Apparently some of the biggest plaintiff firms have decided not to sue the big banks over robo signers and fraudulent affidavits because they believe most homeowners were behind on their mortgages and therefore it would be difficult to prove damages. Reluctantly I must agree and this may be why bank stocks have not suffered in the wake of foreclosuregate. As Meredith Whitney said today, the big class action lawsuits will be against investment banks brought by investors, not homeowners; and she believes they will take decades to resolve. As far as individual homeowners, in all likelihood, each will have to fight his own battle.
Is Erin Brockovich in the house?
* Large plaintiff firms wary of foreclosure lawsuits
* Difficult to make a case for damages say some lawyers
By Dan Levine
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Lenders snarled in the legal thicket over shoddy U.S. foreclosure procedures have so far avoided national class action lawsuits from homeowners, largely because borrowers cannot demonstrate economic harm, according to plaintiff lawyers.
Several large plaintiff firms circled around banks when reports of problems with foreclosure affidavits snowballed in late September.
But as servicers like Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Ally Financial and JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) attempt to resolve a 50-state probe into their practices — and other legal challenges — big class action lawyers have taken a pass on diving into the mess.
"We looked at this up one side, down the other," Joseph Cotchett, of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, said on Wednesday.
Ultimately, the firm decided it would not file suit over the affidavits, Cotchett said, because most borrowers are actually behind on their payments.
That makes it too difficult to make a claim for serious damages, he said. "It's about as basic as that," Cotchett said.
A public furor erupted in recent months over whether banks cut corners in the foreclosure process with so-called "robo-signers" of legal documents used to justify taking homes. Servicers briefly halted foreclosures and evictions as state and federal regulators announced investigations.
Banks have disclosed some legal challenges from homeowners, but the class action lawsuits they are facing have not been national in scope.
In defending one Indiana class action, Bank of America has echoed the conclusion reached by some plaintiff lawyers in arguing that the borrower cannot show harm because they would have lost their home anyway. [ID:nN11113672]
Plaintiff attorneys are usually paid a portion of the damages they recover.
Some plaintiff lawyers who have devoted resources to the issue haven't walked away yet. Bruce Simon, with Pearson, Simon, Warshaw & Penny, said this week that his firm still intends to file a national class action.
And Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein's Eric Fastiff said his firm is still examining the issue. "Investigations take time," he said.
Andrew Friedman of Cohen Milstein said he strongly believes many foreclosures were done improperly.
Similar Posts:
- New Law Allows Homeowners to Recoup Legal Fees in Foreclosure Cases
- Class Action Filed Against Banks for Wrongful Foreclosure
- Class Action Challenges Illegal Foreclosures in Chicago
- Fraud-closure biz fizzles out
- Taking a Second Mortgage to Pay the Foreclosure Lawyer
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Foreclosure Gang Rape, Louisiana Style. . .(re: Wells Fargo)
http://www.lawgrace.org/2010/11/11/foreclosure-gang-rape-louisiana-style-absolutely-verifiable/
“Not in a sexual sense, but “rape” here synonymously describes the following things that were forced upon the victim: defilement, molestation, exploitation, humiliation, bigotry, betrayal, invasion, revilement, assault, depredation, torture, despoliation, stigmatization, maltreatment, denigration, ruin, pillage, plunder, ransack, spoliation, violation, impingement, racism.
". . .so that the ravished victim might have an opportunity to begin a road to recovery, an opportunity to begin recompense, to cease from being wrongfully blamed (notwithstanding other things deserved), the victim has no other choice –and is running out of time! Moreover, it is imperative this story be told so that the guilty persons, who boastfully flaunt before the victim, will be brought to justice, as well as prevented from additional such acts.
“It was perhaps a year later that the homeowner learned that WF’s predatory modification was not only fraudulent, but also not lawfully enforceable. The salient reason why the loan modification that Wells Fargo constructed is not valid is because (to the homeowner’s oblivion) the modified loan on the home [unlawfully] binds the homeowner and a SHAM lender. . ."