His lender, PHH Mortgage, made one bumbling error after another, and as a result, Linza, a resident in Sacramento, CA, almost lost his house.
Fed up, he sued in a court of law.
The jury, presumably also fed up with the ineptitude and shenanigans of big banks, decided to award Mr. Linza an unprecedented amount of money: $514,000 in compensatory damages plus $15.7 million in punitive damages.
PHH Mortgage, the sixth-largest mortgage loan originator and eighth-largest loan servicer, isn’t taking its punishment without a fight. Vice President Dico Akseraylian claims the verdict is not supported by facts or by applicable law. Furthermore, he says the amount of the award “is grossly disproportionate to any alleged damages.”
Perhaps the award is a wee bit high. A typical jury award for mortgage fraud would be in the $15,000 to $100,000 range. So I can see why $16 million would be a big pill to choke on. Plus, he does still have his home.
Now with a review and appeal as the logical next steps, one has to wonder if the home owner will ever see a dollar of that money.
Everything about this story seems over-the-top to me. What do you think?
Source: Philly.com