|
|
| After mistakenly foreclosing on the wrong Nevada property and disposing of all the personal belongings, the homeowners sued Countrywide Home Loans and were awarded $3 million. But the state’s Supreme Court has reduced that judgment by more than half.
The Nevada Supreme Court cut in half an award for damages in a wrongful foreclosure case. The court agreed with Countrywide’s statutory interpretation arguments, and with its arguments against allowing plaintiffs to recover twice for a single wrong. Thus, from a jury verdict of over $3.0 million in actual and punitive damages, plaintiffs will now only collect under $1.3 million. The case began in 2003 when Countrywide foreclosed on the Las Vegas condominium owned by the Thitchener family. The formerly independent lender hired local real estate professionals who entered the unit, changed all of the utilities, and then proceeded to “trash out” the Thitcheners’ personal belongings. But the Thitcheners were current with their mortgage. The Thitcheners, living in Arizona for most of 2003, returned to their Las Vegas home to find their belongings gone, their condo empty, and a property management company’s sign in their window. They quickly sued. Poor records management led to the wrongful foreclosure. The Calabasas, Calif.-based company had intended to foreclose against another unit in the Thitchener’s condo complex. However, lack of clear communication between Countrywide and its foreclosure agents caused Countrywide to foreclose the wrong property. In upholding the jury’s award of punitive damages against Countrywide, the Nevada Supreme Court held that “the Thitcheners presented evidence of multiple ignored warning signs suggesting that Countrywide knew of a potential mix-up, as well as evidence indicating that Countrywide continued to proceed with the foreclosure despite knowing of the probable harmful consequences of doing so.” Countrywide was able to prevail on its argument that part of the original damages were duplicative. Originally, the Thitcheners were awarded $300,000 for breach of contract, $300,000 for negligence, and $321,690 for trespass and conversion. Because the plaintiffs had no economic losses, merely the loss of their property, the court held that the $600,000 in damages for breach of contract and negligence forced Countrywide to pay the plaintiffs three times for a single wrong. Thus, the court reduced the damage award accordingly. The court also agreed that the wrong damages were trebled, and reduced the trebled damages from nearly $1 million to a mere $3,000. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. v. Thitchener |
|
|
Scott Burke, a former federal prosecutor, is a litigation associate with the Washington, D.C.-based firm of Weiner Brodsky Sidman Kider PC. e-mail Scott at Burke@WBSK.com |
