For the second time, a federal court judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed a legal action filed against Nationstar and others, now stating the plaintiff lacked standing to sue.
The other defendants are Wilmington Savings Fund Society as the trustee for a mortgage-backed securities trust, and A&D Mortgage, who originated the loan in September 2023 and securitized it the following month.
However, Judge Mia Roberts Perez of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed the case without prejudice and she is allowing plaintiff Kimberly Byrd Estate to refile another amended complaint by Dec. 4.
Judge Perez issued her decision on Nov. 13.
Byrd first filed the case in March 2024 with the first amended complaint filed in May of that year, the docket said.
Judge Perez dismissed the first amended complaint this past March because Byrd in her view did not sufficiently allege the defendants were debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Furthermore, Byrd did not sufficiently allege the defendants intentionally misled her or that she justifiably relied on their misrepresentations. Nor did Byrd identify specific statutory provisions or state laws that were violated, Perez wrote in her latest ruling.
The judge then gets into past precedents regarding issues involving Byrd’s legal standing raised by the latest amended complaint. Byrd must prove three things: she suffered an injury; that it is fairly traceable to the defendant’s conduct; and the injury can be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.
Those precedents include a June 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving standing, Transunion v. Ramirez, which was then used to vacate a decision against Amrock, the title agent business owned by Rocket.
“Plaintiff’s claims revolve around certain misrepresentations or omissions by Defendants,” Judge Perez wrote. “Applying the above principles, it is clear the [second amended complaint] does not establish either informational or traditional injury sufficient to confer standing for any of Plaintiff’s claims.”
Later Perez wrote that Byrd did not establish “even a ‘trifle of injury’ stemming from the alleged conduct.”
Byrd is representing herself in this matter, the docket report said. Her fiduciary, Chris Nero, spoke on her behalf in an interview.
Byrd will both appeal Judge Perez’ ruling and file another amended complaint, Nero said.
Nero compared what has been going on with this case with a game of checkers, where the judge put Byrd in “an unconscionable situation.”
Byrd’s first move was affidavits which the defendants never responded to because the judge blocked them with “an unlawful order,” said Nero.
As soon as Byrd “moves that checker and amends. It’s over because she made the wrong move,” Nero said.
The loan was for $437,850. The mortgage note was separated from the deed of trust, Nero said.
Nationstar started servicing the mortgage after it went into default, but did not provide Byrd with a change of ownership or beneficial interest, the amended complaint said.
Nero claimed the lenders did not have to tell Byrd this fact unless she asked.
“And that’s the problem, Ms. Byrd dared to ask,” Nero stated. “They wouldn’t give her a remedy, she went into the court, and now the court is now doing things that are, quite frankly, unconstitutional.”
Byrd’s second amended filing alleged violations of the FDCPA, as well as the Truth-in-Lending Act; Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act; and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Other violations were alleged including the state’s unfair trade practices law.
Ocwen was originally a defendant in this case, but a stipulation was reached in July 2024 which dismissed the company with prejudice.
MERS was listed as a defendant in the amended complaint. But it was terminated from the proceeding in April, the docket report said.
National Mortgage News reached out to Rocket (which acquired Mr. Cooper, the rebrand of Nationstar Mortgage); WSFS and AD Mortgage (the rebranded A&D) for comment. WSFS does not comment on ongoing legal matters, it responded in an email.
