Floor-Plan Financer Wins Against Guarantors

Guarantors’ Dec Action Against Bank Time-Barred

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 3, 2013
Tags: Creditor's Rights, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge R. Terrence Ney, Virginia Circuit Courts

A hotel company and three guarantors on loans for three parcels in Fredericksburg waited too long to bring their fraud claims based on loan documents including a swap agreement that let plaintiffs exchange a variable interest rate for a fixed interest rate; even if the claims were not time-barred, they have no merit, says the [...]

No ‘Mutual Mistake’ to Protect Guarantors

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 16, 2013
Tags: Creditor's Rights, Judge Robert G. Doumar, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In plaintiff bank’s suit to collect from five guarantors on a note for a Chesapeake hotel’s $5.1 million loan secured by the hotel, the Norfolk U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to the bank as the guarantors have not shown any genuine issues of material fact as to their defenses of the statute of frauds [...]

No Attorney’s Fees for Banks’ Tort Defense

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Creditor's Rights, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court says although the parties’ loan documents allow a bank to collect attorney’s fees for expenses “incurred to enforce” the loan documents, the documents’ fee-shifting provisions do not cover the bank’s legal fees for defending a tort suit filed by plaintiff debtors after the bank’s collection agency contacted debtors’ customers. The [...]

Restitution Has Priority Over Attorney’s Fees

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: Creditor's Rights, Judge Leonie Brinkema, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A law firm that won $30,000 compensatory and $15,000 punitive damages in their client’s suit alleging he was defamed as a dog trainer by allegations of animal cruelty, as well as an award of $79,786.42 in attorney’s fees and costs, may intervene in this action by the government to garnish the client’s judgment, but the [...]

Collections ‘best practices’ adopted

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 26, 2012
Tags: Consumer Protection, Creditor's Rights, General District Courts

Stricter requirements for collections lawsuits by so-called “debt buyers” are spreading in Virginia. A set of “best practices” adopted by Fairfax County general district judges three years ago to ensure the integrity of the court’s judgments have inspired guidelines imposed by judges in Newport News, the Roanoke Valley and – expected soon – the Richmond [...]

Broker’s Bad Faith Counterclaim Proceeds

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 2, 2012
Tags: Creditor's Rights, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Richmond U.S. District Court denies mortgage lender’s motion to dismiss broker’s counterclaim seeking damages and attorney’s fees for breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing; broker sufficiently pleads an agreement, breach and injury based on lender’s delay in giving broker notice of a loan default. In April 2006, lender and [...]

No Fraud Claim for Loan Application Notice

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 5, 2012
Tags: Creditor's Rights, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Lynchburg U.S. District Court grants defendant bank’s motion to dismiss a fraud action filed by a borrower who lost his home to foreclosure. Plaintiff claims he did not receive the bank’s notice that he had not been approved for a loan modification, dated Nov. 10, 2011, until Nov. 28, 2011, and that his home [...]

Bank Wins Constructive Trust

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 11, 2012
Tags: Creditor's Rights, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jane Marum Roush, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although wife did not sign loan documents on a mortgage refinance, the Fairfax Circuit Court says the property owners are not entitled to a windfall for this omission and plaintiff bank wins relief under theories of constructive trust and equitable subrogation. On Dec. 21, 2011, plaintiff Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, trustee of the IndyMacINDX [...]

‘Show Me the Note’ Claim Fails Again

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 7, 2012
Tags: Creditor's Rights, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jonathan C. Thacher, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Fairfax Circuit Court rejects plaintiff defaulting borrowers’ “show me the note” challenge to foreclosure on their property, and says they may not amend their declaratory judgment and breach of fiduciary claims yet again. In this “show me the note” case, plaintiffs Gary and Michele Buzbee have sued for declaratory judgment to prevent foreclosure on [...]