“Countless mortgage holders were deprived of surplus funds as a result of the collective failures by foreclosing banks, loan servicing agents and their attorneys,” said Mark Anderson, a partner at Anderson, Bowman, Wallshein, the firm leading the litigation.
The list of defendants includes major financial institutions and mortgage service providers, among them Fannie Mae, Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Mr. Cooper Group Inc., and Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing.
The State of New York Mortgage Agency, known for providing low-interest loans to first-time buyers, was also named in the lawsuits, as were several law firms and MTGLQ Investors LP, an entity owned by Goldman Sachs that specializes in distressed loan acquisitions.
The lawsuits draw comparisons to misconduct exposed during the 2008 financial crisis, when lenders and servicers paid hundreds of millions of dollars to settle claims related to improper foreclosure handling.
In one case detailed in the filings, Sheila Bidar, the legal guardian of her 89-year-old mother Ruth Athill, is serving as a class representative. Bidar alleges that the loan servicer, Select Portfolio Servicing Inc., and other parties involved charged an extra $13,300 in interest due to improper calculations.