Taft v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

828 F. Supp. 2d 1031, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126112, 2011 WL 5237785
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedNovember 1, 2011
DocketCivil No. 10-2084 (SRN/FLN)
StatusPublished

This text of 828 F. Supp. 2d 1031 (Taft v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taft v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 828 F. Supp. 2d 1031, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126112, 2011 WL 5237785 (mnd 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SUSAN RICHARD NELSON, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s Motion to Dismiss [Doe. No. 34] and on Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 37]. For the reasons stated below, this Court grants the Motion to Dismiss, denies the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, and dismisses the Second Amended Complaint [Doc. No. 33] with prejudice.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Elizabeth Taft is the personal representative for the estate of her mother, Ethel Taft. Elizabeth Taft contends that her mother entered into a reverse mortgage loan with Defendant Wells Fargo, and that this reverse mortgage violated several Minnesota statutes, one South Dakota statute, a federal law, and constituted a breach of contract and unjust enrichment. In this lawsuit, she seeks to represent a class of similarly situated individuals.

Reverse mortgages, or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (“HE CM”), are not an uncommon way for older people to reap the benefits of the equity they have in their homes. Indeed, in an amendment to the National Housing Act (“NHA”), Congress specifically encouraged reverse mortgages by authorizing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) to insure such mortgages through a program administered by the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”). According to Congress, reverse mortgages were necessary to address “the special needs of elderly homeowners.” 12 U.S.C. § 1715z-20(a). Although nominally only an insurance program for reverse mortgages, the statute essentially sets forth the requirements for federally insurable reverse mortgages and instructs the HUD Secretary to make regulations enforcing those requirements.

Under HUD’s reverse mortgage program, a homeowner over the age of 62 can receive what is essentially a home equity loan that the homeowner does not have to pay back. Rather, on the sale of the home or the death of the homeowner, the lender is repaid the amount of the loan, with interest, and any remaining equity goes either to the homeowner or to the homeowner’s estate. The interest on the reverse mortgage is put back into the principal amount of the loan according to federal law. 24 C.F.R. §§ 206.25(e), 206.19(e). Thus, for example, an older homeowner whose home is worth $200,000, and who owns the home free of any encumbrances, can receive a reverse mortgage for all or a portion of that $200,000, and can receive those proceeds either as a monthly annuity or a lump-sum payment.

[1033]*1033At issue are three types of fees Wells Fargo charged Plaintiffs mother: origination fees, servicing fees, and mortgage insurance charges. The parties do not dispute that Wells Fargo charged these fees, or that, rather than paying cash for the fees, Plaintiffs mother opted to borrow the money for the fees, so that the amount of the fees was added to the principal balance of Plaintiffs mother’s reverse mortgage loan. Nor do the parties dispute the amount of the fees charged, and Plaintiff does not contend that charging such fees was in itself improper. Rather, the crux of her Complaint is that, by adding these fees to the principal loan amount, Wells Fargo charged an effective interest rate that was higher than the parties’ agreement and higher than both Minnesota and South Dakota law allow. Plaintiff also contends that Minnesota and South Dakota law prohibit including these types of fees in the principal loan amount. (See 2d Am. Compl. ¶ 2 [Doc. No. 33]) (“Plaintiff brings this action ... for Well Fargo’s inclusion of insurance premiums, excessive servicing fees, and/or loan origination fees in the principal amount of its loans in violation of applicable law.”).

The Second Amended Complaint raises six claims. The first three causes of action contend that Wells Fargo violated Minnesota law by including the charges in the principal balance of the loan. The fourth cause of action claims a violation of South Dakota law. The fifth cause of action is a claim of unjust enrichment, and the sixth contends that Wells Fargo violated the National Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. § 85.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

The parties agree that the question of Wells Fargo’s liability is a question of law that is ripe for decision. Thus, although Wells Fargo seeks a dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) and Plaintiff seeks partial summary judgment under Rule 56, there is no practical distinction between the two Motions. Plaintiff asserts that Wells Fargo violated the law; Wells Fargo denies that it violated the law. Where there are factual questions involved in this essentially legal decision, the Court will assume the facts in the Complaint to be true and will construe all reasonable inferences from those facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiff. Morton v. Becker, 793 F.2d 185, 187 (8th Cir.1986). However, the Court need not accept as true wholly conclusory allegations, Hanten v. Sch. Dist. of River-view Gardens, 183 F.3d 799, 805 (8th Cir.1999), or legal conclusions Plaintiff draws from the facts pled. Westcott v. City of Omaha, 901 F.2d 1486, 1488 (8th Cir.1990).

B. Preemption

The question in this case is whether a state may, in the context of fixing interest rates that are applicable to a reverse mortgage loan, also define what constitutes interest. The National Bank Act (“NBA”) allows national banks to charge their customers interest at the rate allowed by the state in which the bank is located. 12 U.S.C. § 85; Smiley v. Citibank (South Dakota), N.A., 517 U.S. 735, 116 S.Ct. 1730, 135 L.Ed.2d 25 (1996). There is no dispute that, because of the interplay between the National Housing Act (“NHA”), the National Bank Act, and the regulations promulgated under both laws, a state may determine what rate of interest may be charged by a bank offering a federally insured reverse mortgage loan. The dispute is whether the state may also determine what charges are defined as interest.

1. Preemption Opt-Out

Plaintiff contends that the Court need not determine whether any of the state statutes on which the Second Amended [1034]*1034Complaint relies are preempted because the parties have opted out of any possible federal preemption.

a. The Agreements

Plaintiffs first argument is that the parties have “opted out” of any possible preemption because the choice-of-law provision in the loan agreement provides that the parties’ contract will be governed by Minnesota law. But the choice-of-law provision on which Plaintiff relies does not choose solely Minnesota law.

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Related

Tiffany v. National Bank of Mo.
85 U.S. 409 (Supreme Court, 1874)
Smiley v. Citibank (South Dakota), N. A.
517 U.S. 735 (Supreme Court, 1996)
Beneficial National Bank v. Anderson
539 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 2003)
United States Fire Insurance Co. v. Minnesota State Zoological Board
307 N.W.2d 490 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1981)
Morton v. Becker
793 F.2d 185 (Eighth Circuit, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
828 F. Supp. 2d 1031, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126112, 2011 WL 5237785, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taft-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-mnd-2011.