Lender force-placed insurance practices apparently became a defense to foreclosure in the case of Bank of Am., N.A. v. Pate, ___ So. 3d ___, 2015 WL 1135923 (Fla. 1st DCA March 16, 2015)(Thomas, J., Specially Concurring provided all the facts in this Per Curiam decision).
The Pate case was a civil foreclosure involving a “residential home.” The Trial Court found that the bank acted with “unclean hands in this equity action”.
The bank’s hands were found to be unclean partly on account of the bank’s alleged (and apparently proven) failure to pay the homeowners’ insurance fees from escrow, following which the bank force-placed insurance and thereby “quadrupled” the homeowners’ monthly mortgage payment.
In addition to losing its foreclosure action, the bank in this case was also a counterdefendant against counterclaims filed by the homeowners “for breach of contract and fraud” which resulted in the assessment of $250,000.00 in punitive damages together with an award of $60,433.29 in compensatory damages.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Judge Thomas for making the facts public knowledge in his Specially Concurring opinion in this Per Curiam case.
Please Read The Disclaimer. ©2015 by Dennis J. Wall. All Rights Reserved. No Claim to Original Florida Government Works.