Turner v. First Union National Bank

713 A.2d 1068, 314 N.J. Super. 33, 1998 N.J. Super. LEXIS 331
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedJuly 9, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 713 A.2d 1068 (Turner v. First Union National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Turner v. First Union National Bank, 713 A.2d 1068, 314 N.J. Super. 33, 1998 N.J. Super. LEXIS 331 (N.J. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

KEEFE, J.A.D.

This case requires the court to construe N.J.S.A 46:10A-6(d), pertaining to a lender’s right to pass along its attorney fees to residential borrowers for the review of certain loan documents. These consolidated cases come to us from two Law Division rulings that conflict in their interpretation of the statute. In Kelly v. Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. and Iverson v. Collective Bank, considered together by the same Law Division judge, the judge construed N.J.S.A. 46:10A-6(d) to mean that a lender was prohibited from requiring a borrower to pay any fee charged by the. lender’s attorney, except when the borrower or the borrower’s attorney submitted documents that created “extra work” for the lender’s attorney. The trial judge also determined that federal regulations did not preempt N.J.S.A. 46:10A-6(d) as to defendant Collective Bank, a federally chartered savings and loan association.

In contrast, in Turner v. First Union, a different Law Division judge interpreted the statute literally and determined that al[37]*37though a lender may pass along its attorney’s fee to the borrower for the review of loan documents submitted “by or at the request of borrower’s attorney,” no such fee could be required where the borrower is unrepresented by counsel and/or where the borrower himself submits or directs the loan documents to be submitted to the lender.

We hold that N.J.S.A 46:10A-6(d) permits lenders to pass along attorney fees associated with the review of “loan documents,” as that term is defined in the statute, regardless of whether the “loan documents” are submitted by or at the direction of the borrower’s attorney or the borrower. Thus, we reverse both judgments under review with respect to their interpretation of N.J.S.A 46:10A-6(d). As to the preemption issue, we agree with the Law Division that federal regulations do not preempt state law concerning attorney fees.

I.

The facts in all of the consolidated matters have been stipulated by the parties. The defendants are lenders licensed and authorized under the laws of the United States and the State of New Jersey to engage in the business of making mortgage loans. The defendants make several thousand loans each year secured by mortgages on real property located in the State of New Jersey. Of the three defendant lenders, Collective is the only lender that is a federally chartered savings and loan association organized under the laws of the United States.

The representative plaintiffs in these consolidated matters all obtained mortgage loans from the defendant lenders. All of the loans were secured by a mortgage on real property located in the State of New Jersey, on which the principal structure is a one-to-four family residence.

As a precondition for receiving the loans from defendant lenders, the plaintiffs were required to obtain title insurance. In addition, each of the defendant lenders required that the plaintiffs pay a review fee, whether they were represented by an attorney [38]*38(as in Iverson and Kelly) or not (as in Turner), and to reimburse the lender for attorney fees incurred to review title documents submitted by the plaintiffs. At closing, the lenders’ charge for reviewing the loan documents submitted by plaintiffs ranged from $100 to $170.1 This charge to the borrowers, both represented and not represented by an attorney, was limited to a review of “loan documents,” as that term is defined in N.J.S.A. 46:10A-6(d).

II.

N.J.S.A 46:10A-6(d) provides, in relevant part, that

d. If a loan is made to a person or persons primarily for personal, family or household purposes and is secured by real property located in this State: (1) on which the principal structure is a one-to-four family residence; or (2) on which a one-to-four family residence is to be the principal structure to be constructed with the use of the loan proceeds, the lender shall not require the borrower to reimburse the lender for, or to pay all or any portion of, any fee or expense charged by the lender’s attorney except to the extent of a fee for the review of the loan documents prepared or submitted by or at the direction of the borrower’s attorney or such other work or services as requested by borrower or borrower’s attorney. Any other legal fee or expense of the lender’s attorney shall be the sole responsibility of the lender.
For the purposes of this subsection, “loan document” means a promissory note, loan agreement, mortgage, affidavit of title, power of attorney, survey and survey affidavit, title documents and searches and commitments for title insurance and modification of any promissory note, mortgage or loan agreement, (emphasis added)

As clearly demonstrated by the language of the statute, the general rule is that a lender’s attorney’s fees may not be passed along to the buyer, “except to the extent of a fee for the review of the loan documents prepared or submitted by or at the direction of the borrower’s attorney or such other work or services as requested by the borrower or borrower’s attorney.” (emphasis added). The focus of the parties’ dispute is the interpretation of the exceptions.

[39]*39Kecognizing that the representative plaintiff in Turner was not represented by an attorney during the mortgage transaction, the Law Division judge concluded that the statute is “clear and unambiguous ... that a lender may only require a fee when the loan documents are prepared or submitted at the direction of the borrower’s attorney, but not when they are submitted by the borrower herself [or himself].” According to the judge, “it is not manifestly absurd or contrary to public policy to find that the Legislature reasonably intended to allow a fee to be charged only when an attorney submits the loan documents.” Accordingly, the judge granted plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment.

As in Turner, the issue before the Law Division in Kelly and Iverson was whether the statute permitted lenders to charge attorney review fees. Unlike Turner, however, the representative plaintiffs in Kelly and Iverson were represented by counsel. In addition, in the Iverson matter, defendant Collective also presented the issue of whether federal regulations preempted N.J.S.A. 46:10A-6(d).

The judge concluded that the statute does not permit lenders to charge borrowers a fee for the review of loan documents submitted by the borrower, regardless of whether the borrower is represented by counsel. According to the judge, the statute only permits lenders to charge review fees where the borrower’s attorney prepares or submits documents which create “extra work” for the lender’s attorney. For example, the statute would allow lenders to charge a fee for the review of documents if the borrower’s attorney submits a different form of the mortgage note than that normally used by the lender. That is so, according to the judge, because the lender’s attorney would have to expend additional time and effort to review that document. Where, however, the borrower’s attorney merely undertakes the “ministerial act” of gathering title work and submits it to the lender, the judge held that the lender may not charge the borrower any attorney fees associated with the review of such documents.

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Related

Turner v. First Union National Bank
740 A.2d 1081 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
713 A.2d 1068, 314 N.J. Super. 33, 1998 N.J. Super. LEXIS 331, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turner-v-first-union-national-bank-njsuperctappdiv-1998.