Diedrich v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC

839 F.3d 583, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 18196, 2016 WL 5852453
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedOctober 6, 2016
DocketNo. 15-2573
StatusPublished
Cited by111 cases

This text of 839 F.3d 583 (Diedrich v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Diedrich v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 839 F.3d 583, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 18196, 2016 WL 5852453 (7th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

ROVNER, Circuit Judge.

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) sets forth specific procedures that a mortgage lender or mortgage servicing company must follow in response to a borrower’s request for information. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC failed to follow the letter of the procedure when responding to the plaintiffs Daniel and Natalie Diedrichs’ request for information. The Diedrichs sued, but the district court granted summary judgment for Ocwen, finding that the Diedrichs had failed to set forth sufficient facts, which, if taken as true, would establish that they were injured by the RESPA violation. The Died-richs appealed and we affirm.

I.

In 2007, Natalie and Daniel Diedrich executed a note to Decision One Mortgage Company in the amount of $184,000. To secure the note, they executed a mortgage. At the time of the relevant events, Ocwen serviced the Diedrichs’ loan. Ocwen began foreclosure proceedings in September, 2010. The Diedrichs dispute that they defaulted under the terms and conditions of the note and mortgage, but that is not the subject of the dispute in this case. Ocwen and the Diedrichs entered into a loan modification agreement dated May 20, 2011, which was to be implemented beginning July 1, 2011. After the Diedrichs began making payments pursuant to the loan modification agreement, they alleged that they became concerned about whether their escrow account was being correctly administered and whether they were being charged improper litigation fees.

On or around February 22, 2013, the Diedrichs sent Ocwen a letter in which they requested eight types of standard information about them account including the names of employees working on their account, the history of payments made from their escrow account including the date, amount and payee, a statement of interest rates applied to their account, and other general inquiries. (R. 37-3, p.35). Neither party disputes that this letter constituted a qualified written request for information under RESPA, 12 U.S.C. § 2605(e)(1)(B).1 In a letter dated March 7, 2013, Ocwen responded to the Diedrichs’ [587]*587request with a form letter that set forth its policies regarding how and when it would respond to requests for information, but it did not directly respond with the information requested. Id. p.38. Ocwen sent another later dated March 30, 2013, stating that it would take another fifteen days, as permitted by RESPA, to review the inquiry. Id. p.39. Finally, on April 22, 2013, Ocwen sent the Diedrichs a letter stating that it could not identify a problem with their account and asking the Diedrichs to send another letter identifying which month and report they disputed, the explanation for the dispute, and all evidence showing that payment for the month was received on time or that the information reported was incorrect. Id. p.40.

Based on Ocwen’s failure to respond to their request for information, the Died-richs filed a complaint against Ocwen alleging violations of Wisconsin laws regarding mortgage loans (Wise. Stat. § 224.77 and § 138.052) and the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 2605(e)(1) & (2), which sets forth in specific detail how a mortgage servicer such as Ocwen must respond to such an information request. The parties consented to disposition by the magistrate judge who granted Oewen’s motion to dismiss the claim under Wisconsin statute, § 138.052(7s)(a) and 12 U.S.C. § 2605(e)(1). That left in play RESPA § 2605(e)(2) and Wisconsin statutes § 224.77(1), and § 138.052(7) which became the subjects of dueling cross motions for summary judgment before a second magistrate judge.2

RESPA § 2605(e)(2) requires a lender to respond to a qualified written request for information from a borrower within a particular time frame and in a particular manner. Wisconsin statute § 224.77(1) essentially points back to the alleged RES-PA violation by prohibiting mortgage bankers and brokers from violating any federal statute that regulates their practice. Wise. Stat. § 224.77(l)(k). Both parties moved for summary judgment on these remaining claims, and the magistrate judge granted Ocwen’s motion for summary judgment on all counts. The district court found that Ocwen’s responses to the written inquiries were insufficient and therefore violated the RESPA requirements, but the court determined that the Diedrichs’ allegations of damages were “conclusory and vague” and that they had “failed to come forth with any evidence that would connect their alleged [injury] to Ocwen’s failure to respond to their qualified written request for information.” Order at 14 (R. 59, p.14). The district court also dismissed the claim under Wisconsin law for the same reason, that is, that the Diedrichs failed to establish they were an aggrieved party as required under the Wisconsin statute. Order at 19 (R. 59, p.19). After filing an unsuccessful motion for reconsideration pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59(e) and 60(b)(6), the Diedrichs appealed and we affirm.

II.

A.

We begin, as we always must, with the question of standing. The jurisdiction of federal courts is limited to “Cases” and “Controversies” as described in Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution. There is' no case or controversy if the plaintiff lacks standing to challenge the defendant’s alleged misconduct. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). In order to have standing, “[t]he plaintiff [588]*588must have (1) suffered an injury in fact, (2) that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct of the defendant, and (3) that is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.” Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, — U.S. -, 136 S,Ct. 1540, 1547, 194 L.Ed.2d 635 (2016) (citing Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130).

The plaintiff has the burden of establishing these elements and must support éach element “with the manner and degree of evidence required at the successive stages of the litigation.” Lujan, 504 U.S. at 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130. The Supreme Court elaborated as follows:

At the pleading stage, general factual allegations of injury resulting from the defendant’s conduct may suffice, for on a motion to dismiss we “presum[e] that general allegations embrace those specific facts that are necessary to support the claim.” In response to a summary judgment motion, however, the plaintiff can no longer rest on such “mere allegations,” but must “set forth” by affidavit or other evidence “specific facts,” which for purposes of the summary judgment motion will be taken to be true.

Lujan, 604 U.S. at 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130 (internal citations omitted). In short, for purposes of demonstrating whether the plaintiffs have standing to assert their claims before this court, we look to see whether they have set forth sufficient factual allegations supporting their claim that they suffered an injury in fact, that was fairly traceable to Ocwen’s violation of the RESPA statute. See Id. at 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130.

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839 F.3d 583, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 18196, 2016 WL 5852453, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/diedrich-v-ocwen-loan-servicing-llc-ca7-2016.