J. Patrick Sutton Cases & Issues Blog
Texas home equity loan modifications

Section 50 Forfeiture and its Contents

Under important recent cases in Texas federal courts, there's no statute of limitations on bringing a lawsuit to confirm that a home equity lien has been invalidated by lender misconduct under Tex. Const. Art. 16 Section 50. However, a very recent case indicates that as to the companion penalty under Section 50, forfeiture, there is a four-year statute of limitations. Therefore, if a lender fails to cure a Section 50 defect, it not only loses the lien on a home; it not only loses all future payments from the borrower. It also loses as much as the previous four years of payments, which it must pay back to the borrower! Content may continue . . .

HAMP Trial Period Plan (TPP) Agreements May Violate the Texas Constitution in the case of Texas home equity loans

In the appeal of the federal district court dismissal of the Pennington class action, the plaintiffs whom I represent are arguing that HAMP TPP agreements violate the Texas Constitution's homestead provisions insofar as the TPP agreement creates an express schedule of payments that is insufficient to pay all interest and principal coming due each month. This blog post is a REDACTED, SUMMARY section of the plaintiffs' brief in Pennington. If you have a Texas home equity loan and made payments under a HAMP TPP agreement that put you further behind on your loan, you should read this material. I have removed all citations to case authority, representing a hundred hours of work, but if you have retained counsel and are facing these issues, have your lawyer get in touch with me.Content may continue . . .
J. Patrick Sutton Cases & Issues Blog