HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
LEGAL BRIEFS
In San Francisco, Condo Tower Sinks, Leans
Washington State Limits Lender Foreclosure Action In a July 7, 2016 ruling, the Washington Supreme Court prohibited lenders from taking possession of property before foreclosure. In Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC , the Washington Supreme Court held that entering and securing a property before foreclosure completion by changing the locks constitutes “taking possession” in violation of Washington law. In 2011, Laura Jordan came home from work to find herself locked out of her home. She had missed two mortgage payments, and the company servicing her loan, Dallas-based Nationstar Mortgage, had hired a vendor to change the locks without warning. In a 6-3 ruling, Washington appears to be the first state in the nation that has invalidated the provisions, and consumer advocates say other states could follow suit or that the ruling could inspire additional class-action lawsuits. Wells Fargo To Pay $1.2 Billion For Mortgage Fraud San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle claims that it engaged in mortgage fraud, resolving a major lawsuit brought by the federal government in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The lawsuit — filed by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan — was among a series of cases against the bank stemming from mortgages insured through a program by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The 2013 lawsuit accused Wells of engaging in “reckless origination” and “misconduct in originating and underwriting government- insured home mortgage loans.” Source: Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC
It’s being called the “leaning tower of San Francisco,” a reference to the leaning tower of Pisa, Italy.
The luxury Millennium Tower, a 58-story condo tower in downtown San Francisco, has sunk16 inches into the ground since it opened in 2009, and is leaning six inches toward a neighboring skyscraper, according to a lawsuit filed by resident John Eng, accusing the building owner Millennium Partners and the Transbay Joint Powers Authority — the public entity behind the Transbay Transit Center under construction next door — of a “defective foundation.” In a city straddling two major earthquake fault lines, the engineering flaw has become a major public scandal. The builder of the tilting tower, Millennium Partners, blames the sinking on a neighboring transportation development next door being excavated by a government agency, Transbay Joint Powers Authority. “The Millennium will continue to sink and tilt, thereby damaging homes and causing property values to drop in the building,” the suit claims.
The suit John Eng v. Millennium Partners was filed on August 11, in San Francisco Superior Court.
Sources: John Eng v. Millennium Partners, The Wall Street Journal
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The case is U.S. v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA , U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
Sources: U.S. v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA, U.S. Department of Justice
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