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| A California couple is taking Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to court, claiming that the company “blighted their credit” by inaccurately reporting that they were responsible for making payments on an Orange County house that was condemned after it disappeared in a sinkhole.Reed and MaryAnne Fisher said that after their San Clemente home of 12 years was “red-tagged because of land instability” in 2001 and declared uninhabitable, the house was condemned and the couple obtained a forbearance from Freddie Mac releasing them from having to make payments on their home loan.
But, in court documents, the Fishers say that in spite of numerous entreaties and written proof of the tragic occurrence, Wells Fargo, the mortgage servicer, reported them as delinquent and eventually in default of their mortgage payments, blemishing what they say was spotless credit and slowing up the closing on a house they later purchased in Utah. In documents filed in California state court, the Fishers claim that Wells Fargo violated the Federal Credit Reporting Act and California’s Consumer Credit Reporting Act. The Fishers are also suing TransUnion, claiming that the credit reporting company continued to report negative credit references long after the other credit reporting companies straightened out the matter. The Fishers say that TransUnion violated its obligation under both state and federal law to investigate negative information when asked and to delete such information when warranted. The Fishers are asking for damages as yet unspecified, attorney’s fees and costs and injunctive relief. The trial is scheduled for March. Wells Fargo’s attorney, Richard Decker, of Stephan, Oringher, Richman, Theodora and Miller, declined to comment. TransUnion’s attorney Donald Bradley, of Crowell & Moring, also declined to comment explaining that TransUnion’s policy is that litigation counsel cannot comment on matters in litigation. |
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Lisa D. Burden is a legal analyst for MortgageDaily.com and holds a law degree from the University of Maryland. She is currently a freelance journalist who previously wrote for Institutional Investor publications and the Baltimore Daily Record. e-mail Lisa at: [email protected] |
