Ofunne Edoziem

Subscribe to Ofunne Edoziem's Posts
Contact: Read more about Ofunne Edoziem

On December 30, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) after the bill’s passage by both the New York state senate and the assembly. FAPA is a direct response to a New York Court of Appeals decision, Freedom Mortg. Corp. v Engel, 37 N.Y.3d 1, reargument denied, 37 N.Y.3d 926 (2021) that seemingly gave lenders the right to unilaterally restart foreclosures and avoid a statute of limitations bar. FAPA seeks to curb a lender’s right to toll or extend the limitations period by amending existing state laws that affect the tolling of the limitations period for foreclosure actions and a lender’s use of New York’s saving statute to preserve the statute of limitations on an otherwise time-barred debt.…

Continue Reading The Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act is Now Law

Eviction moratoria are increasingly challenged in the courts. On August 12th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order partially enjoining enforcement of New York’s COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 (CEEFPA). The Court’s order stressed that it applied only to a provision that bars the eviction of tenants who file a form…

While the COVID-19 pandemic affected nearly every industry last year, the consumer finance industry faced unique challenges in the wake of economic changes and government response. In this report Perkins Coie offers an analysis of the past year’s most noteworthy regulatory developments and litigation outcomes in the mortgage lending and servicing industry. We review the…

Under California’s Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR), if a borrower obtains injunctive relief or is awarded damages pursuant to Civil Code Section 2924.12(h), the court may award the prevailing borrower reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

In cases where the court ultimately determines that the mortgage lender or servicer violated the provision of the HBOR outlined in Civ. Code Section 2924.12(a)(1) and (b), the borrower would undoubtedly be entitled to recover attorney’s fees and costs.  However, HBOR does not make clear whether the borrower would be entitled to attorney’s fees and costs in cases where the borrower applies for injunctive relief before the court makes an ultimate decision on the merits of the case. Specifically, the statute does not clarify when (i.e., in what phase of the litigation) the borrower is entitled to an award of fees and costs, nor does it distinguish between permanent and preliminary injunctions. And in the few iterations of the HBOR since it became effective in 2013, Civil Code Section 2924.12 has remained largely unaltered, substantively, on attorney fee and costs rewards for injunctive relief.
Continue Reading California’s Third District Court of Appeal Expands a Borrower’s Right to Attorney’s Fees Under the Homeowner Bill of Rights

The California Homeowner Bill of Rights (“HOBR”), codified in Sections 2920.5 et seq. of the Civil Code, became effective January 1, 2013. The statutes impose certain pre-foreclosure loss mitigation duties on mortgage servicers as well as trustees and deed of trust beneficiaries. Certain provisions of the HOBR were repealed as of January 1, 2018. While the legislature enacted new statutes to replace repealed provisions, not all requirements survived the January 2018 enactments, and expired as of the sunset date. But not long after expiration, many repealed provisions were given new life again through SB818 passed by Senator Beall. These statutes—revived with their original terms or with amendments—went into effect on January 1, 2019. We explore some of the repealed, later-revived statutes and notable appellate court decisions over the past year.
…
Continue Reading The Homeowner Bill of Rights—A Year in Review