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TOP VERDICTS NY
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illegal fee-splitting by charging borrowers attorney fees that were inflated to include payments to an intermediary.
Defense counsel contended that post-acceleration late fees are legal and that the defendants did not engage in illegal fee-splitting.
INJURIES/DAMAGES The class claimed that the defendants engaged in illegal fee-splitting practices and charged illegal late fees to borrowers who had defaulted. The class sought actual damages of about $450 million. The class also sought prejudgment interest.
RESULT The jury found that the class had been charged illegal late fees, but it also found that the defendants did not engage in illegal fee-splitting. It determined that the class’s damages totaled $54.8 million.
EDITOR’S COMMENT This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiffs’ and defense counsel. Additional information was gleaned from court documents.
NUMBER FIVE
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Copyrights — Infringement
Websites allowed illegal sharing of music, companies claimed
AMOUNT $48,061,073
TYPE Verdict-Plaintiff
CASE Capitol Records Inc. v. MP3tunes, LLC VENUE Federal
JUDGE William H. Pauley III
DATE March 26, 2014
PLAINTIFF EXPERT(S)
TRIAL LENGTH
TRIAL DELIBERATIONS
Neal DeYoung and H. Rajan Sharma; Sharma & DeYoung LLP; New York, NY
Adam Levitin ; Mortgage Policy/Loan Policy; Washington, DC
Stan Smith Ph.D.; Economics; Chicago, IL
Bruce Green ; Attorney Ethics; Bronx, NY
Jacqui Peace ; Savings & Loans Policies & Procedures; San Antonio, TX Richard Holowczak ; Information/Data Processing; New York, NY
2 weeks 1 day
FACTS & ALLEGATIONS On Oct. 2, 2000, plaintiff Joseph Mazzei received a balance statement from a mortgage provider, The Money Store. The statement provided a pay-off amount that included monthly late fees incurred during a period in which Mazzei was in default. Facing foreclosure, Mazzei sold his home and used a portion of the proceeds to satisfy the loan and its related fees.
Plaintiffs John Garrido, Linda Garrido, Ruth Ann Gutierrez and Lori Jo Vincent obtained loans that were provided by the Money Store, the Money Store’s successor, TMS Mortgage Inc., and/or another loan provider, HomEq Servicing Corp. After having defaulted on their loans, the group was charged law-firm fees incurred during the processing of the defaulted loans. The group claimed that those fees included illegal payments to an intermediary retained by the lenders to procure the law firms.
Mazzei, John Garrido, Linda Garrido, Gutierrez and Vincent, acting individually and on behalf of similarly situated individuals, sued the Money Store, TMS Mortgage and HomEq Servicing. The class alleged that the defendants breached loan contracts by charging unlawful fees to borrowers who had defaulted.
Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that, according to the actual note of the loan contracts, a lender cannot be charged monthly late fees once a borrower defaults and the entire loan amount becomes due. Plaintiffs’ counsel also contended that the defendants engaged in
Congratulations to Moshe Horn and Chris Van de Kieft on the highest Consumer Protection Verdict in
the country and the fourth highest overall verdict in New York state in 2014.
Mazzei v. Money Store $54,800,000
77 Water Street, New York, NY 10005 | 888-584-0411 | www.seegerweiss.com
14 VerdictSearch’s Top New York Settlements of 2014


































































































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