Judge dismisses borrower lawsuit against IndyMac (Reuters)
27.08.2008 19:56 Finance
The ruling by U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan was a victory for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which seized IndyMac in July and asked for dismissal of the complaint, which had sought class-action status.
Plaintiff Virgen Cedeno had accused IndyMac of concealing the nature of its relationship with outside appraisers, saying she was misled about the equity in her home because of an inflated appraisal of her home's value.
According to the complaint, the Brooklyn, New York, resident had obtained an $80,000 line of credit from IndyMac secured by her property, and was charged a $500 appraisal fee. She accused IndyMac of failing to ensure the appraisals were accurate.
The judge, in a ruling dated Monday, found that Cedeno failed to state adequate claims, and said her state law claims were pre-empted by federal law. He said that under the Home Owners' Loan Act, the federal Office of Thrift Supervision has principal responsibility for regulating federally chartered savings associations such as IndyMac.
"Granting the plaintiff the relief she seeks would have the same effect as a direct regulation of appraisal practices -- causing IndyMac to alter the methods it uses to evaluate loans and more than incidentally affecting lending operations of federally chartered savings associations," the judge wrote.
An attorney for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. An IndyMac representative also was not immediately available.
The role of appraisers has been sharply criticized by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and others as the nation's housing market deteriorated.
Critics say that during the housing boom, inflated appraisals helped increase lenders' loans and profits -- causing consumers to overpay for their homes. Some politicians have called for appraisers to be at arm's length from mortgage lenders to guard against conflicts of interest.
The FDIC took control of Pasadena, California-based IndyMac on July 11 after worried customers pulled out more than $1.3 billion of deposits over 11 days. It was the third-biggest bank failure in U.S. history.
Koeltl dismissed claims against IndyMac and the FDIC for alleged violations of the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and Truth in Lending Act.
He also dismissed four state law claims, including alleged violations of business law codes in California and New York and claims for breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
(Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
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