Wooten v. Quicken Loans, Inc.

626 F.3d 1187, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 24077, 2010 WL 4723054
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedNovember 23, 2010
Docket08-11245
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 626 F.3d 1187 (Wooten v. Quicken Loans, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wooten v. Quicken Loans, Inc., 626 F.3d 1187, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 24077, 2010 WL 4723054 (11th Cir. 2010).

Opinion

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

Section 8(b) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”) provides:

(b) Splitting charges. No person shall give and no person shall accept any portion, split, or percentage of any charge made or received for the rendering of a real estate settlement service in connection with a transaction involving a federally related mortgage loan other than for services actually performed.

12 U.S.C. § 2607(b). The principal question this appeal presents is whether, in connection with a residential mortgage loan, charging a loan discount payment— otherwise known as “points” or “discount points” — to provide a specific, below-market interest rate constitutes the “rendering of a real estate settlement service” within the meaning of § 2607(b). The district court, dismissing the appellant borrowers’ complaint for failure to state a violation of § 2607(b), held that the borrowers’ payment of such points was not for the “rendering of a real estate settlement service.” We agree, and therefore affirm the court’s ruling.

I.

This is a class action brought against Quicken Loans, Inc. (“Quicken”) by two sets of borrowers: Keidrick C. Wooten and his wife Mitzi D. Wooten, and Billy R. Buckhaults and his wife Cheryl A. Buckhaults, his wife. 1 These plaintiffs purportedly represent everyone who obtained a residential mortgage loan from Quicken and was charged points, but did not receive the specific, below-market interest rate Quicken promised. The Wootens’ and Buckhaults’ transactions differed; thus, we set them out separately.

Before doing so, however, we should point out that plaintiffs’ counsel, in drafting the complaint in this case, failed to attach to the complaint the notes and mortgages the Wootens and Buckhaults executed. Defense counsel attached the notes to Quicken’s motion to dismiss the complaint, and the district court, over plaintiffs’ objection, made the instruments part of the complaint, 2 relying on them in granting Quicken’s motion. The complaint also alleges that Quicken furnished the respective borrowers the mortgage-closing statement required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Settlement Statement (HUD-1)” (“HUD-1”), and that the HUD-1, on line 8.02, indicated that Quicken was charging the borrowers a “Loan Discount” percentage, *1190 or points, for the specific interest rate stated in the mortgage note. As was the case with respect to the notes and mortgages, the HUD-ls presented to the borrowers were not part of the complaint. Nor were they attached to Quicken’s motion to dismiss, or referred to by the district court in its dispositive order. To the end that the facts surrounding the loan closings may be presented in full, we consider as part of the complaint both the HUD-ls the borrowers received and, as the district court did, the notes they executed. 3

A.

On July 18, 2006, the Wootens entered into a residential mortgage transaction with Quicken. They executed an “Adjustable Rate Note” for $132,250, payable in 30 years, at an “initial fixed interest rate” of 5.875% per annum. 4 “Quicken charged the Wootens a loan discount fee of $5,951.00, an amount equal to 4.5% of their loan amount. The Wootens did not negotiate for a buy-down of the interest rate nor did they receive a lower interest rate in return for paying points.” Compl. ¶ 8. Nonetheless, as indicated on line 802 of the HUD-1 that Quicken gave them at closing, 5 id. ¶ 16, they paid a “Loan Discount” of 4.5% for the interest rate stated in their mortgage note, 5.875%. 6

B.

On July 3, 2006, the Buckhaults entered into a residential mortgage transaction with Quicken. The Buckhaults executed a “Note” for $140,000, payable in 15 years, at a fixed interest rate of 6.500% per annum. 7 “Quicken charged the Buckhaults a loan discount fee of $2,100.00, an amount equal to 1.5% of their loan amount. The Buckhaults did not negotiate for a buy-down of the interest rate nor did they receive a lower interest rate in return for paying points.” Id. ¶ 9. Nonetheless, as indicated on line 802 of the HUD-1 that Quicken gave them at closing, id. ¶ 16, they paid points, a “Loan Discount” of 1.5% for the interest rate stated in their mortgage note, 6.500%. 8

*1191 The Buckhaults and Quicken entered into a second residential mortgage transaction on April 6, 2007. Id. ¶ 10. The Buckhaults executed an “Interest First Note” for $142,800, payable in 30 years, at a fixed interest rate of 6.125% per annum. 9 “This time Quicken charged the Buckhaults a loan discount fee of $1,963.50, an amount equal to 1.375% of their loan amount. The Buckhaults did not negotiate for a buy-down of the interest rate nor did they receive a lower interest rate in return for paying points.” Id. Nonetheless, as indicated on line 802 of the HUD-1 that Quicken gave them at closing, id. ¶ 16, they paid a “Loan Discount” of 1.375% for the interest rate stated in their mortgage note, 6.125%. 10

II.

The Wootens and Buckhaults instituted this class action on July 2, 2007. Their complaint contained two counts, both founded on the facts recited in parts I.A and I.B. Count I, brought under § 8(b) of RESPA, 12 U.S.C. § 2607(b) and 24 C.F.R. § 3500.14(c), alleged that Quicken charged the Wootens and Buckhaults a “ ‘Loan Discount’ fee for which no interest rate discount was given or bargained for .... ” Id. ¶ 1. Specifically,

The section 802 charges listed on the HUD-ls were imposed for services that were not bona fide, not rendered, not paid or for nominal, unreasonable or duplicative services for which no fees were earned and for which no fees should have been imposed, all in violation of RESPA at 12 U.S.C. § 2607, and RESPA’s implementing regulations, Regulation X, at 24 C.F.R. § 3500.14. 11

Id. ¶ 33. Stripped to its essentials, Count I alleges that the agreements the Wootens and Buckhaults made with Quicken did not call for a discounted interest rate and thus did not require the payment of a loan discount, or points. They nonetheless paid the points, receiving nothing in return.

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Bluebook (online)
626 F.3d 1187, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 24077, 2010 WL 4723054, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wooten-v-quicken-loans-inc-ca11-2010.