Texas home equity loan modifications
Section 50 Forfeiture and its Contents
31/03/12 10:09
Under important recent cases in Texas federal courts, there's no statute of limitations on bringing a lawsuit to confirm that a home equity lien has been invalidated by lender misconduct under Tex. Const. Art. 16 Section 50. However, a very recent case indicates that as to the companion penalty under Section 50, forfeiture, there is a four-year statute of limitations. Therefore, if a lender fails to cure a Section 50 defect, it not only loses the lien on a home; it not only loses all future payments from the borrower. It also loses as much as the previous four years of payments, which it must pay back to the borrower! Read More...
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The Chickens are Coming Home to Roost
11/02/12 09:56
The more calls I get and cases I take in as a result of word getting out about the Hawkins and Pennington class actions, the more convinced I am that the chickens will soon come home to roost. I believe that many lenders and loan servicers set up shop in Texas after 2007's mortgage bust without walling off Texas home equity loans for separate handling. The result of this, in my opinion, will prove catastrophic for lenders that don't quickly get a handle on how many loans they've modified in violation of the Texas Constitution's art. XVI section 50 -- and then start systematically fixing them under court supervision to bring them back into compliance with the law. Read More...
HAMP Trial Period Plan (TPP) Agreements May Violate the Texas Constitution in the case of Texas home equity loans
05/02/12 19:04
In the appeal of the federal district court dismissal of the Pennington class action, the plaintiffs whom I represent are arguing that HAMP TPP agreements violate the Texas Constitution's homestead provisions insofar as the TPP agreement creates an express schedule of payments that is insufficient to pay all interest and principal coming due each month. This blog post is a REDACTED, SUMMARY section of the plaintiffs' brief in Pennington. If you have a Texas home equity loan and made payments under a HAMP TPP agreement that put you further behind on your loan, you should read this material. I have removed all citations to case authority, representing a hundred hours of work, but if you have retained counsel and are facing these issues, have your lawyer get in touch with me. Read More...