Judge Freezes "Presumptively Unfair" Option One / H&R Block Mortgages From Foreclosure Throughout Massachusetts In Discrimination Suit

From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

• Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has obtained a preliminary injunction against Option One Mortgage Corp. and H&R Block Mortgage Corp., subprime lenders that originated thousands of loans in Massachusetts. The order, granted Monday [...], prohibits Option One and American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (“AHMSI”), which currently services 9,700 active Massachusetts Option One loans, from initiating or advancing foreclosures on mortgage loans that are considered “presumptively unfair” under the court order.(1)

• Under the order, AHMSI must give the Attorney General’s Office at least 30 days notice before it intends to foreclose on any such loan, and if the Attorney General objects, obtain approval from the Court before foreclosing on a loan.

For the Massachusetts AG's press release, see AG Martha Coakley Obtains Preliminary Injunction Against Option One and H&R Block, Accused of Deceptive and Discriminatory Lending Practices.

For the original lawsuit filed in this case, see Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. H&R Block, Inc., et al.

(1) In teeing off on the mortgage lenders, the Court stated that, "[a]nyone with any understanding of home foreclosure recognizes how much injury it causes to the families who resided in foreclosed homes. Consequently, any lender with even a modicum of business morality should recognize that it is immoral, unethical, and unscrupulous to issue a home loan with reckless disregard of the risk of foreclosure.” The Court also rejected the defendants’ attempt to make the Attorney General arbitrate these claims under federal arbitration law.