Suit over title to property relied on motions practice – $6,240 Settlement

This is a complex title related lawsuit in­volving several parties. The parties engaged in heavy motions practice before Fair­fax Circuit Judges Robert Smith and John Tran. The case centered on a lien pri­ority dispute involv­ing several parties over a $3.2M property located in McLean.

The facts were stacked against the defendant Thuytien Duong and her chances of prevailing during trial were very low. She was accused of fraud, breach of contract, breach of warranty and unjust enrichment. Client was also the owner of the title compa­ny, PTC Title & Escrow LLC.

After significant motions practice by all sides, the cross-claimants dropped several causes of action against Duong. Further­more, during discovery, defendant successfully challenged Everbank’s standing to pursue this litigation since it was not the holder of the note. Case settled during dis­covery very favorably for defendant, who would have been liable for more than $300K inclusive of all interest, penalties, costs and attorneys’ fees. Duong shall only pay $6,240, with monthly install­ment payments structured over a four-year non-interest bearing note; she was given a full release from Commonwealth Land Title & Insurance Company; she was given a full release from the cur­rent home owners of the property.

[16-T-069]

Type of action: Real Estate Title Litigation
Injuries alleged: Fraud, breach of contract, breach of warranty and unjust enrichment.
Name of case: Diep N. Vu & Anh Q. Vu v. Thuytien Duong, Kevin Yang, MERS, Inc., Everbank (successor in interest to Fidelity National Bank), PTC Title & Escrow LLC, Hoang Trinh and Thuy Dung Nguyen
Court: Fairfax County Circuit Court
Case no.: 2015-10247
Tried before: N/A
Name of judge or mediator: Judge John Tran
Date resolved: March 23, 2016
Special damages: None
Demand: $200,000 plus interest and attorneys’ fees
Offer: None (Our position during trial was that our client will not be extorted.)
Verdict or settlement: Settle­ment
Amount: $6,240
Attorneys for plaintiff: Gary D. Weinstein (for Diep N. Vu and Anh Q. Vu)
Attorneys for defendant: Lisa M. Ernest (for Hoang Trinh and Thuy Dung Nguyen), Faisal Moghul (Counsel for Thuytien Duong)
Plaintiff’s experts: none
Defendant’s experts: none
Insurance carrier: Common­wealth Land Title and Insurance Company