Tag Archives: Mortgage Law
Chicago, Illinois Office
Maurice Wutscher’s Ralph Wutscher Named American Bar Foundation Fellow
Dec. 15, 2021 — Maurice Wutscher partner Ralph Wutscher has been named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation is a global honorary society of attorneys, judges, law faculty and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of their communities.
Membership in the Fellows is limited to one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. Fellows are nominated by their peers and elected by the Board of the American Bar Foundation.
Ralph Wutscher focuses his practice primarily on representing consumer and commercial financial services companies, including depository and non-depository mortgage lenders, fintech companies of various kinds, credit card issuers, and loan servicers, as well as financial asset buyers and sellers, and other financial services providers. He also has substantial experience representing depository and non-depository auto finance companies. He represents the lending and financial services industry as a litigator, and as regulatory compliance counsel.
Maurice Wutscher Attorneys Speak at ABA’s CFSC Winter Meeting
Jan. 8, 2018 — Maurice Wutscher’s Ernest P. Wagner and D. Sharmin Arefin spoke at the ABA’s Consumer Financial Services Committee winter meeting this week.
Mr. Wagner joined a panel in discussing the new federal Defend Trade Secrets Act’s impact on the recruiting practices of mortgage lenders, best practices for companies to employ in recruiting to minimize risk, and the latest updates on court opinions construing the new legislation.
Ms. Arefin moderated the panel discussion, “Diverse Legal Career Paths in Consumer Financial Services.” She chairs the CFSC’s Diversity Task Force and holds a number of other leadership positions within ABA.
Maurice Wutscher Attorneys to Speak at Consumer Financial Services Conference in Texas
Oct. 19, 2017 — Several Maurice Wutscher attorneys will speak at the Consumer Financial Services Conference at Texas A&M University School of Law, Nov. 2-3.
Donald Maurice will discuss the evolving landscape of first party collections. Ralph T. Wutscher will moderate a panel on mortgage origination and servicing compliance.
Conference attendees will also hear from other leaders in consumer financial services law on such issues as limited English proficiency, ADA accessibility, vendor management, CFPB actions, RESPA, mortgage servicing litigation, FinTech, arbitration, collateral protection insurance in auto finance, fair lending, and the TCPA.
The conference is organized by the Conference on Consumer Finance Law. Twelve CLE credits will be provided, including one hour of ethics. For more information and to register, click here.
Maurice Wutscher’s Ralph Wutscher to Speak at MBA Regulatory Compliance Conference
Sept. 8, 2016 — Maurice Wutscher attorney Ralph Wutscher will discuss key developments in Homeowners Protection Act litigation and compliance at the national Mortgage Banker Association’s Regulatory Compliance Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 18.
Mr. Wutscher will be among a panel of expert counsel who will review the latest cases involving mortgage compliance and discuss possible defenses.
The conference will be held Sept. 18-20 and will provide comprehensive updates on new rules and developments, including under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and in the fair lending space, as well as well as practical tips and guidance from policymakers and regulators who impact the mortgage banking industry.
For more information, click here.
Maurice Wutscher’s Brent Yarborough Speaks to Mortgage Banking Industry at Advocacy Day
April 19, 2016 — Maurice Wutscher’s Brent Yarborough was a panel speaker on April 18 at Advocacy Day 2016, a grass roots advocacy event for mortgage servicers and lenders in Washington, D.C.
The panel discussion, “Advocacy Super Session: How We Got Here,” prepared members of ALFN, USFN, NARCA, and REOMAC to meet with their congressmen about issues faced by attorneys representing the mortgage banking industry.
Mr. Yarborough discussed the federal regulation of the practice of law, including the practice-of-law exclusion under Dodd-Frank and the history of attorney regulation under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. He also discussed CFPB enforcement actions against attorneys and law firms.
Maurice Wutscher Attorneys to Speak at Consumer Financial Services Conference
Nov. 4, 2015 — Maurice Wutscher attorneys will discuss the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, mortgage servicing, and attorney ethics at the Consumer Financial Services Conference at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Ernest Wagner will share his experiences in TCPA litigation on Nov. 19. Ralph Wutscher will lead a panel discussion on mortgage servicing issues on Nov. 20 and Donald Maurice will present on attorney ethics for financial services lawyers the same day.
Conference attendees will also hear from other leaders in consumer financial services law on fair lending/HMDA, UDAAP, arbitration, cybersecurity, CFPB regulation of automobile financial services, TRID implementation, the latest on flood and forced-placed insurance regulations, developments in state regulation of debt collection, bankruptcy and credit reporting, debt sales after the Madden decision and more.
The conference is organized by the Conference on Consumer Finance Law. Twelve CLE credits will be provided, including one hour of ethics. To view the conference brochure, click here.
Maurice Wutscher’s Ralph Wutscher to Discuss Origination and Servicing Claims at MBA Conference
Sept. 9, 2015 — Maurice Wutscher attorney Ralph Wutscher will participate in a litigation forum, “Origination and Servicing Claims,” at MBA’s Regulatory Compliance Conference 2015 in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 20. He will be among a panel of expert counsel who will speak on the range of origination and servicing claims being brought against mortgage lenders and how they are being addressed.
The conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt Washington from Sept. 20-22 and will provide comprehensive updates on new rules and current interpretations of previously released rules, as well as practical tips and guidance, from the policymakers and regulators who impact the mortgage banking industry.
For more information, click here.
Donald Maurice to Discuss Foreclosure Litigation at ACI Forum
Sept. 9, 2015 — Maurice Wutscher attorney Donald Maurice will participate in a panel survey exploring the latest developments in foreclosure litigation in hotbed jurisdictions at ACI’s 18th National Forum on Residential Mortgage Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement in Dallas on Sept. 17.
The panel will examine homeowners bills of rights, statute of limitations issues, HOA liens, state UDAAP claims, and other trends in foreclosure litigation.
The residential mortgage industry’s leading in-house and outside counsel will attend the meeting to gain insight into strategies, government enforcement and regulatory priorities, and judicial perspectives from top federal and state judges.
For more information and to register, click here.
Webinar to Discuss California’s One Form of Action Rule
Aug. 21, 2015 — Maurice Wutscher attorneys will present a webinar on Aug. 25 discussing California’s one form of action rule.
The Supreme Court of California is currently reviewing two significant appellate court rulings involving the “one form of action” rule: Coker v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 218 Cal. App. 4th 1 (4th Dist. 2013) and First California Bank v. McDonald, 231 Cal. App. 4th 550 (5th Dist. 2014).
In Coker, to resolve a nonjudicial foreclosure, the mortgagee of a purchase-money loan conditioned a short sale on the borrower’s agreement to remain responsible for any deficiency. A copy of the Appellate Court’s ruling in Coker is available here: Link to Opinion.
McDonald involves a judicial foreclosure on a mortgage loan made to a husband and wife, where the husband was deceased, and the mortgagee did not obtain the consent of the deceased husband’s estate prior to liquidating part of the collateral owned exclusively by the wife. A copy of the Appellate Court’s ruling in McDonald is available here: Link to Opinion.
The issues presented for review before the Supreme Court of California in these two cases are:
1. Does a borrower waive the protection of the “security first” rule under California Code of Civil Procedure section 726 by agreeing to a short sale?
2. Can a servicer condition a short sale on waiver by the borrower of the anti-deficiency protections under California Code of Civil Procedure section 580b?
3. Does a servicer violate California Code of Civil Procedure section 726 when it consents to a borrower’s voluntary ″short sale″ of her own property without obtaining the consent of a co-borrower who has no ownership interest in that property?
4. When there is a violation of Section 726, should alternate remedies, short of the servicer losing its right to pursue a deficiency judgment, be available to the courts where the servicer acted in good faith and there has been no prejudice to the co-borrower?
5. Does Pacific Valley Bank v. Schwenke (1987) 189 Cal. App. 3d 134, remain good law after the California Supreme Court’s decision in Security Pacific National Bank v. Wozab (1990) 51 Cal. 3d 991, which bars a loss-of-debt penalty in the absence of evidence of lender bad faith?
For more information and to register, click here.
Webinar to Explore FDCPA and Estimates of Mortgage Lenders’ Costs
June 24, 2015 — Maurice Wutscher will give a webinar on July 9, exploring the FDCPA and estimates of mortgage lenders’ costs.
Providing statements of the amount due, or of the amount required to cure a default – such as in Notices of Intention to Foreclose, periodic statements, and the like — has become risky for mortgage servicers under a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
The ruling, Kaymark v. Bank of America, involved a foreclosure complaint, which included projected fees and costs that had not yet been incurred at the time the complaint was filed. Ultimately the costs were incurred, but the court found that the foreclosure complaint’s inclusion of the projected fees and costs in the amounts due stated a claim for violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
Kaymark likely impacts what a mortgage servicer can include in periodic statements, Notices of Intent to Foreclose, and other disclosures of amounts due or amounts required to cure a default, at least in the Third Circuit (Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Virgin Islands).
For more information and to register, click here.