LEGAL ALERT: Arkansas Foreclosure Update – The Continuing Saga Resulting from Davis v. PennyMac

By James McPherson, ALAW Partner, Default & Collections As you may recall from previous updates, Arkansas foreclosure law has been evolving for the past several years as a result of the Davis v. PennyMac opinion from the Arkansas Supreme Court in May 2020. As a result of the Davis decision, the Arkansas Senate passed Act 1108 of 2021 in an attempt …

LEGAL ALERT: The Ironclad Protection of §1322(b)(2) [The “Anti-Modification” Provision] Controls Over Confirmed Chapter 13 Plan

By Jeffrey Fraser, ALAW Partner, Bankruptcy The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Bozeman, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 545 (11th Cir., Jan. 10, 2023, No. 21-10987) delivered a strong opinion highlighting the “ironclad, do not touch” anti-modification provisions set forth in §1322(b)(2). The appellate court was confronted with a scenario where the finality/res-judicata …

LEGAL ALERT: California Supreme Court Says Lenders Owe No Duty of Care in Loan Modification Negotiations

By Thomas S. Van, ALAW MANAGING Attorney (California) In a 2020 filed case involving the reasonableness and validity of “release fees” and late fees charged by the lender to the borrower, the Honorable Phyllis Hamilton, United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of California, held that both “release fees” and late fees provided for in the loan …

LEGAL ALERT: California Supreme Court Says Lenders Owe No Duty of Care in Loan Modification Negotiations

By Merdaud Jafarina, ALAW BK attorney, California   On March 7, 2022, the California Supreme Court finally settled the issue on whether financial institutions or loan servicers owe their borrowers a duty of care when considering a loan modification request. In Sheen v. Wells Fargo, No. 8258019 (Cal, Mar 7, 2022), the California Supreme Court ruled …

LEGAL ALERT: Eleventh Circuit Issues New Opinion in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection

In the Hunstein v. Preferred Collection decision issued on Thursday, September 8, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Alabama, Georgia, Florida), after issuing opinions and vacating the same twice before, now holds that: (1) the mere violation of Section 1692c(b) of the FDCPA, without showing any additional harm, does not …

LEGAL ALERT: Florida Foreclosure Judgments – General Lien Statute Inapplicable, BK Anti-Modification Protection Applies

In Re Koessler (2021 WL 3375824) decided on August 3, 2021 in the Southern District of Florida is a solid win and sigh of relief for mortgage creditors in Florida bankruptcy proceedings.  In Koessler, Chief Judge Laurel Isicoff was confronted with an interesting interplay between a state statute (Section 55.10 of Florida Statutes) and the …

LEGAL ALERT: City of Chicago, Illinois v. Fulton, et al.

written by Michael Wennerlund U.S. Supreme Court resolves circuit split over Creditor Retention of Property post-bankruptcy filing On January 14, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of City of Chicago, Illinois v. Fulton, et al., 592 U.S. ____ (2021) which dealt with the interplay between several provisions of the Bankruptcy …

Legal Alert: Davis v. PennyMac Loan Services, LLC, 2020 Ark. 180, S.W.3d (2020)

An opinion was delivered by the Arkansas Supreme Court on May 7, 2020 that may have an impact on your foreclosures: Davis v. PennyMac Loan Services, LLC, 2020 Ark. 180, S.W.3d (2020). Delivered May 7, 2020 PennyMac sought to foreclose on a mortgage Davis had executed in 2013. In August 2017, PennyMac sent Davis a …