Talaie v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA

Facts: A mortgage holder transfers a borrower’s mortgage to a successor mortgage holder. Neither mortgage holder notifies the borrower of the transfer. Three years later, a statutory amendment is established requiring mortgage holders to notify borrowers within 30 days of the transfer of their mortgages, or they may be monetarily liable to the borrower.

Claim: The borrower seeks punitive damages from both mortgage holders, claiming they are liable for failing to notify the borrower of the mortgage transfer according to the statute since they did not notify the borrower within 30 days of the mortgage transfer.

Counterclaim: The mortgage holders claim they are not liable for failure to notify the borrower of the mortgage transfer and do not owe the borrower punitive damages since the statute was implemented after the transfer occurred, thus they were not required to notify the borrower of the transfer as it predated the requirement.

Holding: The United States court of appeals holds the mortgage holders are not liable for failure to notify the borrower of the mortgage transfer and do not owe the borrower punitive damages since the statute was implemented after the transfer occurred and the requirement does not apply retroactively. [Talaie v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA (December 14, 2015) ____ F3d ____]

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