May Lender Require Defaulting Debtor to Pay Bank’s Legal Fees as Condition for Mortgage Reinstatement?
Sharon Wilborn et al. v. Bank One Corporation et al., Case no. 2007-0558 7th District Court of Appeals (Mahoning County) ISSUE: Does Ohio law bar the enforcement of a clause in a preprinted residential mortgage contract that allows a homeowner who defaults by missing one or more payments to forestall a foreclosure action and reinstate the mortgage only by paying the lender not only the delinquent payments and late fees, but also an additional amount to cover the lender’s attorney fees incurred in initiating the foreclosure action? BACKGROUND: This case involves a lawsuit filed by Sharon Wilborn of Youngstown and 10 other homeowners whose lenders filed foreclosure actions against them after they were declared “in default” of their residential mortgages. The plaintiffs sought to recover amounts they were charged by their lenders to cover the lender’s attorney fees as a mandatory precondition of terminating the foreclosure proceedings and reinstating the original terms of their mortgages.
Related Questions
- Why are homeowners paying for liens, legal fees, bank service charges etc. for those homeowners who do not pay their annual assessment?
- Why should I call Chadwell Mortgage Group instead of my local bank or mortgage lender?
- Why should I finance with Century Mortgage Lending (a broker/lender) instead of a Bank?
