When applying for a loan or a line of credit, you must trust that the mortgage broker, banker, or loan officer assisting you will deal honestly with you regarding the terms of the loan and whether you have the financial means to repay it. Unfortunately, predatory lending practices are a common problem in our country today. Each year, Americans lose billions of dollars due to the unfair and deceptive practices of mortgage and lending companies.
These predatory lending practices violate state and federal laws. If you have been the victim of these dishonest actions by bankers or lenders, you may be entitled to pursue compensation through a lawsuit.
Often, many people are deceived by the same unscrupulous lender. In these situations, a class action lawsuit may be the best way to protect the rights of everyone victimized by this dishonest lender.
Common Examples of Predatory Lending Practices
Common examples of illegal predatory lending practices include:
- Excessive fees – Certain loans, such as tax refund loans and payday loans, charge extremely high fees as a percentage of the loan amount. Checking account overdraft fees and credit card late fees are also often excessive. In many cases, these harsh fees violate state usury laws or federal laws.
- Credit insurance fraud – Often, insurance on future loan payments is prepaid in one payment and financed as part of the loan. In many instances, people are not even aware they have purchased this insurance and as a result, they get cheated out of premium refunds when they pay off their insured loans in their entirety before they are due.
- Mortgage fraud – Many mortgage brokers will mislead individuals into accepting a bad mortgage, or sometimes they will falsify loan applications without the applicant’s knowledge in order to get approval for a mortgage that the applicant cannot realistically repay.
- Failure to disclose terms and conditions – Lenders are not allowed to impose terms and conditions on a loan without disclosing them in advance. This includes undisclosed fees and penalties.
- Robo-signing – Many banks have been found guilty of mass-signing affidavits that they have not even read. Many of these lack the necessary paperwork to support foreclosure under state law, and often the foreclosing bank no longer represents the mortgage owner and therefore is not legally entitled to foreclose.
Harvey L. Walner & Associates Can Help
With more than 35 years of experience handling complex class action cases including numerous lawsuits involving mortgage and predatory lending issues, the attorneys at Harvey L. Walner & Associates have the skills and resources ensure your rights are protected. We have helped our class action clients recover approximately $2 billion, and in many of these cases our attorneys served as lead or co-lead counsel.
Please contact Harvey L. Walner & Associates today to schedule your free mortgage and predatory lending consultation. We serve class action clients nationwide from our offices in Chicago, Illinois.