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Class Actions Landlord Tenant Law Litigation

Second Circuit Expands Federal Class Actions for Mortgagors

The Second Circuit recently held that a bare violation of mortgage satisfaction recording statutes without a demonstration of actual injury conferred federal jurisdiction, meaning that a mortgagor now has the ability to bring a class action in federal court. Thus, statutes designed to be merely remedial in nature can now be used punitively against lenders and servicers.

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In Maddox v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon Trust Co., N.A., 997 F.3d 436, the Second Circuit recently held that individuals have Article III standing to seek statutory damages for a bank’s violation of Real Property Law (RPL) §275 and New Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) §1921 (together, New York’s Mortgage-Satisfaction-Recording Statutes). The Second Circuit held that, despite no “actual injury,” violations of New York statutory law constitute a concrete and particularized harm giving rise to Article III standing. This is important because under New York rules, a plaintiff could not bring a class action in state court under New York’s Mortgage-Satisfaction-Recording Statutes. Because the Second Circuit held that a bare violation of New York’s Mortgage-Satisfaction-Recording Statutes without a demonstration of actual injury conferred federal jurisdiction, a mortgagor now has the ability to bring a class action in federal court. Thus, statutes designed to be merely remedial in nature can now be used punitively against lenders and servicers.

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