Stokes v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

37 F. Supp. 3d 525, 2014 WL 2649509, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80018
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJune 12, 2014
DocketCivil No. 13-13137-FDS
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 37 F. Supp. 3d 525 (Stokes v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stokes v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 37 F. Supp. 3d 525, 2014 WL 2649509, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80018 (D. Mass. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS

SAYLOR, District Judge.

This action arises from a homeowner’s default on her home mortgage loan. On April 20, 2006, plaintiff Jacquelyn Stokes mortgaged her home in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Defendant Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., is the servicer of plaintiffs mortgage. Defendant Deutsche Bank National Trust Company is allegedly the holder of plaintiffs mortgage.

In June 2012, plaintiff defaulted on her mortgage payments. Defendants scheduled a foreclosure sale for her property on December 11, 2013. Plaintiff brought suit on December 9, 2013, alleging (1) violations of the Massachusetts right-to-cure notice laws, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 244, §§ 35A and 35B; (2) common-law negligence, and (3) violations of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, § 2. No foreclosure sale has occurred.

Defendants have moved for judgment on the pleadings under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). For the following reasons, that motion will be granted in part and ’denied in part.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

On April 20, 2006, Jacquelyn Stokes entered into a mortgage loan with WMC Mortgage Corporation to refinance the loan on her property located at 15 Pinewood Street, Hyde Park, Massachusetts. (Am. Compl. ¶ 4). Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., was the servi-cer and mortgagee of the loan. (Id., Ex. A). In 2009, she fell behind on her mortgage payments for the first time. (Id. ¶ 6).

On December 20, 2009, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., sent Sto'kes a notice of her right to cure her mortgage default. (Id. [528]*528¶ 7).1 The notice stated, “The name of the person that originated your loan is NA. The current mortgagee is Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Trustee HSI Asset Securitization Corporation Trust 2006-WMC1.” (Id., Ex. B). It appears that the originator of the loan was listed as NA, or “not available.” (Id.).2 Following her receipt of the notice to cure, Stokes received a loan modification and was able to come current on her mortgage payments. (Id. ¶ 13).

In June 2012, Stokes again fell behind on her mortgage payments. (Id. ¶ 14). In August 2012, she contacted a Wells Fargo representative to request a repayment plan or loan modification. (Id. ¶ 15). The representative told her she did not qualify for a repayment plan. (Id. ¶ 16). Wells Fargo subsequently sent Stokes a loan-modification application packet. (Id. ¶ 18).

On October 16, 2012, Stokes submitted an application for a loan modification to Wells Fargo. (Id. ¶ 19). On October 22, Wells Fargo filed a Servicemembers Civil Relief Act case against Stokes in the Massachusetts Land Court. (Id. ¶ 20).

In December 2012, Stokes contacted Wells Fargo again to request a loan modification. (Id. ¶ 22). She told Wells Fargo she could pay her missed mortgage payments but could not pay the attorneys’ fees Wells Fargo requested. (Id. ¶ 23). The Wells Fargo representative told her to speak to its counsel, Orlans Moran. (Id. ¶ 25). When Stokes spoke to Moran, he told her he could not change the amount of the attorneys’ fees and referred her back to Wells Fargo. (Id. ¶ 26). Stokes then submitted another loan-modification application to Wells Fargo with documentation of her monthly income and expenses. (Id. ¶ 27).

On February 22, 2013, a Wells Fargo representative told Stokes that she could not receive a loan modification because Wells Fargo’s investor guidelines prohibited giving an individual a loan modification twice within five years. (Id. IT 28). According to the complaint, there is no evidence that such an investor guideline exists, and Deutsche Bank’s pooling and servicing agreement states that it can freely waive, modify, or vary the terms of any mortgage loan. (Id. ¶¶ 29, 31).

In March 2013, a Wells Fargo representative told Stokes to send a $12,000 payment to allow her loan to be reinstated. (Id. ¶ 32). Stokes sent that payment on March 11. (Id. ¶ 33). She later received a call from a different Wells Fargo representative, who told her that the bank would not accept the payment. (Id. ¶ 34). The payment was returned to Stokes. (Id. ¶ 35). '

On March 22, 2013, a Wells Fargo representative told Stokes’s housing counselor that every loss-mitigation option had been exhausted. (Id. ¶ 36). On May 28, Stokes’s counselor sent Wells Fargo evidence showing Stokes had $14,672.90 available to repay her mortgage. (Id. ¶ 37). Wells Fargo declined to accept the payment, contending that it had recently learned that Stokes had experienced a decrease in income; Stokes contends that [529]*529she had actually told Wells Fargo she had experienced an increase in income. (Id. ¶¶ 38-39). During these communications, Wells Fargo repeatedly told Stokes she would be eligible for a repayment plan if her loan was 180 days or fewer past due. (Id. ¶ 40).

On July 2, 2013, Stokes submitted another loan-modification and repayment-plan request to Wells Fargo. (Id. ¶ 41). She complied with additional requests for information from the bank on seven different occasions. (Id. ¶ 42). On August 29, Wells Fargo informed Stokes she was not eligible for a loan modification because the bank believed that her current payment schedule was affordable. (Id. ¶ 43). On November 1, a Wells Fargo representative told Stokes’s counsel that Stokes was denied a loan modification because she had exceeded the number of allowed modifications and because her loan was more than 180 days delinquent. (Id. ¶¶ 44-45).

On November 8, 2013, Stokes was informed that Wells Fargo would foreclose on her property on December 11. (Id., Ex. G).

B. Procedural Background

Plaintiff filed his case on December 9, 2013, in Suffolk Superior Court. Defendants removed the case to this Court on December 11. On December 20, plaintiff amended her complaint. The amended complaint alleges that defendants (1) failed to give plaintiff a right-to-cure notice as required by Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 244, § 35A; (2) violated her right to apply for a loan modification as required by Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 244, § 35B; (3) negligently failed to grant her a loan modification; and (4) violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, § 2. Because this litigation was pending, defendants did not foreclose on the property.

On April 4, 2014, defendants filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c).

II. Standard of Review

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Bluebook (online)
37 F. Supp. 3d 525, 2014 WL 2649509, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80018, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stokes-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-mad-2014.