4th Circuit Reverses Class Certification over Individualized Standing Issues

The Fourth Circuit recently reversed the district court’s class certification of West Virginia borrowers regarding allegations that a national lender exercised undue influence over appraisers, rendering the appraisals the borrowers paid for “worthless.”

The district court awarded over $10 million in damages to class members stemming from a 2012 class action against the lender and the lender’s affiliate. Although the Fourth Circuit originally upheld both the class certification and damages on appeal, the case was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case following its 2021 decision in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, clarifying that individual class members must demonstrate concrete harm to find each member has Article III standing.  Despite this clarification, the District Court reinstated the judgment.

On the most recent appeal, the Fourth Circuit held plaintiffs did not establish that would-be class members suffered concrete harm resulting from the lender providing estimated home values to appraisers.  Specifically, the court found plaintiffs provided no evidence that the appraisals in question were tainted by communications from the lender and therefore no actual harm was established.