James v. Acre Mortg. & Fin., Inc.

306 F. Supp. 3d 791
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJanuary 31, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. RDB–17–1734
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 306 F. Supp. 3d 791 (James v. Acre Mortg. & Fin., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
James v. Acre Mortg. & Fin., Inc., 306 F. Supp. 3d 791 (D. Md. 2018).

Opinion

In 2014, Genuine Title went bankrupt, and Plaintiffs' counsel, Smith, Gildea, & Schmidt, began to obtain access from Genuine Title's Receiver to the company's documents and records, including its computer servers. (James , Mem. 3, ECF No. 7-1.) In early 2015, Plaintiffs' counsel used these records to identify and notify affected borrowers and prospective plaintiffs. (Id. 4.) By June 2015, Plaintiffs' counsel was "able to pull data ... that appears to represent ... buyers' names, addresses, telephone numbers, property addresses, settlement dates, lender and in some cases mortgage broker information." (Fangman , ECF No. 150-2 at 7.)

On January 2, 2015, plaintiffs in Fangman filed a First Amended Complaint naming other financial institutions, including E Mortgage Management, LLC. (See Fangman , ECF No. 47.) That First Amended Complaint in Fangman alleged violations of RESPA, Maryland's state-law analog to RESPA, and the Maryland Consumer Protection Act. (See id. ) The Fangman plaintiffs further alleged that Genuine Title and its affiliated marketing companies provided Free Marketing Materials and/or "Referring Cash" payments without disclosure on HUD-1 settlement *794documents. (Id. ¶ 3.) Plaintiffs in Fangman filed a Second Amended Complaint on May 20, 2015, adding additional parties and clarifying some of their previous allegations. (See Fangman , ECF No. 138.)

In addressing various motions to dismiss by defendants in the Fangman case, this Court ruled that equitable tolling may be available under RESPA and that those plaintiffs' claims were not time-barred. Fangman , 2015 WL 8315704, at *7. In so holding, this Court applied the equitable tolling test from Grant v. Shapiro , 871 F.Supp.2d 462 (D. Md. 2012) that provides, "a plaintiff must allege with specificity fraudulent concealment on the part of the defendants and the inability of the plaintiff, despite due diligence, to discover the fraud." Fangman , 2015 WL 8315704, at *7 (citing Grant , 871 F.Supp.2d at 470, n.10 ). This Court applied that test in the Fangman action in the context of Plaintiffs' counsel's significant investigatory efforts, which by June 2015 had successfully identified borrowers referred to Genuine Title between 2006 through 2013. (See Fangman v. Genuine Title, LLC , 2016 WL 6600509, at *2 (D. Md. Nov. 8, 2016).) Accordingly, this Court found in December 2015 that facts had been sufficiently concealed from the Fangman plaintiffs, who did not know about their claim until contacted by counsel. Fangman , 2015 WL 8315704, at *7. In terms of due diligence, this Court found:

Plaintiffs' counsel has undergone a large-scale review of Defendant Genuine Title's computer system. It is only through this review, aided by early discovery and a proprietary software system, that potential plaintiffs have been identified. The Second Amended Complaint, filed by Plaintiffs' counsel, clearly states that "[a]ll Plaintiffs learned of the illegal kickbacks less than one year prior to filing of the [Second Amended] Complaint and could not have known about the Kickback Scheme until contacted by undersigned counsel." Second Am. Compl. at ¶ 94, ECF No. 138. In light of these unique circumstances, Plaintiffs have demonstrated that equitable tolling is warranted in this case and that all Plaintiffs, with the exception of the Eagle National Plaintiffs, brought their claims within one year of the date they could have first known of their cause of action through due diligence.

Fangman, 2015 WL 8315704, at *7.

Following discovery concerning Genuine Title's business practices and relationship with other lenders, some defendants have struck class settlements which have been the subject of public filings and class notices. For example, Plaintiffs' counsel and E Mortgage Management, LLC requested preliminary approval of a settlement on October 27, 2016, proposing the following E Mortgage Settlement Class for settlement purposes only:

All individuals in the United States who were borrowers on a federally related mortgage loan (as defined under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. § 2602 ) from E Mortgage Management, LLC ("E Mortgage") that was closed through Genuine Title either (1) whose E Mortgage loan was originated by loan officers Jeffrey Krasner or Pat Walker ("Subclass 1"); or (2) whose E Mortgage loan was originated prior to May 14, 2012, or after July 2, 2013, and not by loan officers Jeffrey Krasner or Pat Walker ("Subclass 2"). The Settlement Class shall not include any employees of E Mortgage, or its related entities, any members or employees of Plaintiffs' Counsel, the Judge(s) presiding over this action, any members of the Judge's immediate family or staff, or any persons who submit a complete and valid Request for Exclusion by the Exclusion Deadline.

*795(Fangman , Mem. Prelim. Approval 6, ECF No. 394-1.) This Court granted final approval of the E Mortgage settlement on May 31, 2017. (Fangman , ECF No. 468.)

II. Enforcement Actions by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") and Maryland Attorney General

Meanwhile, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") and the Maryland Attorney General initiated an enforcement action in this Court on January 22, 2015 against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. predicated on similar schemes involving Genuine Title. (See CFPB v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. , Case No. RDB-15-0179 (D. Md.) ("Lender Enforcement Action ").) The pendency and ultimate settlement of the Lender Enforcement Action in January 2015 was widely publicized. Specifically, the CFPB issued a press release on January 22, 2015, and local and national news media, including The Baltimore Sun , CNN, and the Wall Street Journal , published stories about the case. (See Dobbins, et al. v. Bank of America , N.A., RDB-17-540 (D. Md.), ECF Nos. 17-3, 17-4.)3

The CFPB and Attorney General also filed an enforcement action on April 29, 2015 directly against Genuine Title, its principals, and affiliates arising out of the same alleged scheme. (See CFPB v. Genuine Title LLC , Case No. RDB-15-1235 (D. Md.) ("

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Bluebook (online)
306 F. Supp. 3d 791, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-v-acre-mortg-fin-inc-mdd-2018.