Another win
for the little guy!!
Maybe the
average guy is finally getting a break. Or maybe the courts have just decided
that there must be some limits on the incredible greed and lust for money by
the big banks.
In any
case, following a decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the rules
as well as the mood for these banks
appear to have changed.
In the
companion cases of Corvello v. Wells Fargo Bank NA, 11-16234 and Lucia v. Wells
Fargo Bank NA, 11-16242, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the court
effectively put an end to the cute games the banks like to play.
At issue in
these cases were the terms and conditions of a Trial Period Plan extended by
Wells Fargo pursuant to the Home Affordable Modification Program.
If you will
recall this is was program enacted by the government in 2009 to help people
that were underwater on their mortgages, keep their homes. The idea was to
modify the mortgages. This was part of the troubled TARP program and of course,
the banks received a financial incentive, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers for
making such modifications.
The
modification incentive, and the benefits of receiving loan payments instead of
having to foreclose however, were simply not good enough for Wells Fargo. They
had to play games with the process.
The loan
modification required an application process on the part of the homeowner after
which, if they qualified, they were offered a mortgage modification if they
complied with a trial payment plan.
The
homeowners in both of the case completed the application process and were
offered a modification. They had to participate in a trial payment program to establish
that they could indeed make the payments provided in the modified mortgage.
Wells Fargo
though tried to throw a curve into the mix. They insisted on keeping everything
in their favor. How? By specifying that they were not under any obligation to
modify the mortgage until the agreement was not only signed by the homeowner
(which it was) but also signed by Wells Fargo and a signed copy sent to the
homeowner.
Get the picture?
All Wells Fargo had to do was to “forget” or “overlook” sending a signed copy
to the homeowner and they were technically off the hook.
Thankfully
the court cut through that silliness. With a sharply worded opinion the court let Wells Fargo know in no uncertain terms that once the
homeowner made the payments that Wells Fargo specified, and signed the
agreement, there was a deal, whether Wells Fargo ever got around to signing it
or not.
Maybe not
on the level of the Boston Tea Party, but still a pretty good outcome for
homeowners!!
If you’re interested in reading the cases, or
have any questions, shoot us an email
- info@beyourownlawyer.org