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On Friday, a New York federal jury ordered Wells Fargo & Co. to pay $54.8 million in damages to resolve a class action lawsuit alleging the late fees charged by two mortgage servicers were improper and excessive.
The mortgage fee class action lawsuit alleged that The Money Store and HomEq, mortgage firms which are now defunct, improperly charged late fees after borrowers’ loans were accelerated and paid off. HomEq had been owned by Wachovia, which Wells Fargo acquired in 2008. The Money Store was owned by First Union, which was later acquired by Wachovia. Wells Fargo never actually owned either mortgage firm.
Plaintiff Joseph Mazzei alleged in the mortgage fee class action lawsuit that he took out a mortgage loan from The Money Store in 1994. Five years later, he fell behind on the loan and defaulted several times. He alleges that The Money Store and others accelerated his loan obligations in 2000, declaring that the full amount of the debt was due immediately.
Subsequently, Mazzei was charged multiple late fees for failing to make monthly payments on the loan, according to the mortgage fee class action lawsuit. He later sold his home and made a payment of approximately $61,000 to the defendants.
The mortgage fee class action lawsuit charged the defendants with breach of contract and violations of the Truth in Lending Act and the California Business & Professional Code. A judge previously dismissed claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
In January 2013, U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl certified Classes of borrowers who signed on loans owned or serviced by the defendants and were charged unlawful fees between March 1, 2000 and June 2, 2014. Excluded from the Class are borrowers who signed form loan mortgage agreements after Nov. 1, 2006.
The mortgage late fee class action lawsuit, which was filed in 2001, sought around $629 million for alleged overcharges and interest. The case went to trial earlier this month and lasted 10 days.
“We disagree with the jury’s decision to award damages for some of the claims in this case—all of which are based on allegations dating back 10 years or more at a predecessor company—and we likely will seek review of that portion of the verdict,” a spokesman for Wells Fargo said.
The plaintiff is represented by Moshe Horn and Christopher M. Van de Kieft of Seeger Weiss LLP, Paul Grobman of the Law Offices of Paul Grobman, and Neal A. DeYoung and Rajan Sharma of Sharma & DeYoung LLP.
The Wells Fargo Late Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Joseph Mazzei, et al. v. The Money Store, et al., Case No. 1:01-cv-05694, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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24 thoughts onWells Fargo Ordered to Pay $55M in Mortgage Fee Class Action
Homeeq caused me to lose my home. Where can I join the law suite. Didn’t help me with a loan modification attached high fees that caused payment to exceed do high. I still have all my paper work. So sad
I had a mortgage with homeq. They were rude, liers, and offered me no assistance. They jacked up my mortgage , so high. I was unable to make my payments. My house went into foreclosure, when i called to seek assistance or wanted to speak to someone in authority they gave me the run around. I ended up loosing by beautiful home and to this day i have never recovered. I SO HAPPY THEIR OUT OF BUSINESS. Is there a class action lawsiut i can join.
I had a 80/20 Mortgage that was sold to Homeq. My combined monthly payment was $2800. After several incidents with them holding our check in order to charge late payments we began paying via Western Union. In 2006 the clerk mistakenly sent both mortgage payments to the 20% mortgage. We immediately recognize the mistake and called Homeq.They assured us that there was no problem that they can see that the payment was made in full and that they were going to transfer the appropriate funds to the 80% mortgage making us whole. It took them approximately two months to have the appropriate funds transfered back to the 80% mortgage. In the mean time they began forclosure proceedings against us. We were subsequently forced into a forbearance agreement with fees that cost us nearly $10,000 in order to save our home. Today we’re still in our home waiting for the money that was stolen from us.
How do I join please?
My husband and I had one with HomEq Servicing and they were dirty dogs. They jacked our house not up three time the amount it was and then foreclosed on us and charged us huge late fees before if we were late with a payment. I want my home back, HomEq Servicing should have never been able to increase my house not to three times its amount. Please let me know how would I go about joining this lawsuit. Suzette Douglas & David Douglas 563-508-5868.
Is there any way to find out when the payments will be made?
I had a mortgage with wellsfargo then homeq and wachovia Will I be hearing about anything. They were rude and very demanding. My mother helped me and she went for legal advice because of how they were trying to scam me. My maiden name was deraleau.
When will the checks be sent out?
I lost my house because they would not refinance for me.
I had a mortgage with the Money Store. I’m not sure if I fall under this category. How do I find out?