The previous issue of the UTA eNews reported that a Massachusetts State court had granted a motion for a preliminary injunction against Fremont Investment & Loan, barring Fremont from initiating or advancing foreclosures on mortgage loans that the Court deemed “presumptively unfair loans” unless certain conditions are met.

As an update, Fremont has now appealed the preliminary injunction on foreclosures. On March 26, Fremont Investment & Loan filed a petition with the Massachusetts Appeals Court to reverse a Massachusetts Superior Court order granting the Massachusetts Attorney General's request for a preliminary injunction on foreclosures of loans the lower court deemed presumptively unfair  The preliminary injunction requires Fremont to submit such loans to the Massachusetts Attorney General for review prior to advancement or initiation of foreclosure proceedings on such loans and, where the Commonwealth does not consent, to obtain court permission to proceed. In support of Fremont's appeal, two groups of trade associations submitted amicus briefs. The brief submitted by the American Financial Services Association, the Consumer Mortgage Coalition, the Housing Policy Council of the Financial Services Roundtable, and the Mortgage Bankers Association, filed by Buckley Kolar LLP, discussed the potential impact the lower court order could have on Massachusetts consumers and the Massachusetts mortgage market (for a copy of this brief, please see Amicus Brief filed by Buckley Kolar).

The other amicus brief, submitted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the American Securitization Forum (ASF), described the implications of the lower court order on secondary markets. Prior to the filing of these briefs, Fremont announced the sale of certain servicing rights to a third party, and the Massachusetts Attorney General filed another motion in the trial court seeking to block any servicing transfer unless the transferee agreed to be bound by the preliminary injunction.

(Reprinted with permission from Buckley Kolar, LLP)