)(1), the Court concludes that common computerized analysis will substantially advance the resolution of such claims, even if not entirely eliminating the need for reviewing certain specific file documents. 2605(f). 2004). The plaintiff's claim "cannot be so different from the claims of absent class members that their claims will not be advanced by" proof of the plaintiff's own individual claim. Robinson, 2015 WL 4994491, at *4 (citing Marchese v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 917 F. Supp. Regulation X went into effect on January 10, 2014. They have claimed $141,000 in interest; $6,147.12 in fees assessed by Nationstar; $2,275 in consulting fees; $50.58 in administrative costs; and lost time and labor of approximately 120 hours; as well as punitive and statutory damages. 2010). Since the Court already considered and ruled on these issues, see supra part I.B, it will not revisit those arguments here. Fed. As a result, on January 29, 2018, the Magistrate Judge granted the Robinsons' Motion to Compel in which the Robinsons had sought to have the Court order Nationstar to accept and run scripts created by the Robinsons' expert to extract the relevant data from Nationstar's databases on the sample of loans from which they could test their methodology for identifying members of the proposed classes. Law 13-303(4)-(5), 13-408. . The proposed settlement with the CFPB requires Nationstar to pay $73 million in restitution to affected borrowers, as well as a $1.5 million civil penalty to the agency. If the loan servicer denies a loan modification application where the complete application was received more than 90 days before a foreclosure sale, the servicer must allow the borrower to appeal and must respond to the appeal within 30 days of receiving it by stating in writing whether the appeal was granted and a loan modification will be offered. Because such a common question would have to be resolved in many if not all individual cases, it advances, rather than undermines, the argument in favor of predominance. 89, 90, ECF No. Va., Inc., 543 F.2d 1075, 1080 (4th Cir. v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC Nationstar Call Settlement Administrator PO Box 3560 1987) (holding, in the context of an informant who is paid a contingent fee, that the fee should be treated "as a credibility factor"). . Instead, he analyzed certain data fields that were returned by the scripts written by a different expert. 1024.41(h)(1). See Baby Neal for and by Kanter v. Casey, 43 F.3d 48, 56-57 (3d Cir. Fed. 28, 2017). Mot. 1998). Nationstar also argues that Oliver's report should be stricken as unreliable under the Federal Rules of Evidence and Daubert. Certification will not be granted as to the claims under 12 C.F.R. The economic challenges and burdens that homeowners currently face are similar to the ones experienced following the Great Recession. 1024.41(b)(1), (b)(2)(i)(B), and (c)(1)(ii) and Md. The Fourth Circuit has stated that 74 members is "well within the range appropriate for class certification," Brady v. Thurston Motor Lines, 726 F.2d 136, 145 (4th Cir. Cf. R. Civ. 2002), is misplaced. See Wirtz, 886 F.3d at 719-20. Wesleyan Coll. Fla. 2009), aff'd, 398 F. App'x 467, 471 (11th Cir. The comments to that rule state that the "common law rule in most jurisdictions is . After two more extensions were granted, based on a finding by the Magistrate Judge that "Defendant has failed to comply" with its discovery obligations and delayed the process, discovery closed on March 22, 2018. A class action allows representative parties to prosecute not only their own claims, but also the claims of other individuals which present similar issues. Id. The regulation is silent on whether a loss mitigation application submitted before January 10, 2014 could qualify as the "single complete loss mitigation application." Campbell v. Nationstar Mortg., 611 F. App'x 288, 297-98 (6th Cir. R. Civ. Since Mr. Robinson has the same goal as the other class members of establishing that Nationstar violated Regulation X with respect to his loan, he will adequately protect their interests. A Division of NBC Universal. is generally unproblematic as the non-injured parties can just be sorted out at the remedies phase of the suit."). Because Oliver's methodology is reliable within the meaning of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 702 and Daubert, Nationstar's Motion to Strike will be denied. . Fed. Id. . Law 13-301 and 13-303, because the Robinsons do not have standing to bring those claims. Local R. 105.6. Nationstar correctly notes that the Robinsons have not identified a false or misleading statement or representation by Nationstar in the record. Particularly where a class may be certified even if individualized damages calculations would be necessary, the incomplete nature of the damages analysis does not provide a basis for striking Oliver's expert testimony. 12) is GRANTED with respect to Count V and Count III against Nationstar; it is DENIED with respect to Counts I, II, and VI, and Count III against NSM. See 12 C.F.R. Congress enacted RESPA to protect consumers from "unnecessarily high settlement charges caused by certain abusive practices" in the real estate mortgage industry, and to ensure "that consumers throughout the Nation are provided with greater and more timely information on the nature and costs of the settlement process." Tagatz, 861 F.2d at 1042; cf. Code Ann., Com. Although the Robinsons contend that they would have pursued other loss mitigation options in the absence of the RESPA violations, they have not identified any such options in a way that would permit a calculation of damages associated with any lost opportunity. For the foregoing reasons, Nationstar's Motion for Summary Judgment will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. . See Tagatz, 861 F.2d at 1042. : 1-855-914-4649 (Toll-Free) / 1-855-535-1813 (TTY) Nationstar, d/b/a Mr. Cooper, Consent Order. P. 23(a)(3); Deiter v. Microsoft Corp., 436 F.3d 461, 466-67 (4th Cir. 3d 249, 266 (D. Md. If the settlements are approved by the D.C. district court, Nationstar will be required to immediately set aside about $15.6 million to pay borrowers it has not yet remediated. Moreover, because borrowers often submit multiple loan modification applications, and because Nationstar's data is stored at the loan level, not at the application level, Nationstar claims that it is not possible to tell from the data alone, without reviewing the files, whether a status or code change is in response to a specific loan modification application. Co, 445 F.3d 311, 318 (4th Cir. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 348-49 (2011) ("[A] class representative must be part of the class and possess the same interest and suffer the same injury as the class members." To calculate damages, Oliver stated that he would look to data from the LSAMS application, including data tables that contain fee information, to identify fees that would not have been charged but for Nationstar's various RESPA violations, but that he was not able to evaluate this data in his report because it had not been provided to him. Compl. 1024.41(c) and (d) impose obligations on a loan servicer once it receives a "complete loss mitigation application" and once the completed application is denied. The Magistrate Judge ordered Nationstar to run those scripts and return the electronic data to the Robinsons. Settlement Pool $12,100,000 Settlement Website Nationstar Class Action Settlement Deadline 04/11/2016 Contact Wright et al. Ward, 595 F.3d at 180 (quoting Gunnells, 348 F.3d at 430). See 12 C.F.R. McLean v. GMAC Mortg. When considering whether expert testimony is reliable or should be excluded, the court considers the following factors: "When an expert's report or testimony is 'critical to class certification,'" the district court "must make a conclusive ruling on any challenge to that expert's qualifications or submissions before it may rule on a motion for class certification." Under subsection (h), if a loan servicer receives a complete loss mitigation application more than 90 days before a foreclosure sale but then denies the application, the servicer must allow the borrower to appeal and must respond to the appeal within 30 days of receiving it. 1024.1 to 1024.41 and known as "Regulation X," see 12 C.F.R. Here, Mrs. Robinson signed the Deed but did not sign the Note. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 623-24 (1997). 1024.41 (2019), and the Maryland Consumer Protection Act ("MCPA"), Md. See Keen, 2018 WL 4111938, at *5-6. 1024.1, prescribe additional duties and responsibilities of mortgage servicers under RESPA. Id. See Farber, 2017 WL 4347826 at 15; Billings, 170 F. Supp. Moreover, whether Nationstar engaged in a "pattern or practice" of Regulation X violations, within the meaning of 12 U.S.C. Law 13-301 and 303. The Robinsons do not address this argument in their Opposition. "[N]amed class representatives [must] demonstrate standing through a 'requisite case or controversy between themselves personally and defendants,' not merely allege that 'injury has been suffered by other, unidentified members of the class to which they belong and which they purport to represent.'" In approving such a modification, Nationstar made a mistake: the underwriter working on the Robinsons' loan had erroneously double-counted their income. May 31, 2016), the plaintiff had signed the deed of trust but not the promissory note but was nevertheless deemed to have standing because she had owned the home with a right of survivorship with her deceased husband, who had signed the note. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today ordered Nationstar Mortgage LLC to pay a $1.75 million civil penalty for violating the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) by consistently failing to report accurate data about mortgage transactions for 2012 through 2014. . "Mortgage servicers are entrusted with handling significant financial transactions for millions of Americans, including struggling homeowners. v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC Nationstar Call Settlement Administrator PO Box 3560 Portland, OR 97208-3560 877-683-9363 Class Counsel Rafey S. Balabanian EDELSON PC Defense Counsel Abraham J. Colman Raymond Y. Kim REED SMITH LLP Discovery Order, ECF No. Id. 17-0982, 2018 WL 4111938, at *5-6 (M.D. Nationstar said in a statement that its settlements were based on "loan-servicing practices" that the company used between 2010 and 2015 and has since discontinued. Because there are, at a minimum, disputed issues of fact as to what fees, administrative costs, and interest constitute damages, the Court will deny the motion for summary judgment on the issue of actual damages. While several district courts have concluded that loss mitigation applications submitted before Regulation X's effective date do not count as the single application for which a loan servicer must comply with Regulation X, see, e.g., Farber v. Brock & Scott, LLC, No. Actual damages may include late fees; denial of credit or access to the full amount of a credit line; out-of-pocket expenses incurred in dealing with a RESPA violation, such as expenses for preparing and copying correspondence; and lost time and inconvenience, including time spent away from employment while preparing correspondence "to the extent it resulted in actual pecuniary loss." Rather, the Court finds, based on the reasoning of Tagatz and Universal Athletic Sales, that the potential violation of an ethical rule does not itself make Oliver's testimony inadmissible. The court, however, did not explain how in the absence of any obligation to pay back to the Note, the plaintiff qualified as a "borrower" under the RESPA statute. 143. On June 16, 2017, the Magistrate Judge bifurcated discovery to focus initially on the merits of the Robinsons' individual claim and the question of class certification, ordered Nationstar to disclose electronic records so that the Robinsons could sample Nationstar's data for purposes of a motion for class certification, and limited the discovery of such records to a sample of 400 loans from the period from January 10, 2014 to June 30, 2014 and "to areas which inform" the Court's decision on class certification, namely whether Nationstar was in compliance with Regulation X. Mot. "Since then, we have continued to invest in technology, people, and leadership to ensure that our compliance and risk management programs not only meet our regulators' expectations but also support sustainable growth and maintain our position as an industry leader.". 2605(f), caused by the violation, which likely consist of administrative fees and costs, the individual recovery available for each class member would likely be low, far below the cost of litigating the claims themselves. Id. RESPA's implementing regulations, codified at 12 C.F.R. Code Ann., Com. 325 0 obj <>stream Every mortgage has a unique loan number that can be used to identify the borrower and the loan in each of the four databases. 2605(f)(2). Broussard v. Meineke Discount Muffler Shops, Inc., 155 F.3d 331, 344 (4th Cir. Nationstar also seeks summary judgment on the Robinsons' claims under the MCPA, which include claims of misleading statements in connection with the collection of consumer debts, in violation of section 13-301(1), (3) and section 13-303(4)-(5) of the MCPA, and claims that Nationstar did not respond to consumer inquiries within 15 days, in violation of section 13-316(c) of the MCPA. Accordingly, a loan servicer must comply with Regulation X as to the first loss mitigation application submitted after the effective date. Following protracted litigation, Nationstar, and the Robinsonsnegotiated a $3,0 00,000 settlement. what does equal shares mean in a will, mobile homes to rent in benidorm long term,