Caliber Home Loans Lender Placed Insurance Class Action Settlement

Homeowners with Caliber Home Loans lender placed insurance may be entitled to cash or credit under an $8 million settlement achieved after a class action lawsuit accused the company, and other defendants, of charging excessive fees and getting kickbacks.

If you had a lender placed insurance policy issued on a residential property between Jan. 1, 2011 to Oct. 31, 2018, and paid or still owe Caliber Home Loans for the insurance, you could benefit from this class action settlement.

Lender placed insurance policies are issued by mortgage holders when homeowners fail to insure their home or let their policy lapse.

According to a class action lawsuit, Caliber Home Loans and its associates provided lender placed insurance for hazard, flood, flood gap or wind but charged homeowners excess premiums and fees.

Additionally, alleged the class action lawsuit, Caliber Home Loans Inc., and Vericrest Insurance Services LLC would receive kickbacks from American Security Insurance Company, Standard Guaranty Insurance Company, and Voyager Indemnity Insurance Company (all named as defendants). These kickbacks were allegedly paid in the form of unearned commissions and expenses.

The lead plaintiffs in the Caliber Home Loans lender placed insurance class action lawsuit claimed that they were notified by Caliber that they would have a lender placed insurance policy issued on their property in Pennsylvania after a lapse.

The plaintiffs said that they do not have an issue with the use of lender placed insurance policies in their situation, but they claimed that the insurance and loan companies were attempting to place the burden of the unauthorized kickbacks and excessive fees on their and other homeowners’ backs.

“Despite representations to borrowers that they will only be charged for the cost of insurance coverage, and provisions in the mortgage contracts binding it to do so, Caliber, charges borrowers the cost of coverage plus the amount of the kickbacks; it does not, that is, pass these rebates on to the borrower,” alleged the Caliber LPI class action lawsuit. “Caliber deducts the initial, pre-rebate amount from borrowers’ escrow accounts, and attempts to disguise the kickbacks as legitimate by mischaracterizing them as income earned by Caliber.”

The insurance and loan companies have agreed to pay an $8 million settlement to end the Caliber Home Loans lender placed insurance class action lawsuit. In addition, they have agreed to restrictions on the placement of lender placed insurance policies on residential policies for the next five years.

Under the terms of the Caliber Home Loans lender placed insurance class action lawsuit, Class Members can receive between three and six percent in escrow account credit or a cash payment based on the premium of their lender placed insurance policy.

Class Members are eligible to receive a cash award if they made a minimum of one full monthly mortgage payment to Caliber Home Loans.

Credit is available to Class Members who have not paid and still owe a premium. Under the terms of the settlement, the amount owed for these Class Members will be reduced by a certain percentage.

The exclusion and objection deadline for this settlement is March 2, 2019.

Who’s Eligible

Class Members include those who, between Jan. 1, 2011, and Oct. 31, 2018, “were charged by Caliber under a hazard, flood, flood gap or wind-only [lender placed insurance] Policy for Residential Property,” who also either paid or still owe Caliber Home Loans for a premium on that policy.

Potential Award

Up to 6% of the net premium of a lender placed insurance policy in either cash or credit.

• Class Members who were charged between Jan. 1, 2011 and June 30, 2013, are eligible for a credit or payment equal to six percent of the net premium on the loan payment
• Class Members who were charged between July 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2015, are eligible for a credit or payment equal to 4.5 percent of the net premium
• Class Members who were charged between Jan. 1, 2016 and Oct. 31, 2018, are eligible for a credit or payment equal to three percent of the net premium

Proof of Purchase

Class Members must provide their Claim ID number and/or information about the residential property with the Caliber Home Loan lender placed insurance policy and a partial Social Security number. Class Members will have to provide verification of identity as well.

Claim Form

CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM »

NOTE: If you do not qualify for this settlement do NOT file a claim.

Remember: you are submitting your claim under penalty of perjury. You are also harming other eligible Class Members by submitting a fraudulent claim. If you’re unsure if you qualify, please read the FAQ section of the Settlement Administrator’s website to ensure you meet all standards (Top Class Actions is not a Settlement Administrator). If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other open class action settlements you may be eligible for.

Claim Form Deadline

No earlier than 7/1/2019

Case Name

Rickert v. Caliber Home Loans Inc., et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-06677, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Final Hearing

04/01/2019

UPDATE: The Caliber Home Loans Lender Placed Insurance Class Action Settlement was granted final approval on April 1, 2019.  Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.

Settlement Website

RickertSettlementInfo.com

Claims Administrator

Rickert v Caliber Administrator
c/o Rust Consulting – 6328
PO Box 44
Minneapolis, MN 55440-0044
1-866-403-1834

Class Counsel

Adam Moskowitz
THE MOSKOWITZ LAW FIRM PLLC

Defense Counsel

Counsel for Assurant:
Frank G. Burt
CARLTON FIELDS JORDEN BURT PA

Counsel for Caliber:
John B. Sullivan
Erik Kemp
SEVERSON & WERSON PC