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A Chicago homeowner alleges in a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday that the Champion Mortgage Company, a division of Nationstar Mortgage, unlawfully charges reverse mortgage borrowers for unwarranted property inspections.
Plaintiff Rena Nicholson says Champion Mortgage has been conducting unnecessary property inspections, leaving elderly borrowers stuck with the bill. She says these inspection fees are in violation of federal housing regulations and Champion’s own mortgage agreements.
Champion Mortgage is the business name for the reverse mortgage division of defendant Nationstar Mortage LLC. Texas-based Nationstar is one of the largest mortgage servicers in the U.S., according to Nicholson.
The reverse mortgages at issue here – specifically, Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, or HECMs – allow older homeowners to access the equity in their homes while deferring payment until after their death or until they sell the home. They are available for borrowers age 62 and older, and they require no monthly mortgage payments.
Typical reverse mortgage customers are elderly, retired, and living on a fixed income, according to Nicholson.
In case of default, Champion Mortgage’s reverse mortgage terms allow the company to conduct property inspections to help protect its own interest in the property. The mortgage requires Champion Mortgage to give proper notice before inspecting. Fees for the inspection can be added to the borrower’s mortgage balance.
Nicholson’s own reverse mortgage was assigned to Champion Mortgage in 2012. She says Champion ordered and conducted five inspections in November 2016, assessing her a fee of $20 per inspection. She claims Champion gave her no notice prior to these inspections, breaching its obligations under the terms of its own mortgage agreement.
Nicholson accuses Champion Mortgage of conducting multiple unnecessary inspections solely for the purpose of increasing revenues through inspection fees.
She cites regulations of the Department of Housing and Urban Development that prohibit mortgage servicers from assessing inspection fees that are unnecessary or unreasonable. Other regulations limit the time between inspections to a minimum of 25 days, and then only when a visual inspection has confirmed that the property is vacant.
“It is unreasonable, unnecessary, inappropriate and in direct breach of the reverse mortgage contract, for Champion to order additional, systematic inspections in quick succession without notice, and of course to charge Plaintiff for those inspections,” according to her Champion Mortgage class action lawsuit.
Nicholson proposes to represent a nationwide Class consisting of all U.S. residents who have reverse mortgages serviced by Champion and whose accounts were assessed fees for property inspections that the borrower received no notice for. She also proposes a subclass representing Class Members who reside in Illinois.
She seeks an award of damages and equitable relief to be determined at trial, plus interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs of the litigation.
Nicholson is represented by attorneys Katrina Carroll and Ismael T. Salam of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC and Joseph G. Sauder, Matthew D. Schelkopf and Joseph B. Kenney of McCune Wright Arevalo LLP.
The Champion Mortgage Company Inspection Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Rena Nicholson v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC, Case No. 1:17-cv-01373, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
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15 thoughts onChampion Mortgage Billing for Unnecessary Inspections, Plaintiff Says
Champion and mortgage foreclose on our home before probate came through I would like to get in on the lawsuit to
Champion and mortgage foreclose on our home before probate came through I would like to get in on the lawsuit to
Wf and champion did all of the above and more to me. Proprty is in false foreclosure, tacked on 14,000 in fake fees in three months, never answer letters or address questions. Looks like i will be homeless even though federal law says they cant touch house they are doing it anyway. Sale date oct 1, 2018. Cant believe they can get away with this. They even broke into my home. Lie about everything.
My father passed may of 2016 the pay off at that point was@128,000 on5/212016 by9/3/2016the pay off amount was at 167.000 so my dad was charged, three, four ,. Times more as a, Dead man,? What could a dead man do,To get charged so much after he is dead?basically my dad was charged for property haunting. Excuse me I meant,unschedualed forced property inspections three in one day!champion on court record stated that my father’s home went vacant for over six months which is totally not true at all reason champion has to state that the property is vacant is because that is in their own contract an the only way champion can come to your home to conduct a property inspection in the first place an with that champion is allowed only one a month not three or four in one day at the same property like champion charged my father’s estate , not to mention paying for insurance an then receiving a bill from champion that I owe for insurance I am not paying twice looks like I am though !yes I have documentation their own account history read out an it took me a year an a half to receive that request from champion mortgage so I could verified just what I am getting myself into yes my name is Deborah lynn
An I would like to join this class action lawsuit have a good day.
My Mom passed Dec 2nd and These vultures came to the house and have not given us 2 months to get my Moms belongings out, They continue to push and came by and took pics of the house knowing she had passed. My family member has gotten a letter telling us they will take her home in less then the 6 months allowed by law . I was NOT there the day a man came by but I am calling tomorrow and I will go visit these pukes myself. If they don’t back off of her I will be going to jail because I won’t play any games with these pukes. They bought my Moms loan from Wells Fargo so of course we all know how bad Wells Fargo is and Champion is worse. Stay tuned you will be hearing what happens soon. The law says 6 months and we just buried my Mom Friday….
My wife and I had an reverse mortgage that was bought out by Champion Mortgage. My wife passed away in September of 2016 and because I was not on the Deed of the home, I had to then apply for Spousal program. I was then approved and submitted everything that the company needed with the help of an Estate Attorney. We put the home on the market of course because I wasn’t allowed to remain in the home without doing so. During the entire six months that the house was on the market I was served with notices from the company at least two-three times a week in writing and also messages left on my door (Which I have everything they sent) also copied my attorney as well. They were not only harassing me but continued to belittle me during the whole entire process, my only intention was to sell the home at a fair market price which the home was not a cheap house to sell so it took some time. We asked for an extension which they granted and then it went under contract. The entire time that it was on the market we received threatening phone calls, letters and was made to feel like an criminal in my own home. When you called them they were not only ignorant to why you were calling but also very rude and unprofessional. I’ve never in my entire 77 years of life and being retired from the banking industry for 35 years have I ever been treated or done in such a way. I was told they violated my rights as an consumer and that I could sue which I’m looking into now but not sure how to go about it. I want to make an formal complaint because that company should be shut down, not only do they charge people outrageous fees but they are rude and unprofessional and no one there seems to know how to answer any questions you may have.
Signed
Senior Citizen that was railroad.
PS we sold the home and paid them off from the closing attorney and it took another 30 days to receive my over payment back and when I called on it they acted like we didn’t even have an account and changed the account number on us when everything else had that number on it.
Champion Mortgage has ordered an appraisal on my home for no reason. They charged me last month for a property inspection. I would like to join the class action lawsuit.
I just received my.monthly statement from champion mortgage and was charged a 20.00 property inspection, as well as a 335.00 property appraisal fee for March 10, 2017 which I never was notified or had any idea. Also they are still charging me interest on a 2000 insurance fee which should have been taken off because I had insurance. Just horrible. Don’t.know what to do
Fays Servicing did the same thing to me, they sold my loan to Carrington mortgage company and when they did they tacked on all these fees that I don’t owe, I am still trying to find out what over $3000 with the fees are. Since Fays Servicing sold my loan, I can’t get any information on why am being charged all these fees. Carrington mortgage tells me to keep writing letters which I have done I’ve talked to numerous people including supposedly district managers or national account managers we’re going to get back to me and help me out but I get nowhere this is been going on since last September and I still don’t have an answer I think Fays servicing is a part of Chase But who knows they all lie so much. I have spent hours I’m trying to get this straightened out and I am nowhere I feel I’m pedaling backwards so if there’s anybody out there reading this is not an answer for me or has had the same thing done to them by Fays Servicing or Carrington maybe we should try to start a class action suit against them
Thank you
Chase bank did the same shit to me and then sold my loan to SLS loan servicing and can’t dispute because they say previous charge I say prove its legit and they said I need to dispute with Chase who has nothing to do with account so really I’m just supposed to pay false fees anytime they decide to sell to another servicer. My god I am so disgusted with how these evil lying cheating thieves keep coming up with new ways to rob us. Really it’s like the Robin Hood days ….We need a hero to fight fair because everyone else playing the game is just as scandalous taking their cut along the way. All for a piece of paper you might get showing you paid for nothing when the govt takes it cuz u somehow managed to pass level one lol. It’s sick twisted and too time consuming to even keep up with their scams they keep throwing at us every time we prove them wrong.