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This six-page intake form obtains client information concerning a threatened foreclosure:  basic information about the homeowner, the home, the mortgage, other mortgages and liens, an income budget, an expense budget, information on other debts and assets, and a comparison of income to expenses.

This checklist assists in foreclosure prevention counseling, setting out the various steps the counselor should follow.

This is a form that a homeowner can sign to authorize a housing counselor or attorney to obtain information about their mortgage loan from the mortgage servicer or other entity.

This six-page checklist provides advice for homeowners to avoid foreclosure—steps to take before payment troubles start, other steps when things begin to feel tight, steps when starting to fall behind on payments, and other important information.

This is the 2004 form used for Freddie Mac mortgages to modify a mortgage loan.

This is a rider to a loan modification agreement indicating that if the homeowner sells the property then the full amount of the mortgage loan is accelerated and due immediately.

This is a rider to a loan modification agreement indicating that a loan modification agreement does not affect the fact that the homeowner’s chapter 7 bankruptcy has discharged the homeowner’s personal liability on the mortgage loan.

This is a rider to a loan modification agreement where the homeowner rents part of the property and gives the lender certain rights concerning the rental units.

This is a 2011 Fannie Mae form showing hardship documentation required for foreclosure prevention alternatives, indicating for various types of hardship (e.g. unemployment, divorce, disaster) what specific types of documentation will be needed for that type of hardship.

Complaint and Demand for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

This is an action under the Administrative Procedure Act for declaratory relief from Gainful Employment (“GE”) regulations of the U.S. Department of Education, 34 C.F.R. Part 668 Subpart Q, as applied to member schools of the American Association of Cosmetology Schools. The GE regulation assesses the outcomes of educational programs based on the ratio of graduates’ educational debt to earnings. Although the Department acknowledges that some graduates of cosmetology programs underreport their incomes, the Department has made no provision for such underreporting in its regulations.

Does the preemption of state usury laws enjoyed by national banks under the National Bank Act extend to non-bank debt buyers where, as here, the national bank retains no interest in or control over the subject accounts, and the national bank and the debt buyer are operationally and legally unrelated entities?

As demonstrated in the accompanying memorandum of points and authorities, and the Administrative Record (“AR”), the FDIC’s rule on the Federal Interest Rate Authority, 85 Fed. Reg. 44,146 (July 22, 2020) (“Final Rule”) represents a reasonable interpretation of 12 U.S.C. § 1831d, and should be upheld under Chevron’s familiar two-step framework. The Final Rule is neither arbitrary or capricious, nor contrary to law, is consistent with the FDIC’s authority, and in compliance with applicable procedural requirements.

States have long used interest-rate caps to prevent predatory lending. In light of the comprehensive federal regulatory regime to which national banks are subject, Congress exempted them from compliance with state rate caps in the National Bank Act (“NBA”). 12 U.S.C. § 85 (allowing national banks to “take, receive, reserve, and charge” interest in excess of state law); see also 12 U.S.C. § 1463(g)(1) (same for federal savings associations).

This is a case about federal overreach. States have long used interest-rate caps to protect consumers, business owners, and scrupulous creditors from the harms of predatory lending. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (“FDIA”) exempts federally insured, state-chartered banks and insured branches of foreign banks (“FDIC Banks”) from these caps.

1. Elevate is on online lender that operates through several websites, including www.risecredit.com, www.elastic.com, and www.elevate.com, to provide predatory, high-interest, short-term loans to consumers that it describes as individuals “with little to no savings, urgent credit needs and limited options.”

This is a class action complaint against a debt settlement organization that used the attorney model. It alleges common law fraud, violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, unjust enrichment, violation of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct (for attorneys), and the Illinois Debt Settlement Consumer Protection Act. The facts of the complaint provide an extensive description of how debt settlement operators attempt to evade laws regulating debt relief services by attempting to use attorneys as a front for their operations.

Defendants’ Consolidated Opposition to Motions for Intervention

This class action lawsuit presents a dispute between student loan borrowers and the U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) regarding the Department’s process for reviewing and adjudicating borrowers’ applications for the Department to relieve them of their loan repayment obligations based on the alleged misconduct of the schools they attended.

This is a class action against the City of Cleveland for various discriminatory and abusive practices concerning water pricing, termination of service, and turning water delinquencies into tax liens and tax takings, including claims under the FHA, due process, and state law.

This is a 2023 FDCPA complaint that pleads facts to support constitutional Article III standing in federal court. The complaint specifies concrete injury from an invasion of privacy and the time and expense of having his attorney send defendants a letter.  The complaint was drafted by the Illinois firm of Philipps & Philipps and the Missouri firm of the Callahan Law Firm.

This is a 2023 FDCPA class class complaint dealing with a consumer disputing a debt and asking for verification.  When the account was collected by a second agency, the consumer's requests were ignored and a new letter was sent. The complaint was drafted by the Illinois firms of Philipps & Philipps and SMITHMARCO.

This is a 2023 FDCPA complaint that takes care to plead facts to support constitutional Article III standing in federal court. The complaint specifies the plaintiff's concrete injury from an invasion of her privacy, seclusion, and the right to counsel; from her emotional distress; and from the cost to her of additional time, money, and effort to assert her rights. The complaint was drafted by the Illinois firm of Philipps & Philipps.

This is motion to set aside a default judgment on a foreclosure action concerning a reverse mortgage and leave to file an answer and defenses. The excusable neglect is based on the homeowner’s age and cognitive difficulties.

This is a notice of taking the Florida deposition of a corporate representative in a case involving an attempt to foreclose on a reverse mortgage based on non-occupancy where the property was in fact occupied, including a list of documents that the deponent should bring and be prepared to describe.

This is a Florida motion to add a claim for punitive damages to existing counterclaims that allege various torts in a case where the lender attempted to foreclose on a reverse mortgage based on non-occupancy where the property was in fact occupied, where the lender should clearly have known the property was occupied.

This is a notice of taking the Florida deposition of a corporate representative in a case involving an attempt to foreclose on a reverse mortgage based on non-occupancy where the property was in fact occupied, including a list of documents that the deponent should bring and be prepared to describe.

This is a request for admissions sent by a Florida homeowner to the reverse mortgage lender seeking the lender’s admission that the home was in fact occupied, despite the lender taking actions as if the home was unoccupied.

This is a sample affidavit stating that the homeowner is occupying a residence. This sample affidavit can be used to verify that the borrower is occupying the home in connection with a mortgagee’s acceleration of the debt or attempted foreclosure based on non-occupancy. It can be helpful to also attach any supporting documents, such as utility bills, to show that the property is occupied. The servicer may also want the borrower to sign their standard occupancy form.