David beats Goliath: Homeowner wins $21MILLION payout from mortgage firm in dispute over credit rating
It’s a rare case of the little guy taking on a big corporation – and winning.
U.S. Army sergeant David Brash has won more than $21million in damages from PHH Mortgage after it falsely claimed he defaulted on his loan.
The 29-year-old was awarded the enormous sum by a Columbus jury after he sued the mortgage company – the country’s eight-biggest – for reporting him as ‘seriously delinquent’ to credit rating companies.
PHH claimed he was behind on his mortgage payments, when in fact they had been automatically deducted out of his Army pay cheque every month.
He set up a direct debit in 2007 when he bought the house, in Columbus, Georgia, so he wouldn’t miss any of his instalments while he was on active duty at Fort Benning.
Austin Gower, one of his lawyers, told WTVM: ‘This soldier was never behind on his payments. They were taking his money and not crediting it properly.
‘I think the jury and everybody has had this experience before with the call centre and they’re fed up with it.’
He said the verdict sent an important message to the ‘billion-dollar’ company – and it needed to pay more attention to its customers.
The sergeant, who is married with a baby on the way, had no problems with his $160,000 mortgage until September 2009, when he began to get late notices in the post.
Rest here…
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4closureFraud.org
Sarge may have won the battle, but the war ain’t over yet. With this amount of money, this case has already acquired “a life of its own” so to speak. Bad guys will gladly spend 10X this amount just in slimeball fees to get this reduced or overturned. Why? Because they can! Working their way up the legal system, sooner or later they will find a sympathetic (that’s bought and paid for) judge to see it their way.
.My advice to sarge. Take the mil+, let punitive get reduced as long as they pay for sarge’s legal bills, and don’t squawk, go on with your life. That’s what will happen anyway. Life’s too short.
Been there, done that
PHH MORTGAGE FORMERLY CENDANT MORTGAGE, 2 OF THEIR CEOS WENT TO PRISON FOR FRAUD…AND THEY ARE STILL COMMITTIN MASSIVE FRAUD UNDER A NEW ALIAS…THEY SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN AND PROSECUTED UNDER RICO…!!!
PROOF OF RACKETEERING…AN ONGOING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE PROSECUTABLE UNDER RICO….JUST UNDER A NEW ALIAS!!
Finally !
Hey, all you math geeks! What percentage of the “50 state” settlement amount is this? Just for comparison purposes.
Dam! If I’d only signed up for military service when I decided to buy a house. Seriously, good for David, winning an appropriate beatdown of PHH. I don’t have any problem with military service men, but many of them have a problem with being treated differently in court. They agree, that all homeowners harmed need due process, fairness and justice.