Appeals Court Reinstates 'Fair Debt' Suit Accusing Foreclosure Mill Of Attempted Fee Gouging In Mortgage Payoff Letters Sent To Homeowner's Attorney

A Federal Court of Appeals just reinstated a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey homeowner seeking class action status that accuses the law firm representing a foreclosing lender of sending the homeowner's attorney mortgage payoff letters that included charges that, according to the lawsuit, were unauthorized by the loan agreement and were otherwise not allowed by law.

In reinstating the lawsuit, the appeals court referred to a ruling it issued last month in which it addressed this same question of law. In Allen v. LaSalle Bank, N.A., ___ F.3d ____, No. 09-1466, 2011 WL 94420 (3d Cir. Jan 12, 2011), it decided that a communication from a debt collector to a consumer's attorney is actionable under § 1692f(1) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). One of the defendants in the Allen case is the same foreclosure mill targeted in the current case (Fein, Such, Kahn, And Shepard, P.C.).(1)

The lower court in the current case ruled that the letters from the bank's attorney did not form the basis for a FDCPA lawsuit. However, based on its earlier Allen decision, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and, accordingly, vacated the ruling and remanded the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.

For the recent ruling of the appeals court, see Ogbin v. Fein, Such, Kahn, And Shepard, P.C., No. 09-2829 (3d Cir. February 22, 2011) (unpublished).

Representing the homeowner in this case, as well as the homeowner in the Allen case, is Lewis G. Adler, Woodbury, New Jersey.

(1) See Federal Appeals Court Reinstates 85-Year Old Widow's 'Fair Debt' Suit Alleging Illegal Fee Gouging After Missing Final Payment On 30-Year Mortgage.