BofA Settles Mortgage Lien Release Class Action Lawsuits for $6.2M

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According to documents filed Friday in New York federal court, Bank of America NA will pay $6.2 million to settle two class action lawsuits that accuse the bank of failing to provide proof of mortgage satisfaction to New York county clerks in a timely manner. The plaintiffs have asked the judge to preliminarily approve the proposed class action settlement, which offers cash benefits to eligible Class Members.

If approved, this Bank of America class action settlement would resolve two class action lawsuits that claimed the bank was liable to all New York consumers for whom it did not present a certificate of discharge or satisfaction of mortgage (lien release) to the appropriate county clerk within 30 days.

According to the class action settlement documents, New York law requires mortgagees to present to the proper county clerk a lien release within 30 days. If they fail to do so, the mortgagee is liable to the mortgage holder for up to $1,500.

Plaintiff Milton Adler filed the initial lien release class action lawsuit against Bank of America in July 2013. He subsequently passed away, but the co-executors of his estate have been substituted as plaintiffs.

In February 2014, plaintiff Dereck Whittenburg filed a similar class action lawsuit against Bank of America. The two BofA lien release class action lawsuits were consolidated for purposes of discovery and Class certification. After BofA’s attempts to dismiss the lien release class action lawsuits were unsuccessful, the parties participated in mediation and agreed to the settlement in October 2015.

Bank of America denies that it violated New York’s lien release statutes and asserts that it is not liable to the plaintiffs or Class Members. However, the bank agreed to settle the lien release class action lawsuits to avoid the delay, expense and risk associated with ongoing litigation.

Class Members of the proposed BofA lien release settlement include persons and/or entities who held a residential mortgage on real property in the state of New York that was serviced by Bank of America, and for which all authorized principal, interest and any other amount due was completely paid after July 12, 2010 but before Nov. 27, 2015, and for which Bank of America failed to present a certificate of discharge or satisfaction of mortgage within 30 days to the recording officer of the county where the mortgage was recorded.

Under the terms of the proposed BofA class action settlement, 17,058 Class Members would receive a payment between $180 and $780—approximately 52 percent of the amount recoverable under New York’s lien release statutes.

Instructions on how to file a claim for the BofA mortgage satisfaction notice class action settlement were not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are respresented by D. Greg Blankinship, Todd S. Garber and Jeremiah Frei-Pearson of Finkelstein Blankinship Frei-Pearson & Garber LLP.

The Bank of America Mortgage Satisfaction Notice Class Action Lawsuits are Milton Adler v. Bank of America NA, Case No. 7:13-cv-04866, and Dereck Whittenberg, et al. v. Bank of America NA, Case No. 7:14-cv-00947, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: The Bank of America Mortgage Lien Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim!