Avalanche of Lawsuits
Lawsuits are springing up everywhere. For a typical example, please consider the March 4 article in Arizona Republic, “Lawsuits Targeting Mortgage Schemes”:
“Dozens of civil lawsuits alleging the gamut of mortgage fraud, from cash-back deals to lying about income on loan documents, have been filed against Valley firms and individuals during the past few months.
“Fraud experts and regulators say the lawsuits are only the beginning as the fallout from mortgage fraud starts to hit the Valley. Cash-back scams involve getting a mortgage for more than a home is worth and pocketing the extra money. The deals inflate home values and leave lenders with losses from loans worth far more than the house itself.
“‘Banks are going to force mortgage brokers to buy back bad loans, and mortgage brokers don’t have the money, so they are going to go under,’ said Richard Hagar, a national mortgage and real estate fraud expert with American Home Appraisals, based in the Seattle area. ‘This is the beginning of the wave of lawsuits, lost licenses, and criminal indictments in Arizona.’
“Among the lawsuits:
Class Action Against NovaStar
FindLaw is reporting, “Dreier LLP Files Class Action Lawsuit Against NovaStar Financial Inc.”:
“Dreier LLP today announced that a class action lawsuit was commenced in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, on behalf of purchasers of the common stock and/or call options and/or sellers of put options of NovaStar Financial Inc. (‘NovaStar’ or the ‘Company’) during the period May 4, 2006 through Feb. 20, 2007, inclusive (the ‘Class Period’). The complaint alleges violations of the federal securities laws, including Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act…
“The Complaint alleges, among other things, that: (i) NovaStar’s reported financial results during the Class Period were falsely inflated; (ii) Defendants misrepresented the quality of the Company’s mortgage loan portfolio and its ability to pay dividends; (iii) Defendants failed to disclose that the Company’s reported financial results and projections were based upon faulty assumptions because of inadequate internal controls; and (iv) Defendants failed to disclose that the Company lacked a reasonable basis to make projections regarding its ability to maintain its status as a REIT. The Complaint further alleges that, as a result of these false statements and omissions, NovaStar’s securities traded at artificially inflated or distorted prices. On Feb. 20, 2007, after the close of trading, NovaStar shocked the market by announcing disappointing fourth-quarter and year-end 2006 financial results and warning that the Company expected to make very little, if any, REIT taxable income for the next four years. In reaction to this news, the price of the Company’s stock declined more than 30% on extremely high trading volume. The Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all members of the proposed Class.”
Class Action Against New Century Financial
MarketWatch is reporting, “Brower Piven Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against New Century Financial Corp.”:
“The law firm of Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, today announced that a securities class action was commenced on behalf of shareholders who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of New Century Financial Corporation between April 7, 2006, and Feb, 7, 2007, inclusive (the ‘Class Period’)…
“The action charges that defendants violated federal securities laws by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements to the market throughout the Class Period, which statements had the effect of artificially inflating the market price of the Company’s securities.”
$77 Billion in Claims in New Orleans
The Times-Picayune is reporting, “N.O. Asks Whopping $77 Billion in Claim to Corps”:
“Submitting a claim for a staggering $77 billion, the city of New Orleans joined tens of thousands of would-be plaintiffs who rushed to beat a Thursday deadline to alert the Army Corps of Engineers that they may sue for losses resulting from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina.
“Also joining the queue were Entergy New Orleans, the city’s bankrupt electrical utility, which is seeking $655 million, and the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, which put in a claim of about $460 million, spokesmen for the agencies said.
“While they are likely to be among the largest filed, the three claims became part of an avalanche of paperwork that poured into the corps’ Leake Avenue headquarters as Thursday’s 11:59 p.m. deadline approached, corps personnel said.
“By the time of the morning commute, cars already had clogged the two-lane River Road and miles of connecting arteries. The miles-long traffic jam got so thick that the federal agency established satellite pickup points on Carrollton Avenue and Magazine Street.
“‘We took people out of offices to help out: engineers, lawyers, secretaries, you name it,’ spokesman Chris Accardo said. ‘At one time, we might have had 50 people out there.’
“Hours before the cutoff time, enough bags and boxes of claim forms had arrived to fill an 8-by-10-foot room, corps spokeswoman Kathy Gibbs said.”
Litigation Nightmare
In June 2006, in “Litigation Nightmare & Heartbreak Hotel,” I proposed a 12-point list of lawsuit items:
Litigation Items
- Buyers suing developers for nonperformance.
- Developers suing speculators for flipping properties in violation of contracts.
- Subcontractors suing developers for nonpayment.
- Subcontractors suing general contractors for nonpayment.
- Class action lawsuits against single-family homebuilders and condo developers for faulty roofing, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems.
- Lawsuits against inspectors for not catching code violations.
- Condo boards and individual homeowners suing developers for shoddy work
- Lawsuits against appraisers for inflated values.
- Lawsuits against banks when project fundings are halted.
- Lawsuits over completed condo units being substantially different in size, interior finishings, and quality than how they were represented preconstruction
- Lawsuits by anyone and everyone against anyone and everyone over various fraud allegations
- Of course, we can’t forget countersuits by anyone and everyone against anyone and everyone over anything and everything.
Judging from Morgan’s lawsuit vs. Lennar; various recent class action lawsuits against prominent subprime lenders; and “dozens of civil lawsuits alleging the gamut of mortgage fraud, from cash-back deals to lying about income on loan documents” (the latter just in the state of Arizona alone), it is safe to say that a fresh wave of litigation has started.
Things appear to be just as Richard Hagar of American Home Appraisals suggests: “This is the beginning of the wave of lawsuits, lost licenses, and criminal indictments.” The key word in that sentence is “beginning.” The avalanche has a long way to slide before we can even begin to think it is approaching the bottom of the hill.
Regards,
Mike Shedlock ~ “Mish”
March 5, 2007
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