Kirchner v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC

257 F. Supp. 3d 1314
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJune 27, 2017
DocketCase No. 1:16-cv-23950-UU
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 257 F. Supp. 3d 1314 (Kirchner v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kirchner v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 257 F. Supp. 3d 1314 (S.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

Ursula Ungaro, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss First Amended Class Action Complaint. D.E. 58.

THE COURT has considered the Motion, the pertinent portions of the record and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.

In this case, Plaintiffs’ claims arise from Defendants’ automatic and indiscriminate ordering of property inspections and imposition of the resultant fees and costs ágainst the accounts of delinquent mortgage borrowers. Plaintiffs insist that Defendants’ assessment of these fees for property inspections amounts to a fraudulent scheme because Defendants misrepresent their authority to impose and assess property inspections and the costs of such inspections against borrowers’ accounts' after a default.

Despite two attempts at pleading, the Court finds that Plaintiffs are simply unable to. plead around the express terms of the mortgage agreements at issue, which explicitly allow for Defendants to “charge fees for services performed in connection with my default, for the purpose of protecting Lender’s interest in the Property ... including, but not limited to ,.. property inspection and valuation fees.” D.E. 58-2 ¶ 14; D.E. 58-3 ¶ 14. Plaintiffs have been unsuccessful in demonstrating that Defendants’ conduct, as alleged, violates the terms of the mortgage agreements; let alone, rises to the level of fraud. Because the Court finds Plaintiffs are simply unable to plead fraud under the facts of this case, Plaintiffs’ fraud based claims— Counts 1-2, 4-6; and 8 — are dismissed with prejudice. Plaintiffs’ remaining claims — unjust enrichment and a claim for a violation of the Pennsylvania Loan Interest Protection Act (“PLIPA”) — also fail to state a claim for the reasons addressed herein and are dismissed with prejudice.

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

The following facts are taken from Plaintiffs’ First Amended - Class Action Complaint. D.E. 53.

1. The Parties

Plaintiffs, George and Eileen Kirchner (collectively, the “Kirchners”), are residents of New York. D.E. 53 ¶ 14. Plaintiff, Blossom Jones (“Jones”), is a resident of [1316]*1316Pennsylvania. Id. Defendant, Ocwen Financial Corporation (“Ocwen Financial”), is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business in Atlanta, Georgia. Id. Defendant, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC (“Ocwen Loan Servicing”), is a Delaware limited liability company, and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Ocwen Financial (id.) that is licensed to service mortgage loans and maintains operations concerning the management of loans that are in default (id. ¶ 22). Ocwen Loan Servicing is one of the largest non-bank mortgage servicers in the United States. Id. ¶26.

2. Defendants’ Business

Defendants, Ocwen Financial and Ocwen Loan Servicing (collectively, “Defendants”), derive revenue from servicing mortgages owned by hedge funds and investment houses. Id. ¶ 26. Defendants focus on servicing non-prime loans obtained by credit-impaired borrowers. Id. ¶ 30. In that capacity, Defendants acts as a third-party collection agency for banks and other entities that own mortgage portfolios, collects payments from mortgage borrowers, and handles other billing services. Id. Defendants are paid a fee for its loan administration services. Id. ¶ 27. It derives a significant portion of its revenues from fees charged to delinquent borrowers. Id. ¶ 31. Defendants utilize computer software programs to administer the loans that it services. Id. ¶ 51. The software programs are designed to manage borrowers’ accounts and assess fees according to protocols and policies designed by Defendants’ executives. Id.

3. Defendants’ Alleged Wrongdoing

Plaintiffs allege that Defendants employed a fraudulent scheme using false pretenses to charge delinquent borrowers unauthorized property inspection fees. As described by Plaintiffs, this scheme is implemented by Defendants’ use of information management systems that are programmed to indiscriminately charge fees and costs to borrowers’ accounts for property inspections at regular intervals, contrary to investor guidelines and provisions of Fannie Mae mortgage contracts. Id. ¶ 66. The Fannie Mae uniform mortgage contracts executed by the borrowers and investor guidelines allow Defendants to charge borrowers for these property inspections, but they also provide that an inspection may be charged to borrowers only if it is reasonable or appropriate to protect the lender’s interest in the property. Id. ¶ 67. Additionally, the lenders/investors provide Defendants with specific instructions as to the circumstances that reasonably and appropriately justify property inspections. Id. In this case, Defendants allegedly disregarded those express instructions. Id. ¶ 44. According to Plaintiffs, this conduct amounts to fraud because Plaintiffs are “informed and believe” that Defendants misrepresent the basis for which it is authorized to charge a borrower for property inspections, and Defendants allegedly concealed the scheme by misrepresenting that charges for property inspection fees are appropriate when a buyer is in default. Id. ¶¶ 72, 75.

Defendants allegedly ignored the limitations on its authority and under false pretenses, demanded that borrowers compensate it for unauthorized property inspections. Id. ¶49. Plaintiffs allege that as a result, borrowers with first and second mortgages have been assessed charges for property inspections on each mortgage during the same month. Id. ¶ 78. Defendants also do not have a policy and/or procedure of reviewing the results of property inspection reports from third-party vendors for purposes of determining whether further property inspections are warranted. Id. ¶ 79.

The indiscriminate assessment of unauthorized property inspection fees can make [1317]*1317it impossible for borrowers to become current on their loans. Id. ¶ 82. When borrowers are behind on their mortgages and charges for their property inspections are stacked on to the past-due principal and interest payments, borrowers have difficulty bringing their loans current. Id. ¶ 83. As a result of Defendants’ practices, borrowers suffer damage to their credit scores. Id. ¶85. Also, by keeping borrowers in default with these practices, Defendants affect whether borrowers can get a loan in the future and what the borrowers’ interest rates will be on such loans. Id. Moreover, as a result of Defendants’ practices, borrowers are driven into foreclosure. Id. ¶ 86.

4. Plaintiffs’ Mortgage Agreements

In their Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs allege that each has a residential mortgage that is serviced by Defendants. Id. ¶¶ 88, 102. In their Motion to Dismiss, Defendants attach a copy of the Kirchners’ mortgage agreement and a copy of Jones’ mortgage agreement. D.E. 58-2; D.E. 58-3.1 While Plaintiffs do not explicitly allege that the mortgages are Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) mortgages,2

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Bluebook (online)
257 F. Supp. 3d 1314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kirchner-v-ocwen-loan-servicing-llc-flsd-2017.