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Brian Flick named consumer law “SuperLawyer”

RESPA

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Brian Flick - Managing Partner Dann LawBrian Flick Superlawyer badgeOne of America’s most prestigious attorney rating services has just confirmed what his colleagues at DannLaw and the thousands of clients he has represented have long known: Brian Flick is a “SuperLawyer” in the field of consumer law. Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multi-phase process that combines peer nominations and evaluations with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of professional achievement. Those who score highest then undergo a “blue ribbon” peer review by practice area. Only the highest-rated attorneys make the Super Lawyer list for each state and the designation is reserved for attorneys who excel in their field, contribute to their community, and abide by the highest professional and ethical standards.  We are extremely proud that Brian is listed among them.

You can learn more about the SuperLawyer selection process here.

Brian was previously named to the “SuperLawyers Rising Star” list of outstanding attorneys practicing in the fields of consumer and consumer bankruptcy law.

If you are having difficulty making your mortgage payment, are in or are about to be in foreclosure, are being harassed by debt collectors, or believe you have been cheated or abused by a bank, mortgage servicer, lender, or debt collector, contact DannLaw’s very own SuperLawyer, Brian Flick to arrange a free consultation today. You can reach Brian by calling 513-951-7124 or by using our contact form.

Superlawyer selection process

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Marc Dann - Marc Dann Consumer Fraud & Foreclosure Defense AttorneyThe U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau marked the culmination of a years-long attack against the agency by the business community, Congressional Republicans, and the Trump administration. It also provided a major dose of “be careful what you wish for because you just might get it” for the powerful forces who have been trying to destroy the CFPB since it was created in the wake of the collapse of the nation’s housing market in 2007-2008.

Precipitated by Donald Trump’s decision to fire director Richard Cordray in defiance of the statute that established the agency, the suit, filed by a firm that ran a mortgage modification scam, was expected to deal a fatal blow to the CFPB. Or at least that’s what those who lined up on the side of Seila, including the DOJ, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Foundation of Independent Businesses, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and a number of entities that had been tagged by the Bureau for abusing consumers, hoped.

The Court, in a 5-4 decision dashed those hopes. Yes, the majority upheld Cordray’s firing and found that the governing structure of the agency was unconstitutional, but this sentence dealt the CFPB’s foes two staggering blows:

“The agency may therefore continue to operate, but its Director, in light of our decision, must be removable by the President at will.”  You may read the entire decision and the amicus briefs here.

The first blow: the CFPB may continue to operate and, thanks to this decision, constitutional challenges to its validity are now at an end. That’s not quite what the boys at the USCOC and the NFIB were looking for when they filed their amicus briefs.

And here’s the second: Kathy KrCFPB Complaint Databaseaninger, the unqualified anti-consumer political hack Trump appointed to succeed Cordray can be booted out the door 30 seconds after Joe Biden is sworn into office.

The ironic part of this entire affair is that the governing structure of the CFPB was specifically intended to shield the agency from politics. The GOP’s attacks have now made who will run the Bureau and whether they will use its immense power to protect consumers a perpetual issue in presidential campaigns.

Along with taking great satisfaction at seeing the business community’s attack on the CFPB blow up in their collective faces, we at DannLaw are also extremely pleased that the ruling preserves our ability to act as “private attorneys general” who can use the Real Estate Sales Practices Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to protect our clients and seek and secure damages from mortgage servicers and lenders who violate the law.

While little noticed, Director Cordray’s creation of a private right to action is one of the most important components of the laws and regulations enacted after the housing crisis. He, along with Senator Chris Dodd, Congressman Barney Frank, and then-professor Elizabeth Warren recognized that the failure of government regulators to exercise their oversight authority played a major role in bringing the nation and the world to the brink of a catastrophic financial meltdown. By giving private attorneys the power to use RESPA and TILA to hold bad actors accountable they created a second line of defense for homeowners, consumers, and the American economy.

At DannLaw, we’ve used that power to help hundreds of people fight off illegal foreclosures, obtain loan modifications, safeguard their assets, and hold onto their hopes and dreams. We’re truly grateful that those who sought to destroy the CFPB have instead guaranteed that we and lawyers like us across the country will be able to use the law to fight for our clients well into the future.

In fact, I’m so grateful, I think I’ll send the guys at Seila and the Trump Justice Department a thank you note today.

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Marc Dann - Marc Dann Consumer Fraud & Foreclosure Defense AttorneyFounder Marc Dann and Managing Partners Brian Flick and Javier Merino are pleased to announce that DannLaw has acquired the Zingarelli Law Office, one of the Cincinnati area’s most highly respected consumer and small business bankruptcy law firms.

Atty. Nick Zignarelli, who will work with DannLaw on an “of counsel” basis, has been widely recognized for his work in bankruptcy and consumer law. He is rated 10 out of a possible 10 by Avvo, has been named a top rated bankruptcy attorney by Super Lawyers, is highly recommended by Martindale, and was awarded the Medal of Excellence by the American Institute of Bankruptcy Attorneys. “We are gratified and proud that Atty. Zignarelli agreed to affiliate with DannLaw and excited about the prospect of working with and learning from him,” Atty. Dann said.

“Nick’s experience and knowledge will be especially valuable at a time when individuals who lost their jobs and small business owners forced to close up shop by the coronavirus pandemic are staring financial devastation in the face,” Dann said. “As I’ve noted in a number of our COVID-19 updates, bankruptcy may be their best, and in some cases, their only option. Nick’s small business bankruptcy expertise will significantly enhance DannLaw’s ability to help clients utilize the law to preserve their assets and secure their financial future.”

Atty. Flick, Managing Partner of DannLaw’s Cincinnati office and Atty. Zignarelli will work together to ensure a smooth transition as the acquisition progresses. “I look forward to working with Nick as we strive to provide the best possible legal representation to new and existing clients in southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky,” he said.

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Today, we’re going to tell you story about good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. The main character in the tale is Riad Ghosheh who owns a home that Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC and PHH Mortgage Services tried to steal. They’re the bad guys.

How bad?

Ocwen/PHH: The bad guys who tried to steal Riad Ghosheh’s home. Nearly 12,000 consumers have lodged complaints about the company with the CFPB.

As of this year, more than 11,000 complaints against Ocwen had been lodged with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). PHH, which Ocwen acquired in 2018, has been tagged 781 times. Ocwen, a company we’ve fought and written about many times, is truly among the worst of the bad actors that populate the mortgage servicing industry. It won’t come as a surprise that the company no longer operates under the Ocwen name. They decided to hide behind PHH’s relatively clean reputation. But believe us, Ocwen’s back there pulling the strings.

Those are the bad guys. Who are the good guys?

Well us, of course, the DannLaw legal team. When Riad learned that Ocwen/PHH was about to steal his home he contacted us. Here’s a spoiler alert: we saved his house. On October 30, Federal District Court Judge Mark Norris issued a temporary restraining order that stopped the bad guys from moving forward with a foreclosure that was scheduled for November 1. In the wake of Judge Norris’ ruling, Ocwen/PHH has decided to abort its attempt to swipe Riad’s residence. You can read Judge Norris’ order here: tnwd-2_2019-cv-02710-00015 (1)

Talk about riding to the rescue just in the nick of time…

But the saga doesn’t end there. Simply saving Riad’s house didn’t seem like justice to him or us. Ocwen/PHH had put him through a horrible ordeal. They broke the law—in fact, they broke a bunch of them. So we’re using those laws, in particular the Real Estate Sales Practices Act (RESPA) to hold Ocwen/PHH accountable and make them pay for nearly wrecking Riad’s finances and disrupting his life. You can read the complaint we filed against the companies in Federal District Court for the Western District of Tennessee here: Ghosheh Riad 2019 10 18 TS Complaint

Truth be told, we’ve helped hundreds of people like Riad over the years. But his story is both especially compelling and infuriating, so we thought we’d share it, both as a cautionary tale and to illustrate the strategies we use to fight giant banks and mortgage servicers—and WIN.

Here’s our story…

The home Ocwen/PHH tried to steal from Riad Ghosheh.

Riad Ghosheh, who is legally deaf and partially blind, owns a home in Cordova, Tennessee, a community just east of Memphis. Earlier this year, Riad went to Israel for an extended period of time to take care of family business. Before leaving he asked his son to make the mortgage payments on the home and gave him the money to do so.

You can probably guess what happened next: his son didn’t make the payments. Riad returned to the United States and learned that his loan had gone into default. Needless to say, this was not the homecoming gift he expected.

In order to stop the home from going into foreclosure, Riad filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy on June 3, 2019. As we’ve noted in our blogs and on our website, filing Chapter 13 immediately brings foreclosure actions to a dead stop.

On or about the same day, Riad received a “Streamline Modification Trial Period Plan” (TPP) from Ocwen his loan servicer. Loan modification plans like this are designed to give homeowners the opportunity to prove they can make their mortgage payments and resolve arrearages. They are also supposed to stop foreclosures. Note the use of the word “supposed.” This will be important in just a bit.

The TPP Riad signed and returned to Ocwen well before the deadline set by the company. Ironically, the letter opens with the word “congratulations” and contains the phrase “We’re here to help!” The former was a cruel joke, the latter an outright lie.

If he accepted the proposed TPP, Riad would be required to make three payments of $1,418.15 beginning July 1. If he made the three payments on time, the company would offer him a permanent loan modification plan. Riad signed the TPP on June 18, 2019, and mailed it to Ocwen the same day.

Because he knew he could afford to make the payments called for in the TPP and because the agreement was supposed to prevent Ocwen from foreclosing on his home, Riad allowed his bankruptcy petition to be dismissed. After all, his main reason for filing was to save his home from foreclosure—a threat he supposedly no longer faced.

There’s that word again.

On June 24, Riad, as required by the TPP, made the July payment of $1,418.15. Records show Ocwen received the payment on June 28. He made the August payment on July 24 and the September payment on August 26. Three payments required. Three payments made—early.

So far so good, right?

Look, we told you this was a story of good vs. evil, not a fairy tale. Things were far from good.

Here’s what happened to the three payments:

Ocwen kept the July payment but never applied it to Riad’s loan;

On September 22, PHH, which had taken over the loan, sent the August payment back along with a letter notifying Riad that he had violated the terms of the TPP;

The September payment, which was made nearly a month before PHH sent back the August payment, is MIA. No one at Ocwen/PHH can find it.

Riad was, to say the least, alarmed by these events, so he asked the person who held his power of attorney to contact the bankruptcy lawyer who had filed the Chapter 13 petition on his behalf earlier in the year.

This was a good call on Riad’s part because the bankruptcy attorney was the person who notified him that his house was slated to be sold out from under him on November 1. Ocwen/PHH had never contacted him or his counsel. The lawyer only knew the sale was about to take place because he saw it advertised in the newspaper. It appears the fine folks at Ocwen/PHH who forgot to apply Riad’s July payment to his mortgage then forgot to notify him that they were about to steal his home did remember to advertise the attempted theft in the paper.

At this point, put yourself in Riad’s place. You trusted your kid to make your house payments. He didn’t.

You trusted your mortgage servicer to play by the rules and honor the terms of a mortgage modification plan they offered you. They didn’t.

You assumed that Ocwen/PHH would abide by the laws that govern the mortgage servicing industry. Of course they didn’t. Abiding by the law is not part of their business model.

And as a result of it all, you came within days of becoming homeless—even though you did everything you were supposed to do.

And Riad, like thousands of other people who have been victimized by Ocwen, would have been homeless had he not contacted the DannLaw team.

As we mentioned above, we’ve already saved Riad’s home. Now we’re suing Ocwen/PHH in Federal Court to make them pay for the emotional and physical distress their sordid behavior caused, for damaging Riad’s credit, and for violating both RESPA and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Our filing alleges that Ocwen/PHH did the following:

Count One: RESPA Violations

Count Two: Breach of Contract

Count Three: Promissory Estoppel (OK, we know you don’t know what that is, and the explanation is really long and complicated, but take our word for it, Ocwen/PHH did it.)

Count Four: Conversion

Count Five: Unjust Enrichment (This one is easy to understand, it basically means Ocwen/PHH stole Riad’s cash.)

Count Six: Violations of the FDCPA

The best thing is, Riad doesn’t have to pay us to wage this battle on his behalf. If we win the case, Ocwen/PHH will be required to pay our fees and we will receive a small percentage of any damages the court awards.

And the damages part is no fairytale—we’ve won significant financial awards for people like Riad numerous times in courts across the U.S.

That’s our story. We’ll let you know how it ends. But in the meantime, if you or someone you know is facing foreclosure or is being abused by a bank or mortgage servicer, don’t be a victim. Fight back like Riad, by contacting the experienced foreclosure defense attorneys at DannLaw. You can reach us by calling the office near you or by completing the form on our Contact page.

We’ll be happy to schedule a no-cost consultation, provide you with sound legal advice, and help you save your home and win the financial settlement you deserve.

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DannLaw attorneys suspect troubled bank has understated number of victims, urges Wells borrowers who received loan modifications between 2010 and 2015 to seek legal advice.

Earlier this year Wells Fargo revealed in an SEC filing that a “software glitch” caused the bank to improperly deny mortgage loan modifications to 625 homeowners between 2010 and 2015. At the time, Wells said it had set aside eight million dollars to compensate borrowers impacted by the mistake, including the 400 families who lost their homes to foreclosure.  Now victims of the incident are receiving checks from Wells. Attorney Marc Dann, founder and managing partner of DannLaw, is urging them to seek legal advice before accepting the money.

“A number of borrowers who received checks from Wells have contacted us to ask if the amount being offered is fair,” Atty. Dann said. “Obviously, families who went through the trauma of losing or almost losing their homes due to Wells’ incompetence deserve more than a few thousand bucks—especially if the company violated federal lending laws and rules. We’ve launched an investigation to determine if that’s true.  No one should cash a check they receive from the company or sign a settlement agreement until our inquiry is complete.”

That investigation is likely to reveal Wells has understated the number of people damaged by the glitch. “Company officials admit 625 borrowers were improperly denied modifications,” Atty. Dann noted. “But that’s only part of the story. The same software error may have caused loan mods that were granted to be miscalculated. As a result, thousands of homeowners may be making payments that are much higher than they should be.”

“Wells has no intention of telling them about the problem, so we’re making a concerted effort to alert anyone whose mortgage was modified by Wells Fargo between 2010 and 2015 that they may have been cheated,” he said noting that borrowers with “conventional” loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac comprise the pool of potential victims.

“Talking to those folks will enable us to assess whether and to what extent Wells violated lending laws and regs, including the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA)” Atty. Dann explained. “If we discover the law has been violated, borrowers could receive thousands of dollars in compensation from Wells whether they are a member of the group of 625 homeowners the bank admits to abusing or someone whose loan mod was miscalculated. In either case, we’re able and eager to take legal steps that will hold Wells accountable for its actions and make victims whole.”

Borrowers who receive a compensation/settlement check from Wells, as well as those who received a loan modification from the bank between 2010 and 2015, may call 877-475-8100 to arrange a free consultation with DannLaw.

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Last year, Edwardo Sanchez, a paralegal in DannLaw’s New Jersey and New York office became the first person in his family to graduate from college, an event he proudly shared on Twitter. His tweet was noticed and retweeted by none other than Bill Gates who told his 43.2 million followers that Edwardo’s story was an “amazing moment of hope and progress” in what had been a “really tough year.” I agree with Mr. Gates, Edwardo’s achievement gives us all hope that the American Dream is still alive.

Like Mr. Gates I also believe 2017 was a really rough year – and I’m afraid it may have been the first in an epoch during which it will become increasingly difficult for people to realize their dreams whether they involve graduating from college, buying a home, living in a safe neighborhood with good schools, achieving financial security, participating in the democratic process, realizing their full potential as human beings, or enjoying their retirement years. All those things are now at risk because the current administration is rolling back regulations and refusing to enforce laws that ensure Edwardo and other Americans have the opportunity to use their talents to achieve and succeed.

I’ll readily admit I was depressed about the situation until I realized that there was one group in the country that could step in and assume the responsibilities government was abdicating – lawyers. That’s right, lawyers like me, like my colleagues at DannLaw, like the thousands of lawyers across the country who do one thing in many different ways – help clients achieve their dreams.

When you think about it, we lawyers have always been in the hope and progress business. We’ve always been there when the government failed to protect its citizens. Lawyers were at the forefront of the civil rights movement, the drive to make cars safer, to rid medicine of bad doctors and dangerous drugs, to clean up our air and water, to protect consumers, and advocate for the disabled.

Armed with only JDs, knowledge, guts, and an unwavering belief in the principle of equal justice under law, lawyers made America a better place to live time and time again.

That aspect of our profession has never been more important than it is today.

With that in mind, we at DannLaw are redoubling our efforts to battle the home foreclosure crisis that is still roiling communities across Ohio by using Regulation X of the Real Estate Settlement Protection Act (RESPA) and Regulation Z of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to hold lenders and servicers accountable when they ignore the law and abuse borrowers.

Fortunately, these powerful tools managed to escape the fate that has befallen large portions of the nation’s regulatory regime over the past year. Indeed, I’m both happy and astonished to report that Reg. X is stronger than ever thanks to the enactment of additional amendments that became effective in October. Readers can learn more about the new provisions by visiting DannLaw.com or by contacting Dan Solar, leader of our RESPA practice group.

We also plan to do more to help borrowers deal with student loan debt which now exceeds $1.31 trillion and is turning the dream of obtaining a college degree into a nightmare for American families. According to Emily White, director of our student loan practice group, the Department of Education’s decision to relax oversight of the industry has freed lenders to use increasingly aggressive tactics against borrowers. Although people who took out loans backed by the government have few options, we can help students who borrowed from National Collegiate and other private lenders because those companies, like their counterparts in the mortgage industry, often commit sloppy mistakes and paperwork errors that make it difficult if not impossible for them to collect. Emily and I will have more to report during 2018.

Which is a great segue into an area in which we made great progress during 2017 – disability rights law. I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done to convince companies to bring their digital platforms into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and similar state statutes.

Here’s a special note to my friends who practice corporate defense law and their clients – complying with the ADA is a win/ win. Enabling people with disabilities to purchase goods via your websites and apps will create millions of new customers and generate billions in profits. Don’t take my word for it, just ask Target, the company’s reaped huge profits since becoming a leader in accessibility.

Those are just a few areas where we have and will continue to step in and use the law to do what government won’t – protect and enhance our clients’ ability to achieve their dreams.

Knowing we have the power to do it has made me prouder than ever to be a lawyer.