JPMorgan Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Late Mortgage Doc Filings

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On Tuesday, JP Morgan Chase Bank NA was hit with a class action lawsuit filed by residential property owners who claim the bank’s practice of failing to file mortgage satisfaction documents in a timely manner has prevented thousands of mortgage holders from closing property sales.

Lead plaintiff, New York resident Tina Bellino, alleges in the JPMorgan class action lawsuit that after she sold her property and paid off the mortgage, the bank took over 40 days to file satisfaction documents with New York county clerks to prove she paid off her property.

Bellino further alleges that “based on a review of county records, [JPMorgan] appears to have failed to timely file mortgage satisfactions in thousands, if not tens of thousands, of instances.”

The JPMorgan mortgage class action lawsuit claims “[t]his is no mere procedural peccadillo,” because “there is a real possibility that a large loss by a title company as a result of the widespread failure of banks to timely present mortgage satisfactions may disrupt the entire system for transferring residential property in New York State.” Further, “[t]he failure to timely present a mortgage satisfaction can also frustrate landowners who need a marketable title to complete a property sale.”

The JPMorgan class action lawsuit claims that New York property laws “require that mortgagees like [JPMorgan] present to the proper county clerk a satisfaction of mortgage when a mortgagor has paid the entire principle and interest due on a mortgage,” and “[t]he statutes each provide that a mortgagee who fails to do so within 30 days is liable to the mortgagor for $500; a mortgagee who fails to do so for more than 60 days is liable to the mortgagor for $1000; and a mortgagee who presents a mortgage satisfaction more than 90 days late is liable to the mortgagor for $1500.”

Bellino also alleges that JPMorgan’s failure to submit mortgage documents on time is “[o]ne of the unfortunate consequences of the consolidation of the banking industry” and explains that “banks frequently fail to comply with their obligations to timely file mortgage satisfactions…. mortgage satisfactions are often filed months, if not years, after they are due, and sometimes not at all.”

Bellino is seeking statutory damages for herself and the proposed Class, as well as attorney costs and fees.

JPMorgan is facing two other class action lawsuits making similar allegations, in addition to this one filed May 2. Three months ago, a different group of residential property owners in New York filed a similar JPMorgan mortgage class action lawsuit. Also, this past February, a plaintiff in Pennsylvania accused JPMorgan of violating New York property laws when the bank allegedly did not present documents proving the plaintiff had satisfied her mortgage after she paid of property located in Pennsylvania.

Bellino is represented by Todd S. Garber, D. Greg Blankinship, Jeremiah Frei-Pearson and Shin Y. Hahn of Finkelstein Blankenship Frei-Pearson & Garber LLP.

The JP Morgan Mortgage Doc Delay Class Action Lawsuit is Tina Bellino et al. v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Case No. 14-cv-3139, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: The New York JPMorgan Chase Late Satisfaction of Mortgage Class Action Settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.