On the Docket: Reducing Key Expenses
Case Name: Bright v. Brookdale Senior Living
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. EMD Tenn Docket: 19-cv-00374
Read Complaint (PDF) and Article
Case Issue: Did Brookdale deceive class members in violation of state consumer protection statutes when it promised to provide care based on residents' assessed care needs but, in reality, provided care based on pre-determined profit goals set by the company's headquarters?
Case Name: Brookdale Senior Living v. Weir
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. WD North Carolina Docket: 20-00293
Filed: 5/26/2020
Read Complaint (PDF) and Article
Case Issue: Does the arbitration agreement signed by Jean Howard, a former resident of a Brookdale Senior Living facility, allow for class-wide arbitration? And does the agreement require this question to be decided by an arbitrator, instead of a judge?
Case Name: Gish (Matter of the Estate) v. Wells Fargo Bank
Court: New Mexico State Ct., Santa Fe Cty. Docket: D-101-PB-2015-00006
Read Amended Complaint (PDF) Answer to Amended Complaint (PDF) First Amended Counterclaim (PDF)
Case Issue: Did Wells Fargo violate state and federal law when it originated a reverse mortgage loan that cost a borrower more than the loan for which the applicant applied and was approved; did Wells Fargo have standing to foreclose on the loan?
Case Name: HSBC v. Morris
Court: Supreme Judicial Ct., Mass. Docket: SJC-13191
Filed: 1/18/2022
Read AARP's Amicus Brief (PDF)
Case Issue: Can a borrower raise defenses and counterclaims under the Mass. Predatory Home Lending Practices Act (PHLPA) in the eviction after the foreclosure from the home securing the loan.
Case Name: Maddox v. Bank of New York Mellon Trust
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 2d Cir. Docket: 19-1774
Decided: 11/17/2021
Read Amicus Brief (PDF) Decision (PDF)
Case Issue: Can a borrower seek damages in federal court for a mortgage laender's violation of state law?
Case Name: McGraw v. Chancellor Senior Management, LTD
Court: Circuit Ct., Raleigh County, WV Docket: 16-C-698
Read Complaint (PDF)
Case Issue: Are Chancellor's practices of marketing certain levels of services, assessing care needs at admission, and charging fees based on those needs; but then, failing to have sufficient staff to actually meet those needs unfair or deceptive acts or practices under West Virginia's consumer protection statute?
Case Name: Opiotennione v. Bozzuto Management Co.
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. Maryland Docket: 20-1956 Decided: 7/20/2021
Read AARP Amicus Brief (PDF) and Decision (PDF)
Case Result: The Court held that Plaintiff did not have standing to assert her claims and dismissed the case.
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 4th Cir. Docket: 21-1919 Filed: 12/17/2021
Read AARP Amicus Brief (PDF)
Case Name: Shakespeare v. Live Well Financial (consumer)
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. ED N.Y. (U.S. Ct. App. Second Circuit) Docket: 18-7299 (20-3533)
Filed in District Court: 12/21/2018 Decision in Appellate Court: 5/26/2021
Read Complaint (PDF) and Press Release (PDF) Press Release (Spanish),
Decision in U.S. Ct. App. 2d Cir. (PDF)
Issue in the U.S. District Court ED N.Y.: Did Live Well Financial and Celink violate reverse mortgage contracts and applicable law by prepaying property taxes of older homeowners without legal authority and without notice, and then wrongfully demanding repayment out of personal funds?
Case Result from the U.S. Ct. App. Second Circuit: The Second Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of the claims against Celink and remanded the case to the district for further proceedings. The court also affirmed the dismissal of the claims against Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC.
Some of the content presented here is in Adobe PDF format. You will need the free Acrobat Reader to access these files.