LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A Los Angeles woman is suing a Pennsylvania mortgage services company over claims it charged unnecessary fees.
Virginia Mastroianni, individually and for all others similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit Nov. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division against New Penn Financial, doing business as Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, and Does 1-10, alleging fraudulent concealment, fraudulent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, unfair business practices, intentional interference with contract, negligence per se, and violations of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The suit states the defendants charged Mastroianni and other homeowners unnecessary and unjustified fees, including property inspection fees, property preservation fees, broker price opinion fees, and property appraisal fees.
According to the suit, these unnecessary fees were added to the homeowners' loan balances without their knowledge or consent, using automated computer systems. The suit further states the assessment of these fees contradicts the terms of underlying promissory notes or deeds of trust encumbering the subject homes.
Supposedly, the suit claims, these fees were assessed for default-related services and were purportedly designed to protect the lender's interest in the property. However, the suit alleges, the fees were actually implemented to increase the defendants' servicing profit.
Mastroianni and others in the class seek actual, compensatory, consequential, statutory, and punitive damages, plus restitution and disgorgement, interests, and attorney fees and costs. They are represented by attorneys Raymond P. Boucher and Shehnaz M. Bhujwala of Boucher LLP in Woodland Hills, and by attorney David N. Lake of Law Offices of David N. Lake in Encino.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division Case number 2:15-CV-09108-PA-FFM