The Baltimore Business Journal reports that a Baltimore woman who defaulted on a subprime loan has been awarded $1.25 million in damages from her lender, Wells Fargo Bank. Experts say the case may lead to similar lawsuits nationwide and may also help Baltimore City in its suit against the bank alleging that Wells Fargo targeted minority neighborhoods with subprime loans.
The woman was awarded $250,000 in damages and $1 million in punitive damages by a six-member jury that found Wells Fargo guilty of fraud, negligence and other charges for inflating the woman's income and assets on her mortgage application, and locking her into a bigger loan than she had applied for -- one she couldn't afford. The woman said in an interview with the newspaper that her case 'destroys the myth' that the subprime mortgage meltdown is fueled by homebuyers taking loans they can't handle.
Many consumers do not realize that they may be able to file a counterclaim against their mortgage lender if they were given a loan under circumstances like those encountered by the Baltimore woman. A counterclaim is essentially a lawsuit against the person or company that sued you. In many cases, consumers have been led to believe that their inability to pay their mortgage is their own fault, rather than the fault of an unscrupulous mortgage company that preyed upon minorities and unsophisticated consumers.
The Anderson Law Firm is helping consumers that are facing mortgage foreclosure and, in some cases, we may be able to file a counterclaim against the mortgage company on the consumers' behalf. Each case is heavily fact dependent. Please give us a call if you think that you may be the victim of unfair mortgage practices.
