J. Patrick Sutton Cases & Issues Blog
foreclosure statute of limitations

Foreclosure Statute of Limitations Cases Update

My clients have had recent wins and losses challenging foreclosures on the basis that the statute of limitations expired after the lender accelerated the loan. The Landers v. Nationstar case is being briefed in the Texas Supreme Court following the invalidation of the lender's lien by the Court of Appeals. The Texas Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to actually review the case; it simply asked the parties for briefs. Nationstar filed its brief on November 10, 2015; the Landers' brief goes in on November 13, 2015.

However, in a hotly-contested case,
Justice v. Wells Fargo Bank, a federal district court in Houston held that the lender's strong disclaimer of abandonment of acceleration was of no effect — the borrower's payments made under the penumbra of the bank's disclaimers still resulted in the bank's abandonment of acceleration. The case is now on appeal in the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. No briefing schedule has been set as of this writing.
Content may continue . . .

Big win on statute of limitations barring foreclosure

My clients have prevailed in asserting the statute of limitations as a defense to a foreclosure, leaving the lender with only a claim for rescission (unwinding the loan transaction and refunding everything to my client) upon remand to the district court. This is one of the very few recent cases of this type where a Texas borrower has prevailed because a lender let more than 4 years pass after accelerating the loan. The case is Landers v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, No. 12-14-00261-CV (Tex. Ct. App.-Austin April 8, 2015). A copy of the decision is HERE. I expect it will get some good press because of the exceedingly clear appellate opinion and the result in favor of the borrowers. Content may continue . . .
J. Patrick Sutton Cases & Issues Blog