Federal Court Certifies Class of Mortgage Borrowers in Maryland

Last month, a federal district court in Maryland granted class certification to a group of Maryland borrowers who allege their mortgage servicer violated the provision of Maryland’s Usury Law prohibiting lenders from charging borrowers an inspection fee for loans secured by real property.

According to the lead plaintiff, the mortgage servicer charged her multiple fees for visual inspections of her property during the four months following the time the mortgage servicer obtained servicing rights to the property.

In opposing class certification, the mortgage servicer argued the determination of the amount of inspection fees charged to each potential class member would require an individualized review of each class member’s servicing file because the servicer had revamped its process for addressing inspections in 2018, during the alleged class period.  Further, the servicer questioned the proposed class representative’s adequacy and ability to engage with the case based on her advanced age.

The Court’s opinion granting certification not only rejected the mortgage servicer’s argument alleging the proposed class would require individual review of servicing files, but also stated the argument “raise[d] serious questions” regarding the servicer’s good faith.