Homecomings Financial loses (part of) its motion to dismiss consumer fraud claims
In a class-action lawsuit against Homecomings Financial, consumers alleged that Homecomings would charge borrowers for unnecessary homeowner’s insurance, fail to process payments on time, forcing borrowers to pay “Speedpay” fees of up to $12.50. One plaintiff says Homecomings charged him with six property-inspection fees in a 10-day period, apparently because Homecomings wanted to make sure he was really living there (and charge him for their trouble).
Interestingly, the lawsuit frames the issue, in part, under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which turns out not to have worked. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kyle tossed the FDCPA claim because Homecomings, for all its apparent failings, is not a debt collector.
The other part of the lawsuit concerns the Truth-in-Lending Act, and Judge Kyle let that one survive, because Homecomings may have violated its disclosure obligations under TILA and Regulation Z.
There were some other claims that were dismissed, and an unjust enrichment claim survived the motion to dismiss, as well.
Read the decision in Motley, et al., v. Homecomings Financial, LLC.
Tags: class action, FDCPA, fees, Homecomings, Homecomings Financial, late, Minnesota, mortgage, regulation Z, servicer, servicing, TILA
Filed under: Consumer Law & Policy, Coping With Credit & Debt
Homecomings has done the same to me. My payments suddenly went up and when I called they said my insurance had lapsed and they took it upon themselves to find me homeowner’s insurance, which was 2 times what I had been paying. For some reason my payments seem to go up little by little every so often b/c they claim my escrow account keeps coming up short, which I don’t quite understand because my taxes and insurance have not gone up!?!?! I don;t even know where to begin to get all of this resolved!
Well my story is even better. I got behind back a few months ago cause they raised my payments up to 50 extra a month and I got behind cause I could not pay it. They said they were going to do a loan modification and so they had me send a certain amount to bring it current and I did. October rolled around and they said to not pay anything till we approve your loan or you would null and void it out so I didn’t. I get this statement saying that I owe like this freaking ungodly amount of 1,000 dollars for late charges and Octobers payment. They said my escrow was short and I was late and as of next week I will be 2months behind and they are the ones that told me not to send a housepayment and I didn’t I caught another bill up. If my escrow and my “cushion” they have in there is only 1272 a year how can they charge me 1480 a year and now telling me to expect to possibly pay 700 a month next year due to escrow shortage. Someone please help me cause we are a one income family here and I just can’t pay that. My orginal house payment was 632.00 a month and now it has gone up to 685 a month that isn’t right with our economy in the shape it is in doing this to us. They have raised my housepayment up to where I can’t pay it. I need help and not much money and need some answers before we loose our house cause that is what is happening due to them telling me not to pay and now saying I am in danger of being foreclosed..I would have sent a payment back in October but they said “no if you do then your payment will be 685 for the remainder of the loan and I trusted them and should have known better cause they sure as heck didn’t speak good english. SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!!!!!!