The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Illinois Judge Affirms $2M Award for Wrongful Foreclosures

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Larry Bodine

Hammer v. RCSAn Illinois district court judge affirmed a $2 million verdict against a Texas-based mortgage servicer for its collection activities against an elderly homeowner.

Alena W. Hammer filed suit in 2013 after Residential Credit Solutions filed two wrongful foreclosures, although Hammer had previously completed a loan modification with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

In April 2015, a federal jury found in Hammer’s favor on all claims of breach of contract, violations of Illinois Consumer Fraud Act and the real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

FDIC took over as receiver

Originally, Hammer’s home loan was serviced through AmTrust Bank, and it initiated foreclosure proceedings after she defaulted on payments in 2009. The foreclosure was stayed after AmTrust failed, and the FDIC took over as the receiver for AmTrust.

Hammer testified that she received her loan package a few days after it was due to be signed and returned. However, once she received the package she inquired about additional fees and immediately made the first payment.

In July, the loan was transferred to RCS. Up to this point, Hammer had not signed the loan agreement but she continued making the required payments.

See also: Litigation Finance Companies Subject to Lender Laws 

The agreement was not signed and notarized until late August 2010 when Hammer was instructed by a FDIC loan negotiator to cross out the principal, write the principal amount less additional fees, and return the signed copy to RCS.

RCS told Hammer her modification was invalid and she needed to submit a new agreement with RCS directly. Hammer refused and continued making her lower payment.

RCS reinstated the 2009 foreclosure proceeding initiated by AmTrust, which was dismissed. Several months later the company filed a second action. Hammer alleged RCS illegally set up a escrow account and charged Hammer for insurance, taxes and 21 unexplained fees after the dismissal of the first suit.

Missed deadline

RCS raised several contract formation issues in post-trial motions. Because Hammer failed to timely accept the loan modification and made a handwritten change to the principal amount, RCS believed a contract was not formed.

District Judge Thomas Durkin stated the defendant waived this argument by failing to raise the issue in their written 50(b) motion. Further stating that “arguing timeliness in various points throughout the proceeding is insufficient to preserve the issue for a Rule 50(b) motion.” Durkin denied the motions.

Hammer and the FDIC had completed their negotiations prior to Hammer receiving the loan package based on the parties’ intent.

The FDIC transferred the loan to RCS including all relevant files and other written communications, this conduct and other written communications showed a clear intent to form a binding loan agreement even though the agreement was not signed by the deadline.

The judge wrote Hammer’s lawsuit against RCS had more to do with how RCS behaved after the initial foreclosure suit rather than as a punishment to the company as RCS argued.

Hammer v. Residential Credit Solutions Inc, Case No 1:2013cv06397, Northern District of Illinois.

Posted in Blog, Business Law, Consumer Protection

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Subscribe to Blog and VFJ via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog, the Voice for Justice and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the United States has[Read More...]
Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Bingen, Wash.-based Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations that it used recycl[Read More...]
Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

DEUTSCHE Bank AG agreed to pay US$130 million to settle criminal and civil charges that it bribed foreign officials and manip[Read More...]
Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing has agreed to pay just over $2.5 billion to resolve a federal charge of “criminal misconduct” for how its [Read More...]
Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

The mass exodus of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's top staff over accusations of bribery against their former boss has le[Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.