Entries by damg

Ocwen $2 Billion Principal Reduction Settlement

In December, 2014, Ocwen Financial Corporation and Ocwen Loan Servicing along with Litton Home Servicing and Homeward Residential Holdings (previously known as American Home Mortgage Servicing or AHMSI)  entered into a consent order with 49 States and the District of Columbia to provide $2 billion in principal reduction to underwater borrowers and provide $125 million […]

Agile Assur Group, Ltd v Palmer

Agile Assur. Group, Ltd. v. Palmer, — So. 3d —-, 2014 WL 2151971 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014). Contracts must be read in their entirety, and doing so can require the word “may” be  interpreted as mandatory instead of permissive. A contract clause may require the contract not be interpreted against its drafter, and such provision […]

Order 11th Cir – Lodge v. Kondaur – stay violation that causes emotional harm can be “actual” damages under 362(k)

Consumer debtors claimed violation of the bankruptcy stay based on a “Notice of Sale” that was published in a local newspaper, and in letters that they received from law firms.  The sale was canceled but debtors did not learn that until later. Although two separate motions for relief from stay were filed by two different “creditors”, the motions were never ruled on […]

SCRA and Credit Reporting Errors

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) provides protection for  active duty military and their families and  also after they return home. Members may not realize that adverse legal actions or improper reporting on their credit reports have occurred until they need to access credit or some other adverse incident has occurred. Every service member should pull […]

CLARK ET UX. v. RAMEKER, TRUSTEE, ET AL Decided June 12, 2014

The U.S. Supreme Court has now found that funds in an inherited IRA account are not exempt funds. This decision could have far-reaching and significant impact on people with large sums of inheritance monies held in IRA accounts. In fact, the impact could be financially devastating. “ Three legal characteristics of inherited IRAs provide objec­tive […]

Suntrust Mortgage Deal Over Foreclosures with State Attorney Generals

Several federal agencies and 49 state attorneys general struck a $968 million settlement Tuesday with SunTrust Mortgage over charges that it violated laws governing mortgage origination, servicing and foreclosures. Floridians who borrowed money from SunTrust Mortgage Inc. to buy a home could get nearly 40 percent of the total consumer relief expected under a joint […]