Homeowner Invokes TILA, State Lending Law In Attempt To Void Home Improvement Loan Gone Bad

In St. Clair County, Illinois, The St. Clair Record reports:

• A woman with learning disabilities claims she should not have to repay a loan for more than $45,000 she took out more than two and a half years ago because she was not fully explained the terms of the loan. In a complaint she filed on July 10 in St. Clair County Circuit Court, Anita Oglesby also claims the neighbors who promised to make necessary repairs to her home with the loan money failed to complete the work.

The story recites, in detail, the allegations contained in the lawsuit. Assuming the allegations are true, this story illustrates how the seemingly benign process of getting a simple loan to finance some needed home improvements can go haywire when bad actors get involved, ultimately leaving the homeowner behind the eight-ball (saddled with a high-interest, adjustable rate loan and a shoddy, incomplete home improvement job, while leaving the home in jeopardy of foreclosure). In this suit, Ms. Oglesby is reportedly asserting violations of the Federal Truth In Lending Act, and the Illinois High Risk Home Loan Act in her attempt to void the transaction.(1)

The non-profit law firm Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in East St. Louis will be representing her.

For the story, see Woman sues to rescind ARM home loan.

(1) In the 10-count suit, Oglesby is reportedly asking the court to rescind her loan transaction; to order the defendants to terminate any security interest in her home and to declare any security interests void; to award her statutory damages of twice the financial charge, not to exceed $4,000, for their failure to rescind the loan; to order the right to retain proceeds vested in Oglesby; to enjoin the defendants from instituting foreclosure proceedings on Oglesby's property; and to enjoin the defendant who arranged the allegedly toxic financing from arranging any more loans in Illinois without an Illinois mortgage broker license. In addition, Oglesby is seeking actual damages and other relief the court deems just. UndoMortgageLoans TILAdelta