Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/49109505/Chase-Joinder
Timestamp: 2016-12-11 02:53:09
Document Index: 611625842

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1572', '§ 1572', '§ 1572', '§ 2923', '§ 17200', '§2923', '§ 1709', '§ 1710', '§ 1572', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 17200', '§ 2923', '§ 2924', '§ 2923', '§ 2923', '§ 17200']

Mitchell J. Stein SBN # 121750 MITCHELL J. STEIN & ASSOCIATES 2950 Buskirk Avenue, Third Floor Walnut Creek, CA 94597 Tel: (914) 843-7957 Fax: (914) 652-2431 Email: oceibod@gmail.com Theodore R. Maloney SBN #125094 FINANCE LAW GROUP 5023 North Parkway Calabasas Calabasas, CA 91302 Tel: (424) 234-5446 Fax: (424) 238-2162 Email: trm@financelawgroup.com Attorneys for Plaintiffs SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES BRIAN R. CARLSON, an individual; LUCY N. CARLSON, an individual; JOSE OSEGUERA, an individual; DEANA OSEGUERA, an individual; KIRK CARMICHAEL, an individual; LARRY CAPOTS, an individual; IRVING PHAN, an individual; CHRISTINE DAO, an individual; ROGER JAMES, an individual; MARIA ELENA CRUZ, an individual; GERALD E. ROBERTS, an individual; AUDRENE ANN ALENCASTRE, an individual; LISA RODRIGUEZ, an individual; ANTONIO FUENTES, an individual; MARIA FUENTES, an individual; HILARIO LUCERO, an individual; KAMLESH BATNA, an individual; GURDAYAL BATNA, an individual; HONORIO DIZON, an individual; AUELINA DIZON, an individual; GERARD CANNELLA, an individual; MELANIE CANNELLA, an individual; WILFREDO FELICIANO, an individual; DEAN COPPER, an individual; BRENDA COPPER, an individual; JORGE A. TORRES, an individual; DANIEL P. NOWAK, an individual; CYNDY REGAN-NOWAK, an individual; ANDRES BENAVIDEZ, an individual; ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 452262 [Assigned to Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos, Department 28] COMPLAINT FOR: 7. FRAUDULENT CONCEALMENT [VIOLATION OF CAL. CIV. CODE §§ 1572, 1709 AND 1710] (INCLUDING DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF TO VOID MORTGAGE); INTENTIONAL MISREPRESENTATION [VIOLATION OF CAL. CIV. CODE §§ 1572, 1709 AND 1710] (INCLUDING DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF TO VOID MORTGAGE); NEGLIGENT MISREPRESENTATION [VIOLATION OF CAL. CIV. CODE §§ 1572, 1709 AND
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FARAHNAZ MIRSHAFIEE, an individual; BAHMAN MIRSHAFIEE, an individual; JAVIER JIMENEZ, an individual; MAGDALENA GUIZAR, an individual; OSCAR GARCIA, an individual; MICHAEL SANTOS, an individual; WILLIAM MITCHELL, an individual; KIMBERLY MITCHELL, an individual; WILLIAM CLOWNEY, an individual; MARY CLOWNEY, an individual; LEPHAS BAILEY, an individual; JON CARLSON, an individual; KIMBERLY CARLSON, an individual; TIM PARKER, an individual; KERRY PARKER, an individual; GERDA HYPPOLITE, an individual; JAMES BEEKS, an individual; DARLENE BEEKS, an individual; and others similarly situated named herein as ROES 1 through 10,000, inclusive, Plaintiffs, vs. JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., a Delaware corporation, in its own capacity and as an acquirer of certain assets and liabilities of Washington Mutual Bank; CHASE HOME FINANCE, LLC, a Limited Liability Company; LONG BEACH MORTGAGE COMPANY, a California corporation; WESTERN NATIONAL APPRAISALS, a business entity; CALIFORNIA RECONVEYANCE COMPANY, a California corporation; CASAS & HIPOTECAS, a California corporation; and DOES 1 through 1000, inclusive, Defendants
) 1710] (INCLUDING ) DECLARATORY AND ) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF TO ) VOID MORTGAGE); ) 10. VIOLATION OF CAL. CIVIL ) CODE § 2923.5; ) ) 11. UNFAIR COMPETITION ) [VIOLATIONS OF CAL. BUS. ) & PROF. CODE § 17200 ET ) SEQ.] (INCLUDING ) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF TO ) VOID MORTGAGE) ) 12. BREACH OF CONTRACT ) ) ) [JURY TRIAL DEMANDED] ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )
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Plaintiffs, and each of them, hereby demand a jury trial and
INTRODUCTION 1. This lawsuit arises from, among other things: (i) the deception in inducing
Plaintiffs to enter into loans and mortgages1 from approximately 2003 through 2007 and which were acquired or are serviced by Defendants; (ii) the fraudulent and illegal use of MERS in connection with those loans and mortgages; (iii) Defendants’ failure to perform their obligations required pursuant to accepting TARP funds; (iv) Defendants’ breach of Plaintiffs’ statutorily protected rights; (v) Defendants’ breach and willful violation of numerous consumer and homeowner protection statutes, and willful violations of unfair business practices statues, by, among other things, processing money from unknown sources, in contravention of the Patriot Act; (vi) accepting money, transferring alleged assets and foreclosing upon alleged assets in instances where the alleged assets do not exist, and which these Defendants have no right, title, or interest upon which they can act; and (vii) Defendants’ continuing tortuous conduct intended to deprive Plaintiffs of their rights and remedies for the foregoing acts, described below. 2. Defendants, among other things, violated laws, breached contracts, and repeatedly
and intentionally failed to honor its agreements with borrowers. 3. Moreover, Defendants, and each of them, wrongfuly acted and continue to act as if
they are either the owner, beneficiary, successor, assignee, servicer, or have some right, title, or interest in Plaintiffs’notes, mortgages, or deeds of trust. In reality, the Defendants, and each of them, are commiting and continuing a fraud, by utilizing and foreclosing upon assets that do not exist. 4. This action seeks remedies for the foregoing improper activities, including a
massive fraud perpetrated upon Plaintiffs and other borrowers by the Defendants’ business that devastated the values of their residences, in most cases resulting in Plaintiffs’ loss of all or This Complaint uses ―mortgage‖ and ―deed of trust‖ interchangeably. Depending upon the state and other factors, a loan may be secured by either form of security instrument, the deed of trust being the customary instrument in California.
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substantially all of their net worths. PARTIES
Plaintiff BRIAN R. CARLSON is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real
estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 6. Plaintiff LUCY N. CARLSON is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 7. Plaintiff JOSE OSEGUERA is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 8. Plaintiff DEANA OSEGUERA is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 9. Plaintiff KIRK CARMICHAEL is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan.
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Plaintiff LARRY CAPOTS is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 11. Plaintiff IRVING PHAN is an individual residing in the State of California, who
borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 12. Plaintiff CHRISTINE DAO is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 13. Plaintiff ROGER JAMES is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 14. Plaintiff MARIA ELENA CRUZ is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan.
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Plaintiff GERALD E. ROBERTS is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 16. Plaintiff AUDRENE ANN ALENCASTRE is an individual residing in the State
of California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 17. Plaintiff LISA RODRIGUEZ is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 18. Plaintiff ANTONIO FUENTES is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 19. Plaintiff MARIA FUENTES is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan.
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Plaintiff HILARIO LUCERO is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 21. Plaintiff KAMLESH BATNA is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 22. Plaintiff GURDAYAL BATNA is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 23. Plaintiff HONORIO DIZON is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 24. Plaintiff AUELINA DIZON is an individual residing in the State of California,
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Plaintiff GERARD CANNELLA is an individual residing in the State of New
York, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 26. Plaintiff MELANIE CANNELLA is an individual residing in the State of New
York, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 27. Plaintiff WILFREDO FELICIANO is an individual residing in the State of
Illinois, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 28. Plaintiff DEAN COPPER is an individual residing in the State of New York,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 29. Plaintiff BRENDA COPPER is an individual residing in the State of New York,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan.
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Plaintiff JORGE A. TORRES is an individual residing in the State of Illinois,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 31. Plaintiff DANIEL P. NOWAK is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 32. Plaintiff CYNDY REGAN-NOWAK is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 33. Plaintiff ANDRES BENAVIDEZ is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 34. Plaintiff FARAHNAZ MIRSHAFIEE is an individual residing in the State of
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Plaintiff BAHMAN MIRSHAFIEE is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 36. Plaintiff JAVIER JIMENEZ is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 37. Plaintiff MAGDELENA GUIZAR is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 38. Plaintiff OSCAR GARCIA is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 39. Plaintiff MICHAEL SANTOS is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan.
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Plaintiff WILLIAM MITCHELL is an individual residing in the State of
Washington, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 41. Plaintiff KIMBERLY MITCHELL is an individual residing in the State of
Washington, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 42. Plaintiff WILLIAM CLOWNEY is an individual residing in the State of South
Carolina, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 43. Plaintiff MARY CLOWNEY is an individual residing in the State of South
Carolina, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 44. Plaintiff LEPHAS BAILEY is an individual residing in the State of Virginia,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan.
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Plaintiff JON CARLSON is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 46. Plaintiff KIMBERLY CARLSON is an individual residing in the State of
California, who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 47. Plaintiff TIMOTHY PARKER is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 48. Plaintiff KERRY PARKER is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 49. Plaintiff GERDA HYPPOLITE is an individual residing in the State of
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Plaintiff JAMES BEEKS is an individual residing in the State of California, who
borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on his California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 51. Plaintiff DARLENE BEEKS is an individual residing in the State of California,
who borrowed money from Defendants or its subsidiaries or affiliates between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, secured by a deed of trust on her California real estate. At all times material hereto, Defendants has acted as Servicer or some other control capacity over processing the loan. 52. The other Plaintiffs, named as ROES 1 through 10,000, are similarly situated to
Plaintiffs identified above in that they too borrowed money from the Defendants (as defined below) between the dates beginning on January 1, 2003 and ending on December 31, 2007, secured by deeds of trust on their California realty. Further, at all times material hereto, Defendants have acted as servicer or in another capacity with respect to loan processing. All of the foregoing secured real estate loans made to Plaintiffs were wrongfully and fraudulently handled and processed by Defendants, resulting in damages. 53. Plaintiffs’ counsel is aware of and has provided services to unnamed Roe
plaintiffs, each of whom has sustained actual injury. The unnamed Roes sue under their names fictitiously because they either wish to maintain their privacy or because Plaintiffs’ counsel have not completed the due diligence necessary to properly plead their claims as of the filing of this Complaint. From time-to-time, upon conducting the due diligence and learning the information sufficient to add remaining Roe Plaintiffs to this action, Plaintiffs shall seek leave of Court to amend this Complaint to name these additional Roe Plaintiffs, or will follow such other process as is prescribed by the Court.
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An additional large number of persons has contacted counsel or their staffs
pertaining to the matters complained of herein. In the event Plaintiffs believe it is in furtherance of judicial economy and justice to add all or any of these additional persons to this Complaint, Plaintiffs shall bring a noticed motion to add such parties to this action. In the event Plaintiffs file a separate lawsuit appertaining to all or any of these unnamed persons, or such further number as may exist in view of future developments, Plaintiffs shall file all appropriate Notices of Related Cases in accordance with California law, or as otherwise directed by the Court. 55. Defendant JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. (―JP MORGAN‖), a Deleware
corporation, is, among other things, a mortgage lender with its primary headquarters located in Columbus, Ohio. Because of the common plan alleged hereinabove involving JP MORGAN and all other Defendants identified above and below, all Defendants shall be referred to hereinafter as ―JP MORGAN‖ or ―JP MORGAN GROUP.‖ 56. More than 18-months preceding the date of this Complaint, JP MORGAN
completed the purchase of the assets and operations and succeeded to the businesses of various mortgage lenders. The assets of these predecessor businesses purportedly included the loans made to Plaintiffs secured by their real estate that are the subject of this action. It is axiomatic that the JP MORGAN Defendants have no greater rights in the assets of this business than their original owner had. And, no transfer by any predecessor, on the one hand, to JP MORGAN, on the other hand, actually or in fact involved any rights in or to mortgages against any of the properties of Plaintiffs. 57. 58. 59. CHASE BANK, N.A. is a national banking association. CHASE HOME FINANCE is a national banking association. The Defendants’ mortgage lending business grew to the point where it had
become one of the largest savings association and one of the largest servicer of mortgages in the Unites States. Growth was due largely to an aggressive growth strategy that was
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relentlessly pursued. The business operated in all fifty States in the United States of America. 60. Defendant LONG BEACH MORTGAGE COMPANY is a California
corporation with its principal place of business in Long Beach, California. 61. Defendant WESTERN NATIONAL APPRAISALS is a business entity, with its
principal place of business in the State of California, in the County of Los Angeles. 62. Defendant CALIFORNIA RECONVEYANCE COMPANY is a business entity,
with its principal place of business in the State of California, in the County of Los Angeles. 63. Defendant CASAS & HIPOTECAS is a business entity operating in the State pf
California, County of Los Angeles. 64. Defendant PRIORITY POSTING & PUBLICATION is a California corporation,
with its principal place of business in Tustin, California. 65. Defendant LPS DEFAULT TITLE & CLOSING is a business entity, form
unknown, operating in, among other places, the County of Los Angeles, State of California. 66. At all times material hereto, the business of Defendants was operated through a
common plan and scheme designed to conceal the material facts set forth below from Plaintiffs, from the California public and from regulators, either directly or as successors-in-interest to the business acquired from others. The concealment was completed, ratified and/or confirmed by each Defendant herein directly or as a successor-in-interest as the acquirer of an entire business, and each Defendant performed or has sought to benefit from the tortious acts set forth herein for its own monetary gain and as a part of a common plan developed and carried out with the other Defendants or as a successor-in-interest to the business that did the foregoing. 67. The true names and capacities of the Defendants listed herein as DOES 1
through 1,000 are unknown to Plaintiffs who therefore sue these Defendants by such fictitious names. Each of the DOE Defendants was the agent of each of the other Defendants herein, named or unnamed, and thereby participated in all of the wrongdoing set forth herein. On information and belief, each such Defendant is responsible for the acts, events and concealment set forth herein and is sued for that reason. Upon learning the true names and capacities of the DOE Defendants, Plaintiffs shall amend this Complaint accordingly.
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Plaintiffs believe and thereon allege that the agents and co-conspirators through
which the named Defendants operated included, without limitation, financial institutions and other firms that originated loans on behalf of some or all of the Defendants. These institutions acted at the behest and direction of the enterprise and JP MORGAN, or agreed to participate — knowingly or unknowingly - in the fraudulent schemes described in this Complaint. 69. Those firms originating loans that knowingly participated in the scheme are
jointly and severally liable with the Defendants for their acts in devising, directing, knowingly benefitting from and ratifying the wrongful acts of the knowing participants. Upon learning the true name of such knowing participants, Plaintiffs shall amend this Complaint to identify such knowing participants as Doe Defendants. 70. For avoidance of doubt, such knowing participants include, without limitation,
legal and natural persons owned in whole or in part by the enterprise or Defendants or affiliates thereof legal and natural persons owning directly or through affiliates financial interests in the enterprise or Defendants; legal and natural persons directly or through affiliates acting pursuant to contracts to share in the benefits of the wrongdoing alleged in this Complaint and knowing to at least some degree committing acts and omissions in support thereof; and legal and natural persons knowing to at least some degree acting in concert with the enterprise of the Defendants. 71. As to those legal and natural persons acting in concert without an express legal
relationship with Defendants or their affiliates, on information and belief, the Defendants knowingly induced and encouraged the parallel acts, created circumstances permitting and authorizing the parallel acts and omissions, benefited therefrom and ratified the improper behavior, becoming jointly and severally liable therefor. 72. As to those legal and natural persons whose acts in support of the loan scheme
were unwitting, Plaintiffs will consider whether and on what basis such persons might be liable for their acts; however, on information and belief, the Defendants knowingly induced and encouraged the acts and omissions, created circumstances permitting and authorizing the parallel acts and omissions, benefited therefrom and ratified the improper behavior, becoming
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liable therefor. 73. Defendants’ own public disclosures make clear that JP MORGAN is a common
enterprise operating as a greater whole and that JP MORGAN is the successor-in-interest to the tainted mortgage lending business formerly operated in the names of certain Defendants. Indeed, JP MORGAN acquired assets for the specific purpose of succeeding to this mortgage lending business and the assets comprising that business, including the loans made to Plaintiffs. 74. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and thereon allege, that: (i) JP MORGAN
and its affiliates are liable (to the extent provided in this Complaint) for all wrongful acts relating to their acquired business as the successor-in-interest to the mortgage lending business of certain other Defendants, (ii) Defendants directly and through its subsidiaries and other agents sued herein as Does have continued the unlawful mortgage lending and collection practices, including, without limitation thereof, writing fraudulent mortgages as set forth above and concealing wrongful acts that occurred in whole or in part prior thereto, (iii) Defendants and their subsidiaries are jointly and severally liable as alter egos and as a single, greater unified whole and (iv) the purpose of this scheme is Defendants, and each of them, quest for taking money and property of Plaintiffs without due process of law, wrongfully, fraudulently, unfairly and in violation of law. 75. Hand-in-hand with its fraudulently-obtained mortgages, the Defendants’
mortgage lending business implemented a plan to ―pool‖ the foregoing mortgages and sell the pools for inflated value. 76. Rapidly, these two intertwined schemes grew into a brazen plan to disregard
underwriting standards and fraudulently inflate property values – county-by-county, city-bycity, person-by-person – in order to take business from legitimate mortgage-providers, and moved on to massive securities fraud hand-in-hand with concealment from, and deception of, Plaintiffs and other mortgagees on an unprecedented scale. 77. From as early as 2004, the senior management of Defendants’ mortgage lending
business knew the scheme would cause a liquidity crisis that would devastate Plaintiffs’ home values and net worths. But, they didn’t care, because their plan was based on insider trading –
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pumping for as long as they could and then dumping before the truth came out and Plaintiffs’ losses were locked in. 78. At the very least, at the time of entering into the notes and deeds of trust
referenced herein with respect to each Plaintiff, the Defendants’ business, each Defendant originating or participating in the origination of a mortgage, each Defendant in the chain of title of the foregoing mortgages and each Defendant servicing the foregoing mortgages and the successors to each of the foregoing (collectively, the ―Defendants‖) was bound and obligated to fully and accurately disclose to each borrower, including each Plaintiff herein, that the mortgage being offered to the Plaintiff was, in fact, part of a massive fraud that Defendants or their business principals knew would result in the loss of the equity invested by Plaintiff in their homes and in severe impairment to Plaintiffs’ credit ratings. 79. It is now all too clear that this was the ultimate high-stakes fraudulent
investment scheme of the last decade. Couched in banking and securities jargon, the deceptive gamble with consumers’ primary assets – their homes – was nothing more than a financial fraud perpetrated by Defendants’ mortgage lending enterprise and others on a scale never before seen. This scheme led directly to a mortgage meltdown in California that was substantially worse than any economic problems facing the rest of the United States. 80. From 2008 to the present, Californians’ home values decreased by considerably
more than most other areas in the United States as a direct and proximate result of the Defendants’ enterprise scheme set forth herein. Defendants’ enterprise systematically destroyed California home values county-by-county, then State-wide, and ultimately across the entire Country. 81. The business premise of the enterprise the JP MORGAN Defendants’ acquired
was to leave the borrowers, including Plaintiffs, holding the bag once Defendants and their executives had cashed in reaping huge salaries and bonuses and selling securities based on their inside information, while investors were still buying the increasingly overpriced mortgage pools and before the inevitable dénouement. This massive fraudulent scheme was a disaster both foreseen by Defendants’ business and waiting to happen. The operators of Defendants’
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business knew it, and yet still induced the Plaintiffs into their scheme without telling them. 82. Almost to add further insult to injury, JP MORGAN, knowing of this massive
fraud, like Civil War carpetbaggers, sought to swoop in and profiteer from the carnage that had been wreaked on Plaintiffs. The JP MORGAN Defendants sought to ignore the responsibility for the results of the massive fraud in the mortgage assets and tainted business they were acquiring by aggressively enforcing the mortgages purchased or serviced. 83. The JP MORGAN Defendants did this with calculation and deliberation after
over nine months had elapsed from the failure of the business and in full recognition of the patent frauds that had been perpetrated on Plaintiffs in connection with the mortgages. 84. As a result of all of these actions of Defendants, Plaintiffs lost their equity in
their homes, their credit ratings and histories were damaged or destroyed, and Plaintiffs incurred material other costs and expenses, described herein. At the same time, Defendants took from Plaintiffs and other borrowers billions of dollars in interest payments and fees and generated billions of dollars in profits by selling their loans at inflated values. 85. With government loss-protection in their hip pocket, the JP MORGAN
Defendants, with a voraciousness that has been chastised by numerous courts, sought to obliterate the last vestiges of value held by Plaintiffs, lock in government fill-up money and flip distressed assets for a profit. On the heels of an already bad disaster, Defendants piled on after March 2009 to systematically continue the destruction of California home values. 86. Defendants’ improper acts are numerous, including, inter alia: (i) issuing Notices
of Default in violation of Cal. Civil Code §2923.5; (ii) misrepresenting their intention to arrange loan modifications for Plaintiffs, while in fact creating abusive roadblocks to deprive Plaintiffs of their legal rights or to unfairly compete as to Plaintiffs in the manner set forth herein; and (iii) and by refusing to respond, in any way, to Plaintiffs’ communications or to communications made for Plaintiffs by the State of California and other public representatives. 87. These acts continue to this day with hardball tactics and deception that continue
to threaten Plaintiffs’ rights and financial security, as well as the economic future of the State of California and the entire United States of America.
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The carpetbagger business plan of the JP MORGAN Defendants is no mystery.
It is evident in their very formation to acquire the mortgage assets to which this action relates. What the Defendants had hoped was that helpless homeowners would not be able to stand up to the Defendants as they eviscerated the Plaintiffs’ life’s savings, chasing a hoped-for gold rush of government bail-out money to make the Defendants rich in the process, while at the same time positioning the Defendants as vultures to pick on the government-paid-for carcass that would be left over. 89. Though they were careful not to reveal overtly the piranha-like nature of their
business plan, the Defendants’ formation for the sole purpose seeking to obtain an enormous portfolio of tainted mortgages, enforce them as if they were not tainted, crush the homeowners in the process to profit from government money, and then flipping the ―cleansed‖ portfolio is patently evident. In this action, Plaintiffs seek to stop this behavior and obtain the redress they are due.
GENERAL FACTS 90. The common facts herein include those facts set forth above in the prior sections
of this Complaint. 91. There has been considerable press attention, litigation and pending governmental
investigations establishing, among other things, that in many instances the Defendants herein do not have in their possession, custody or control the original or an authentic copy of the promissory notes or other indicia of realty rights regarding Plaintiffs. Based thereon, on information and belief, Plaintiffs hereby allege that Defendants have made demand for payment on the Plaintiffs with respect to Plaintiffs’ properties at a time when Defendants are incapable of establishing (and do not have any credible knowledge regarding) who owns the promissory notes Defendants are purportedly servicing. 92. Many of the promissory notes referenced above are secured or controlled by a
beneficiary known as Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS). MERS is sometimes named as the ―nominee‖ or ―beneficiary‖ for unknown lenders representing
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unsourced money advanced by persons in violation of law. When a loan is transferred among MERS members, MERS purports to simplify the process by avoiding the requirement to rerecord the liens and pay county recorder fees. 93. For the substantial majority of the Plaintiffs herein, MERS claims to be the
owner of the security interest indicated by the mortgages transferred by lenders, investors and their loan servicers in the county land records. MERS claims its process eliminates the need to file assignments in the county land records which lowers costs for lenders and consumers by reducing county recording costs from real estate transfers and provides a central source of information and tracking for mortgage loans. 94. Based upon published reports, including the MERS website as of the date of this
Complaint, on information and belief, MERS does not: (1) take applications for, underwrite or negotiate mortgage loans; (2) make or originate mortgage loans to consumers; (3) extend credit to consumers; (4) service mortgage loans; or (5) invest in mortgage loans. 95. MERS has been, and continues to be, used to facilitate the unlawful transfers of
mortgages, unlawful pooling of mortgages and the injection into the United States banking industry of unsourced (i.e., unknown) funds, including, without limitation, improper off-shore funds. Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereon allege that MERS has been listed as beneficial owner of more than half the mortgages in the United States. 96. In 2001, Congress found that ―money laundering, and the defects in financial
transparency on which money launderers rely, are critical to the financing of global terrorism and the provision of funds for terrorist attacks.‖ Congress specifically found that ―money launderers subvert legitimate financial mechanisms and banking relationships by using them as protective covering for the movement of criminal proceeds and the financing of crime and terrorism . . .‖ 97. On information and belief, during periods relevant to the other acts complained
of herein, Defendants and each of them did not and persist in failing to (1) establish due diligence policies, procedures and controls reasonably designed to detect and report instances of money laundering, (2) establish procedures to take reasonable and practicable measures to
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verify the identity of those applying for an account with the institution and maintain records of the information used to verify a person’s identity, including name, address, and other identifying information, (3) determine and report the sources of funds used for the mortgages they originate and service, as well as the sources of funds used to acquire any mortgages, or (4) disclose to Plaintiffs the identities, address and telephone numbers of transferees of their mortgages. 98. Upon completion of suffcient discovery, Plaintiffs will seek leave to amend the
complaint to supplement the foregoing allegations with respect to additional violations pertaining to the Plaintiffs and additional patterns supporting Plaintiffs’ claims herein including its claim of Unfair Competition, infra. 99. Under California Civil Code § 1709 it is unlawful to willfully deceive another
―with intent to induce him to alter his position to his injury or risk.‖ 100. Under California Civil Code § 1710, it a ―deceit‖ to do any one or more of the
following: (1) the suggestion, as a fact, of that which is not true, by one who does not believe it to be true; (2) the assertion, as a fact, of that which is not true, by one who has no reasonable ground for believing it to be true; (3) the suppression of a fact, by one who is bound to disclose it, or who gives information of other facts which are likely to mislead for want of communication of that fact; or, (4) a promise, made without any intention of performing it. 101. Under California Civil Code § 1572, the party to a contract further engages in
fraud by committing ―any other act fitted to deceive.‖ 102. At the time of entering into the notes and deeds of trust referenced herein with
respect to each Plaintiff, the enterprise acquired by the JP MORGAN Defendants, was bound and obligated to fully and accurately disclose: a. Who the true lender and mortgagee were. b. That to induce a Plaintiff to enter into the mortgage, the enterprise caused the appraised value of Plaintiff’s home to be overstated. c. That to disguise the inflated value of Plaintiff’s home, the enterprise was orchestrating the over-valuation of homes throughout Plaintiff’s community.
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d. That to induce a Plaintiff to enter into a mortgage, the enterprise disregarded its underwriting requirements, thereby causing Plaintiff to falsely believe that Plaintiff was financially capable of performing Plaintiff’s obligations under the mortgage, when the enterprise knew that was untrue. e. That the enterprise not only had the right to securitize and sell Plaintiff’s mortgage to third-party investors, but that it specifically planned and intended to do so as to virtually all mortgages at highly-inflated and unsustainable values. f. That as to the intended sales: i. The sales would include sales to nominees who were not authorized under law at the time to own a mortgage, including, among others, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., a/k/a MERSCORP, Inc. (―MERS‖), which according to its website was created by mortgage banking industry participants to be only a front or nominee to ―streamline‖ the mortgage re-sale and securitization process; ii. Plaintiff’s true financial condition and the true value of Plaintiff’s home and mortgage would not be disclosed to investors to whom the mortgage would be sold; iii. The enterprise intended to sell the mortgage together with other mortgages as to which it also intended not to disclose the true financial condition of the borrowers or the true value of their homes or mortgages; iv. The consideration to be sought from investors would be greater than the actual value of the said notes and deeds of trust; and v. The consideration to be sought from investors would be greater than the income stream that could be generated from the instruments even assuming a 0% default rate thereon; g. That the mortgage would thereby be used as part of a scheme by which the enterprise would bilk investors by selling collateralized mortgage pools at an inflated value.
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h. That, at the time they did the foregoing, the enterprise knew the foregoing would lead to a liquidity crisis and the likely collapse of the enterprise; i. That the enterprise also knew the foregoing would lead to grave damage to each Plaintiff’s property value and thereby result in the Plaintiff’s loss of the equity Plaintiff invested in the Plaintiffs’ house, as well as damaging the Plaintiff’s credit rating, thereby causing the Plaintiff additional severe financial damage; and j. That the enterprise knew at the time of making each loan, but did not disclose to Plaintiffs, that entire communities would become ―ghost-town-foreclosurecommunities‖ after a domino effect of foreclosures hit them. 103. When property values started falling – just as the enterprise knew would occur –
the enterprise could no longer continue the pretense, concealment and affirmative misrepresentations. Plaintiffs through their losses, and then also the ultimate banker, the U.S. taxpayer, have footed the bill through TARP and other programs. 104. The JP MORGAN Defendants not only continue to ratify the scheme, but they
aggressively seek to profiteer from it. 105. With specific aim, JP MORGAN, knowing of the massive fraud perpetrated by
the enterprise they sought to acquire, swooped in to profiteer. Like Civil War carpetbaggers, the JP MORGAN Defendants sought to conceal the fraud of which they were aware and which gave legitimate defenses to borrowers and to ramrod through foreclosures. This was all done while the JP MORGAN Defendants have put window dressing on their business strategy, seeking to obfuscate their actions by press releases of diametrically opposite actions. This conspiracy has all been to further crush values, realize losses and collect government bail-out money, and then to take their foot off the neck of the California homeowner market and profiteer from rises in portfolio asset values. 106. However, the JP MORGAN Defendants can not improve their position in the
mortgages and must stand in the shoes of their predecessor.
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As a result, they are subject to the shortcomings of the assets they purchased,
and not only those the JP MORGAN Defendants can control for their profit. They are also subject to all defenses to the mortgages. The JP MORGAN Defendants’ high-pressure and aggressive foreclosure tactics have been designed to push this fraud through and avoid these defenses by sheer weight of a well-financed financial group against individual homeowners. However, they must accept the burdens as well as the benefits of the mortgage assets contained in the tainted business they acquired. 108. The JP MORGAN Defendants have hatched their scheme with calm
deliberation, including carefully investigating the assets they were acquiring, interviewing executives of the enterprise, and forming their own vehicles to execute the plan. After over nine months had elapsed from the failure of the enterprise, after the emergence of government bail-outs and support, including privately negotiated help and TARP assistance, and in full recognition of the patent frauds that had been perpetrated on Plaintiffs in connection with the mortgages, the JP MORGAN Defendants stepped into those dirty shoes. 109. As a result of all of these actions of Defendants, Plaintiffs lost their equity in
their homes, their credit ratings and histories were damaged or destroyed, and Plaintiffs incurred material other costs and expenses, described herein. At the same time, Defendants took from Plaintiffs and other borrowers billions of dollars in interest payments and fees and generated billions of dollars in profits by selling their loans at inflated values. 110. With government loss-protection in their hip pocket, the JP MORGAN
Defendants, with a voraciousness that has been chastised by numerous courts, have sought to obliterate the last vestiges of value held by Plaintiffs, lock in government fill-up money and flip distressed assets for a profit. On the heels of an already bad disaster, Defendants piled on after March 2009 to systematically continue the destruction of California home values. 111. Defendants cannot aver that the market would have worked its way out of the
fraud, because they knew of the liquidity crisis and devastation that the fraud had already created. Notwithstanding this knowledge, the JP MORGAN Defendants embarked on a massive campaign to crush the values of homes to feed their profiteering scheme.
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The JP MORGAN Defendants knew through their investigation that, in violation
of their own underwriting guidelines, the enterprise had covertly offered Plaintiffs and others loans at a loan-to-value ratio that was unsustainable and without income verification. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew that the enterprise knew this, but concealed from Plaintiffs that they knew, Plaintiffs would soon be unable to afford the loans once introductory discount interest rates ended, and variable interest and balloon payments kicked in. Indeed, the JP MORGAN Defendants saw this fraud and the disjoint it had created in the market, and their ability to act fast and profiteer from the U.S. taxpayer, as key to their own scheme. 113. As had their enterprise, the JP MORGAN Defendants knew that when interest
payments increased and balloon payments became due, if not before, Plaintiffs and others would begin defaulting on their mortgages and would suffer grievous losses from mortgages for which they were not qualified. Indeed, at the time of their acquisition of the tainted assets, this was going on. It was a pivotal confluence of events that the JP MORGAN Defendants sought to exploit for gain. Given the inflated appraised values of their residences, even without a decline in property values, few Plaintiffs would be able to refinance or sell their homes without suffering a significant loss. 114. The Defendants knew that the scale of the lending – based on inflated property
values, without income verification and in violation of numerous underwriting guidelines – would lead to widespread declines in property values, thereby putting Plaintiffs and others into extremis through which they would lose the equity invested in their homes and have no means of refinancing or selling, other than at a complete loss. That is precisely what happened to Plaintiffs herein. 115. The enterprise did not just make misrepresentations and conceal material facts
from investors. First, each of the foregoing misrepresentations was made in public documents or forums given wide communication to the public, including Plaintiffs herein. Second, the identical affirmative misrepresentations and concealment pertained to the Plaintiffs, and other borrowers.
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The enterprise had perpetuated its lies by affirmative misrepresentations and by
concealing the truth from Plaintiffs and other borrowers because to do otherwise would mean: (a) immediate wash-back into their investor fraud since Plaintiffs and other borrowers are part of the investor public receiving all other investor communications, and (b) decapitation of the source of the supply of mortgages needed for the scheme. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew this when they acquired the tainted assets. 117. The concealment of the scheme from borrowers was absolutely essential because
the enterprise knew it would soon be delivering Plaintiffs’ notes and deeds of trust to investors and their representatives at intentionally inflated values as collateral for Defendants’ fraudulent securitized pools. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew this when they acquired the tainted assets. 118. By not disclosing the truth of the inflated appraisals, lax lending standards,
deficient loan portfolio, shaky secondary market collateralized securities, and overall scheme to its borrowers, as set forth above, the enterprise not only made them unwitting accomplices, but put them into a no win situation in which the price of taking a mortgage from the enterprise would be – and has been – cascading defaults and foreclosures that have wiped out billions of dollars in equity value, including the equity invested in their homes by Plaintiffs. 119. 120. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew this when they acquired the tainted assets. The JP MORGAN Defendants exacerbated this situation by setting off
cascading foreclosures in entire cities and counties in California, leading to unemployment and economic turmoil. All Plaintiffs have been damaged by the foregoing. 121. Despite billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded relief programs, property values
continue to fall and unemployment and underemployment remain terribly high. However, this is all key to the JP MORGAN Defendants’ profiteering scheme. The bigger the carnage now, the more government relief they get, and the more upside that remains in the assets they have confiscated from homeowners. 122. As defaults increased, the Defendants used it as an opportunity to increase their
fees and to punish Plaintiffs and other borrowers.
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The enterprise first and later the JP MORGAN Defendants concealed and did
not accurately or fully disclose to any Plaintiff herein any of the foregoing facts. Further, neither the enterprise nor Defendants disclosed or explained their schemes to Plaintiffs at any time. 124. They did the foregoing with the intent to deceive Plaintiffs, the investing public
and the U.S. taxpayer. Plaintiffs did not know the massive scheme the enterprise had started and that the JP MORGAN Defendants diabolically enhanced and accelerated. 125. To the contrary, the enterprise affirmatively misrepresented its underwriting
processes, the value of its mortgages and the fundamental nature of its business model in its press releases, annual report and securities filings, all of which were widely distributed to the public, including Plaintiffs. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew this as they hatched their own new chapter to the scheme. 126. The enterprise intended the public, including Plaintiffs, to rely upon its
misrepresentations and made those misrepresentations to create false confidence in the enterprise and to further its fraud on borrowers and investors. The JP MORGAN Defendants are now playing on this same theme, but they are getting caught in their own creation. 127. Plaintiffs would never have done business with the enterprise or entered into the
mortgages if the scheme had been disclosed to them. 128. Had the Plaintiffs known the facts concealed from them, Plaintiffs would have
never entered into bogus and predatory transactions creating the tainted assets acquired by the JP MORGAN Defendants, designed only to line the pockets of the lenders and their executives and not to actually and justifiably create value and generate capital from the Plaintiffs’ equity investments in their primary residences, and now designed to line the pockets of the JP MORGAN Defendants directly through their carpetbagging and through their sucking at the TARP and other government money troughs. 129. If the Plaintiffs had later learned the truth, each Plaintiff would have either (a)
rescinded the loan transaction under applicable law and/or (b) refinanced the loan transaction with a reputable institution prior to the decline in mortgage values in late 2008.
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Instead, each Plaintiff reasonably relied on the deceptions of the enterprise in
originating their loans and forbearing from exercising their rights to rescind or refinance their loans. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew of this massive fraud and step into all the infirmities of these mortgages. 131. After entering into the transactions with each Plaintiff herein as alleged herein,
the enterprise sold in securities transactions the notes and deeds of trust pertaining to Plaintiffs’ properties. The sales: a. Included sales to nominees who were not authorized under law at the time to own a mortgage, including, among others, MERS; b. Involved misrepresentations by the enterprise to investors and concealment from investors of Plaintiff’s true financial condition and the true value of Plaintiff’s home and mortgage; c. Involved misrepresentations by the enterprise to investors and concealment from investors of the true financial condition of other borrowers and the true value of their homes and mortgages also included in the pools; d. Were for consideration greater than the actual value of the said notes and deeds of trust; e. Were for consideration greater than the income stream that could be generated from the instruments even assuming a 0% default rate thereon; and f. Were part of a scheme by which the enterprise bilked investors by selling collateralized mortgage pools at an inflated value. g. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew all of this when they acquired the tainted assets. 132. The enterprise hid from Plaintiffs that Defendants were engaged in an effort to
increase market share and sustain revenue generation through unprecedented expansions of its underwriting guidelines, taking on ever-increasing credit risk. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew all of this when they acquired the tainted assets, as it was a critical component of their own scheme to further victimize the Plaintiffs.
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When first the enterprise induced Plaintiffs to enter into mortgages, the
enterprise knew their scheme would lead to a liquidity crisis and grave damage to each Plaintiff’s property value and thereby result in each Plaintiff’s loss of the equity such Plaintiff invested in his house, as well as damaging the Plaintiff’s credit rating, thereby causing the Plaintiff additional severe financial damage consisting of the foregoing damages and damages described elsewhere in this Complaint. 134. The enterprise concealed the foregoing from, among others, Plaintiffs, California
consumers and regulators. The JP MORGAN Defendants’ tainted assets have all the imperfections resulting from these fraudulent actions, and the JP MORGAN Defendants knew this when they embarked on their campaign to profiteer off of the mortgage carnage and government bail-out money. 135. Based upon the enterprise’s position as a leading financial institution and the
public statements made by representatives of the enterprise, including in its securities filings, the Plaintiffs reasonably relied upon the statements made by the foregoing and reasonably relied that no material information necessary to their decisions would be withheld or incompletely, inaccurately or otherwise improperly disclosed. In so relying, the Plaintiffs were gravely damaged as described herein. 136. The enterprise initially acted willfully with the intention to conceal and deceive
in order to benefit therefrom at the expense of the Plaintiffs. The JP MORGAN Defendants thereafter acted deliberately in a massive scheme to crush the last vestiges of wealth from the Plaintiffs, all in a mission to profiteer from the fraud the JP MORGAN Defendants had purchased. 137. The other Defendants followed each other’s direction because they are either
subsidiaries of each other, directly or indirectly owned, controlled and dominated by each other, or because they are in an unequal economic and/or legal relationship with each other by which they are beholden to each other and are thereby controlled and dominated by each other.
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As a proximate and foreseeable result of the sale of the notes and deeds of trust
regarding Plaintiffs’ properties and others similarly situated for more than the actual value of such instruments, securitization pools lacked the cash flow necessary to maintain the securitization pools in accordance with their indentures. 139. The unraveling of the fraudulent scheme has materially depressed the price of
real estate throughout California, and the entire Country, including the real estate owned by Plaintiffs, resulting in the losses to Plaintiffs described herein. It is precisely this loss of value on which the JP MORGAN Defendants now seek to capitalize. They would transfer a material portion of that wealth to themselves or those in collusion with them. This scheme includes acquiring the real property at reduced values, collecting U.S. government money for paper losses, and harvesting the future increase on the value of these artificially depressed homes. 140. There has been considerable press attention and litigation in the United States
Bankruptcy Courts and state courts establishing, inter alia, that in many instances the Defendants herein do not have in their possession the original or an authentic copy of the promissory notes with respect to the loans they originated and/or purport to service. Based thereon, based on other litigation of which counsel to Plaintiffs are aware, and based upon Plaintiffs interactions with Defendants, on information and belief, Plaintiffs hereby allege that Defendants have made demand for payment on the Plaintiffs with respect to Plaintiffs’ properties at a time when Defendants are incapable of establishing (and do not have any credible knowledge regarding) who owns the promissory notes Defendants are purportedly servicing. 141. MERS operates an electronic registry designed to track servicing rights and the
20 ownership of mortgages. MERS is sometimes named as the ―nominee‖ for lenders, and at other times MERS is named as the ―beneficiary‖ of the deed of trust on behalf of unknown persons. When a loan is transferred among MERS members, MERS purports to simplify the process by avoiding the requirement to re-record liens and pay county recorder filing fees.
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For the substantial majority of the Plaintiffs herein, MERS claims to be the
owner of the security interest indicated by the mortgages transferred by lenders, investors and their loan servicers in the county land records. 143. MERS claims its process eliminates the need to file assignments in the county
land records which lowers costs for lenders and consumers by reducing county recording revenues from real estate transfers and provides a central source of information and tracking for mortgage loans. 144. Based upon published reports, including the MERS website, on information and
belief, MERS does not: (1) take applications for, underwrite or negotiate mortgage loans; (2) make or originate mortgage loans to consumers; (3) extend credit to consumers; (4) service mortgage loans; or (5) invest in mortgage loans. 145. MERS has been used to facilitate the unlawful transfers of mortgages, unlawful
pooling of mortgages and the injection into the United States banking industry of un-sourced (i.e., unknown) funds, including, without limitation, improper off-shore funds. 146. Plaintiffs are informed and thereon believe that MERS has been listed as
beneficial owner of more than half the mortgages in the United States. 147. In 2001, Congress found that ―money laundering, and the defects in financial
transparency on which money launderers rely, are critical to the financing of global terrorism and the provision of funds for terrorist attacks.‖ Congress specifically found that ―money launderers subvert legitimate financial mechanisms and banking relationships by using them as protective covering for the movement of criminal proceeds and the financing of crime and terrorism...‖ 148. On information and belief, during periods relevant to the other acts complained
of in this Complaint, Defendants did not: (1) establish due diligence policies, procedures and controls reasonably designed to detect and report instances of money laundering, (2) establish procedures to take reasonable and practicable measures to verify the identity of those applying for an account with the institution and maintain records of the information used to verify a person’s identity, including name, address, and other identifying information, (3) determine and
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report the sources of funds used for the mortgages they originate and service, as well as the source of funds used to acquire any mortgages, or (4) disclose to Plaintiffs the identities, address and telephone numbers of transferees of their mortgages. 149. At the same time, Defendants continue to issue notices of default in violation of
Cal. Civil Code § 2923.5 and despite assurances that the failures will be remedied, corrective action is dilatory, at best. 150. The foregoing is indicative of the Defendants’ bad acts. Those bad acts include,
but are not limited to: a. The intentional efforts to frustrate Plaintiffs and other borrowers seeking information about their mortgages and loan modifications. b. Wanton violations of the Patriot Act. c. Intentional violation of Cal. Civil Code § 2923.5 and dilatory steps to remedy those failures, even when notified thereof. 151. By the foregoing acts, Defendants are intentionally making it difficult or
impossible for victims of Defendants’ massive mortgage fraud and statutory violations to enforce their rights. This is all in furtherance of Defendants’ scheme to profit from the misery of the Plaintiffs. In addition to the foregoing allegations, venue is proper in this County in accordance with Section 395(a) of the California Code of Civil Procedure because, on information and belief, some or all of the Defendants working in California to achieve the unlawful and tortuous objectives set forth herein, reside in and/or do business in this County and committed the torts and unlawful acts alleged herein in this County. This Court has jurisdiction over this action under the California Constitution, Article V, Section 10, because this case is not a cause given by statute to other trial courts. This Court has jurisdiction over the defendants because a substantial portion of the wrongdoing alleged in this Complaint took place in California, the Defendants are authorized to do business here, the Defendants have sufficient minimum contacts with California and/or otherwise intentionally avail themselves of the markets in California through the promotion, marketing, sale, maintenance . . . and now wrongful exercise of real property rights and foreclosure rights – with respect to realty in
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California, to render the exercise of jurisdiction by California courts permissible under traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION (By All Plaintiffs – Fraudulent Concealment – Against the JP MORGAN Defendants) 152. Paragraphs 1 through 151 are hereby incorporated by reference as though fully
set forth herein. 153. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants had exclusive
knowledge not accessible to Plaintiffs of material facts pertaining to its mortgage lending activities that it did not disclose to Plaintiffs at the time it was entering into contracts with Plaintiffs. As more fully alleged herein, these facts included false appraisals, violation of underwriting guidelines, the intent to sell Plaintiffs’ mortgages above their actual values to bilk investors and knowledge that the scheme would result in a liquidity crisis that would gravely damage Plaintiffs. 154. Further, in connection with entering into contracts with Plaintiffs, the enterprise
purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants made partial (though materially misleading) statements and other disclosures as to their prominence and underwriting standards in the public releases, on their web site, in their literature and at their branch offices. However, the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants suppressed material facts relating thereto as set forth above. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants knew that the mortgages would be ―pooled,‖ and ―securitized sale.‖ 155. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants also knew that within
a foreseeable period, its investors would discover that the enterprise’s mortgagors could not afford their loans and the result would be foreclosures and economic devastation. It was the movie The Sting in real life, with real lives and with people whose homes were often times their only asset. 156. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants was more dependent
than many of their competitors on selling loans it originated into the secondary mortgage market, an important fact it disclosed to investors. The enterprise expected that the
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deteriorating quality of the loans that the enterprise was writing, and the poor performance over time of those loans, would ultimately curtail the enterprise’s ability to sell those loans in the secondary mortgage market. 157. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants misled borrowers,
potential borrowers and investors by failing to disclose substantial negative information regarding the enterprise’s loan products, including: a. The increasingly lax underwriting guidelines used by the enterprise in originating loans; b. The enterprise’s pursuit of a ―matching strategy‖ in which it matched the terms of any loan being offered in the market, even loans offered by primarily subprime originators; c. The high percentage of loans it originated that were outside its own already widened underwriting guidelines due to loans made as exceptions to guidelines; d. The enterprise’s definition of ―prime‖ loans included loans made to borrowers with FICO scores well below any industry standard definition of prime credit quality; e. The high percentage of the enterprise’s subprime originations that had a loan to value ratio of 100%; and f. The enterprise’s subprime loans had significant additional risk factors, beyond the subprime credit history of the borrower, associated with increased default rates, including reduced documentation, stated income, piggyback second liens, and LTVs in excess of 95%. 158. The enterprise knew this negative information from numerous reports they
regularly received and from emails and presentations prepared by the enterprise’s chief credit risk officer. The enterprise nevertheless hid this negative information from the public, including Plaintiffs. 159. 160. Plaintiffs did not know the concealed facts. The enterprise intended to deceive Plaintiffs. As described herein, that deception
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was essential to their overall plan to bilk investors, trade on inside information and otherwise pump the value of the enterprise’s stock. 161. The enterprise was one of the nation’s leading providers of mortgages. It was
highly regarded and by dint of its campaign of deception through securities filings, press releases, web site and branch offices, the enterprise had acquired a reputation for performance and quality underwriting. As a result, Plaintiffs reasonably relied upon the deception of the enterprise. 162. As a proximate result of the foregoing concealment by the enterprise, California
property values have precipitously declined and continue to decline, gravely damaging Plaintiffs by materially reducing the value of their primary residences, depriving them of access to equity lines, second mortgages and other financings previously available based upon ownership of a primary residence in California, in numerous instances leading to payments in excess of the value of their properties, thereby resulting in payments with no consideration and often subjecting them to reduced credit scores (increasing credit card and other borrowing costs) and reduced credit availability. 163. In fact, property values across the United States of America precipitously
declined prior to the JP MORGAN Defendants acquiring the tainted mortgage assets and the property values continue to decline, gravely damaging Plaintiffs by materially reducing the value of their primary residences, depriving them of access to equity lines, second mortgages and other financings previously available based upon ownership of their primary residences, in numerous instances leading to payments in excess of the value of their properties, thereby resulting in payments with no consideration and often subjecting them to reduced credit scores (increasing credit card and other borrowing costs) and reduced credit availability 164. The JP MORGAN Defendants acquired the mortgages or rights related thereto
with knowledge of the fraudulent operations of the enterprise. 165. The JP MORGAN Defendants can have no more rights in the mortgage assets
than their predecessors, and have no rights appertaining or relating to Plaintiffs’ realty as Defendants have represented to Plaintiffs that Defendants have. Nonetheless, JP MORGAN
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has continually concealed this fact from each Plaintiff while concurrently demanding and accepting debt service payments from each of the Plaintiffs throughout the past twelve months preceding the date of this complaint. 166. Without limiting the damages as described elsewhere in this Complaint,
Plaintiffs damages arising from this Cause of Action also include loss of equity in their houses, costs and expenses related to protecting themselves, reduced credit scores, unavailability of credit, increased costs of credit, reduced availability of goods and services tied to credit ratings, increased costs of those services, as well as fees and costs, including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees and costs. 167. To this day, the JP MORGAN Defendants profess willingness to modify
Plaintiffs’ loans in accordance with law, but nonetheless they persist to this day in their secret plan to deprive Plaintiffs of their rights. 168. As a result of the foregoing, Plaintiffs’ damages herein are exacerbated by a
continuing decline in residential property values and further erosion of their credit records. 169. First the enterprise’s concealments as to the pervasive mortgage fraud, and then
the JP MORGAN Defendants’ concealments, both as to the their scheme to profiteer from the mortgage melt-down and as to their purported efforts to resolve loan modifications with Plaintiffs, are substantial factors in causing the harm to Plaintiffs described in this Complaint. 170. Defendants acted outrageously and persistently with actual malice in performing
the acts alleged herein and continue to do so. Accordingly, Plaintiffs are entitled to exemplary and punitive damages in a sum according to proof and to such other relief as is set forth below in the section captioned Prayer for Relief which is by this reference incorporated herein. 171. Inclusive of all compensatory damages, special damages, attorneys’ fees and
punitive damages alleged herein, each Plaintiff named herein has sustained a damage in a sum of not greater than $70,000 per Plaintiff. SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION (By All Plaintiffs –Intentional Misrepresentation – Against the JP MORGAN Defendants) 172. Paragraphs 1 through 171 are hereby incorporated by reference as though fully
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set forth herein. 173. From 2005 through 2007, the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN
Defendants misled the public, including Plaintiffs, by falsely assuring them that the enterprise was primarily a prime quality mortgage lender which had avoided the excesses of its competitors. As described herein with specific examples, affirmative misrepresentations and material omissions permeated the enterprise’s website, customer and investor materials, required securities filings and presentations. 174. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants underwent
unprecedented expansion by, among other things, aggressively making loans which were unsupported by documents, pushed through impotent loan committees, and taken by unworthy borrowers who were destined to be unable to repay the loans at the time the loans were made. 175. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants never disclosed or
explained their aggressive business model which was built on making these loans which were destined to become non-performing assets. 176. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants never made any
disclosures in its Forms 10-Q or 10-K for 2005, 2006, or 2007 about the unprecedented expansion of its underwriting guidelines. Instead, the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants made public statements from 2005 through 2007 that were intended to mislead Plaintiffs about the increasingly aggressive underwriting at the enterprise and the financial consequences of those widened underwriting guidelines. 177. Nothing disclosed or provided by the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN
Defendants informed Plaintiffs that the enterprise included in its prime category loans with FICO scores below 620. Nor did the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants inform Plaintiffs that the ―prime non-conforming‖ category included loan products with increasing amounts of credit risk, such as (1) reduced and/or no documentation loans; (2) stated income loans; or (3) loans with loan to value or combined loan to value ratios of 95% and higher. Finally, the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants did not disclose that enterprise’s riskiest loan product, the Pay-Option ARM, was classified as a ―prime loan.‖
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The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants made affirmative
misleading public statements in addition to those in the periodic filings that were designed to falsely reassure Plaintiffs about the nature and quality of the enterprise’s underwriting. 179. Specifically, the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants
repeatedly emphasized the enterprise’s underwriting quality in public statements from 2005 through 2007. 180. The growing network of branches, loan offices, and outside originators
(―Network‖) feeding the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants participated in making the loans and knowingly and intentionally assisted in drafting the false and misleading statements delivered to the public, including Plaintiffs herein. 181. The foregoing misrepresentations were made with the intention that Plaintiffs
rely thereon. It was important to the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants that Plaintiffs rely on its misrepresentations so that Plaintiffs would come to a false understanding as to the nature of the enterprise. The foregoing misrepresentations were specifically intended to convince Plaintiffs to take mortgages from the enterprise. 182. The campaign of misinformation succeeded. Plaintiffs relied upon the
misrepresentations and entered into mortgages with the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants. 183. By reason of the prominence of the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN
Defendants, the campaign of deception as to its business plans and the relationship of trust developed between the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants and Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were justified in relying upon the enterprise’s representations. 184. The aforementioned Network supporting the enterprise purchased by the JP
MORGAN Defendants and other representatives of the enterprise cooperated with each other to plan and implement the scheme described herein. The Network participated in developing the misrepresentations to borrowers, including Plaintiffs herein and to investors. They shared in the financial benefits of the scheme and ratified and approved of the material steps therefore taken by the other Defendants. Conversely, the Defendants other than the JP MORGAN
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Defendants approved of, ratified and shared in the fees and other revenue received by the Network arising from its participation in the scheme. The JP MORGAN Defendants in 2009 approved of, ratified and are now seeking to profit from this same scheme through the acquisition at a discount of tainted mortgages that it is seeking to enforce as if they were not tainted. 185. As a result of relying upon the foregoing misrepresentations, each Plaintiff
entered into a mortgage contract with the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants. 186. In fact, the appraisals were inflated. The enterprise purchased by the JP
MORGAN Defendants did not utilize quality underwriting processes. The enterprise’s financial condition was not sound, but was a house of cards ready to collapse, as the enterprise well knew, but Plaintiffs did not. Further, Plaintiffs’ mortgages were not refinanced with fixed rate mortgages and neither the enterprise nor any of the Defendants ever intended that they would be. 187. As a result of the scheme described herein, Plaintiffs could not afford the
mortgages when the variable rate features and/or balloon payments kicked in. 188. Further, as a result of the scheme, Plaintiffs could not refinance or sell their
residence without suffering a loss of their equity investments. 189. As a result of the foregoing, Plaintiffs have lost all or a substantial portion of the
equity invested in their houses and suffered reduced credit ratings and increased borrowing costs, among other damages described herein. 190. massive fraud. 191. The JP MORGAN Defendants acquired the mortgages or rights related thereto The JP MORGAN Defendants seek to enforce the mortgages irrespective of this
with knowledge of the fraudulent operations of the enterprise. 192. The JP MORGAN Defendants can have no more rights in the mortgage assets
than their predecessors. 193. Plaintiffs’ reliance on the misrepresentations of the enterprise purchased by the
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JP MORGAN Defendants, appraisers and the other Defendants, all ratified by the Defendants, and was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiffs’ harm. 194. The JP MORGAN Defendants represented to multiple Plaintiffs that they would
be assisted by the JP MORGAN Defendants in a loan modification. As described herein, that representation was false. Defendants knew that representation was false when they made it. 195. Because of new laws pertaining to loan modifications and the JP MORGAN
Defendants’ insistence that they had a genuine interest in complying therewith and in keeping borrowers in their homes, Plaintiffs reasonably relied on the representations. 196. By delaying Plaintiffs from pursuing their rights and by increasing Plaintiffs’
costs and the continuing erosion of each Plaintiff’s credit rating, each Plaintiff’s reliance harmed that Plaintiff, further eroding values in furtherance of the JP MORGAN Defendants’ scheme. 197. Without limiting the damages as described elsewhere in this Complaint,
Plaintiffs damages arising from the matters complained of in this Cause of Action also include loss of equity in their houses, costs and expenses related to protecting themselves, reduced credit scores, unavailability of credit, increased costs of credit, reduced availability of goods and services tied to credit ratings, increased costs of those services, as well as fees and costs, including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees and costs. 198. Plaintiffs’ reliance on the representations made by the enterprise purchased by
the JP MORGAN Defendants and then by the JP MORGAN Defendants was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiffs’ harm. 199. Plaintiffs are entitled to such relief as is set forth in this Cause of Action and
such further relief as is set forth below in the section captioned Prayer for Relief which is by this reference is incorporated herein as though fully set forth at length. 200. Inclusive of all compensatory damages, special damages, attorneys’ fees and
punitive damages alleged herein, each Plaintiff named herein has sustained a damage in a sum of not greater than $70,000 per Plaintiff.
_____________________________________________________________________________________ - 41 -
THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION (By All Plaintiffs – Negligent Misrepresentation – Against All JP MORGAN Defendants) 201. Paragraphs 1 through 200 are hereby incorporated by reference as though fully
set forth herein. 202. Although the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants and other
members of the Network may have reasonably believed some or all of the representations they made, described in this Complaint, were true, none of them had reasonable grounds for believing such representations to be true at the time: (a) the representations were instructed to be made, as to those Defendants instructing others to make representations, or (b) at the time the representations were made, as to those Defendants making representations and those Defendants instructing others to make the representations, or (c) at the time the representations were otherwise ratified by the Defendants. 203. Such representations, fully set forth in the First and Second Causes of Action
and previous sections of this Complaint, were not true. 204. The enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants, including the
Defendants making representations, intended that Plaintiffs rely upon those misrepresentations. 205. 206. As described herein, Plaintiffs reasonably relied on those representations. By reason of the prominence of the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN
Defendants and the campaign of deception as to its business plans and the relationship of trust developed between the enterprise and Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were justified in relying upon the enterprise’s and Defendants’ representations. 207. As a result of relying upon the foregoing misrepresentations, each Plaintiff
entered into a mortgage contract with the enterprise purchased by the JP MORGAN Defendants. 208. As a result of scheme described herein, Plaintiffs could not afford his or her
mortgage when its variable rate features and/or balloon payments kicked in. Further, as a result of the Defendants continuing scheme, Plaintiffs could not refinance or sell his or her residence without suffering a loss of Plaintiff’s equity.
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209. massive fraud. 210.
The JP MORGAN Defendants seek to enforce the mortgages irrespective of this
The JP MORGAN Defendants acquired the mortgages or rights related thereto
with knowledge of the fraudulent operations of the enterprise. 211. The JP MORGAN Defendants can have no more rights in the mortgage assets
than their predecessors. 212. Without limiting the damages as described elsewhere in this Complaint,
Plaintiffs damages as a result of the foregoing also include loss of equity in their houses, costs and expenses related to protecting themselves, reduced credit scores, unavailability of credit, increased costs of credit, reduced availability of goods and services tied to credit ratings, increased costs of those services, as well as fees and costs, including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees and costs. 213. Plaintiffs are entitled to such relief as is set forth in this Cause of Action and
such further relief as is set forth below in the section captioned Prayer for Relief which is by this reference incorporated herein. 214. Inclusive of all compensatory damages, special damages, attorneys’ fees and
punitive damages alleged herein, each Plaintiff named herein has sustained a damage in a sum of not greater than $70,000 per Plaintiff. FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION (Injunctive Relief for Violation of Cal. Civil Code § 2923.5 – By Plaintiffs – Against All JP MORGAN Defendants) 215. herein. 216. Pursuant to California Civil Code, § 2923.5, the Defendants – and each of them Paragraphs 1 through 207 are incorporated by reference as though fully set forth
– are prohibited by statute from recording a Notice of Default against the primary residential property of any Californian without first making contact with that person as required under § 2923.5 and then interacting with that person in the manner set forth in detail under § 2923.5. An exception to this rule of law exists in the event the Defendants are unable with due
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diligence to contact the property owner. 217. Pursuant to laws and ordinances in jurisdictions other than California, which
laws or ordinances are similar to California Civil Code, § 2923.5, whereby certain protections are afforded homeowner borrowers, the Defendants – and each of them – are prohibited by statute from recording a Notice of Default and/or proceeding to institute or initiate foreclosure proceedings against the primary residential property of any homeowner without first making contact with that person as required, and then interacting with that person in the manner set forth in the specific statute or ordinance. 218. With respect to all Plaintiffs in this cause of action, the realty that is the subject
hereof was and is their primary residential dwelling. 219. The Defendants, and each of them, caused Notices of Default to be recorded
against the primary residential properties of certain of the California Plaintiffs named in this cause of action absent compliance with California Civil Code, § 2923.5. Included in the noncompliance, Defendants, and each of them, caused declarations to be recorded in the public records that were – each of them – false. 220. This act also violates § 2923.5 and other California laws precluding the filing of
false statements. 221. The Defendants, and each of them, caused Notices of Default to be recorded
and/or initiated foreclosure proceedings against the primary residential properties of the NonCalifornia Plaintiffs named in this cause of action absent compliance with State specific laws, statutes, or ordinances. Included in the noncompliance, Defendants, and each of them, caused declarations to be recorded in the public records that were – each of them – false. This act also violates other laws precluding the filing of false statements 222. Plaintiffs are entitled to such injunctive relief based upon this Cause of Action
and such further relief as is set forth below in the section captioned Prayer for Relief which is by this reference is incorporated herein as though fully set forth at length. FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION (By All Plaintiffs – Unfair Competition – Against All JP MORGAN Defendants)
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223. herein. 224.
Paragraphs 1 through222 are incorporated by reference as though fully set forth
Defendants’ actions in implementing, perpetrating and then extending their
fraudulent scheme of inducing Plaintiffs to accept mortgages for which they were not qualified based on inflated property valuations and undisclosed disregard of their own underwriting standards and the sale of overpriced collateralized mortgage pools, all the while knowing that the plan would crash and burn, taking the Plaintiffs down and costing them the equity in their homes and other damages, violates numerous federal and state statutes and common law protections enacted for consumer protection, privacy, trade disclosure, and fair trade and commerce. 225. The enterprise first perpetrated this fraudulent scheme of selling off overpriced
loans by making willful and inaccurate credit disclosures regarding borrowers, including Plaintiffs, to third parties. This false credit disclosure was critical to the success of Defendants’ continued sales of the massive pools of mortgage loans necessary to perpetuate the scheme. 226. The JP MORGAN Defendants extended this fraud in connection with their
scheme to acquire these assets at deflated values, knowing the fraud that had been committed, but with the specific intent to seek to attempt to enforce the mortgages as sound and legitimate instruments. 227. The enterprise was first aware that if the true credit profiles of the borrowers and
the values of their real estate were accurately disclosed, the massive fraudulent scheme would end. As a result, the enterprise repeated, reinforced and embellished their false disclosures. 228. The JP MORGAN Defendants were aware of the fraudulent scheme that had
been perpetrated by the enterprise whose assets and operations it was acquiring. 229. The enterprise knew the borrowers’ credit was inadequate to support continued
loan payments, absent unsustainable inflation of property values. These pervasive false credit disclosures to third parties (including purchasers of bundled mortgage pools created by the Defendants) constituted false credit reports victimizing Plaintiffs in the factual and legal manners set forth above.
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These pervasive false disclosures also caused the bubble to burst. Once it
became known that some of the information provided by the enterprise was false, the market for the sale of bundled loans dried up. 231. Notwithstanding their knowledge of the fraudulent nature of the assets they were
seeking to enforce, the JP MORGAN Defendants began to issue foreclosure notices, property values continued to drop, and then, under the weight of deflation in a market that requires inflation, the equity investments made by Plaintiffs and others in their homes was lost. . . . and then Plaintiffs were lost in the greatest economic recession since the 1930s. a. The fraud of the enterprise also violated numerous state and federal laws as set forth above and thus constituted unfair competition under California law, for which restitution and injunction relief is mandatory; and b. Upon completion of sufficient discovery, Plaintiffs will seek leave to amend the complaint to supplement the foregoing allegations with respect to additional violations pertaining to specific Plaintiffs and additional patterns supporting Plaintiffs claims herein. 232. The foregoing violations were in furtherance of the fraud perpetrated on
Plaintiffs. In fact, the enterprise could not have told the truth in their public filings without that truth becoming known to Plaintiffs. Conversely, the false filings gave additional credence and support to omissions, concealment, promises and inducements. The JP MORGAN Defendants knew of all of these violations of law in acquiring the tainted assets and operations and then in seeking to enforce these mortgage obligations, when the JP MORGAN Defendants knew that doing so was wrongful. 233. The forgoing fraudulent concealment, material misstatements, and the
intentional violations of state and federal statutes cited herein constitute unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business acts or practices and so constitute unfair business practices within the meaning of the California Unfair Practices Act. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200, 17500. Sections 17200 et seq. of the California Business & Professions Code provides, in the disjunctive, for liability in the event of any such ―unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or
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practice.‖ 234. The actions described herein are unfair and patently fraudulent in that they were
conducted for the specific purposes of first perpetuating an unlawful and unsustainable investment scheme and then perpetrating a fraudulent foreclosure and confiscatory scheme to obtain money from Plaintiffs under false pretenses as alleged herein. 235. As a result of the actions, concealment and deceit described herein, each of the
Plaintiffs has suffered material financial injury in fact, including as described elsewhere in this Complaint, loss of equity in their houses, costs and expenses related to protecting themselves, reduced credit scores, unavailability of credit, increased costs of credit, reduced availability of goods and services tied to credit ratings, increased costs of those services, as well as fees and costs, including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees and costs. Inclusive of all recoverable damages and restitution and costs and attorney’s fees, each Plaintiff has sustained damage in the sum of no more than $70,000. 236. As a further result of the actions, concealment and deceit described herein, each
of the Plaintiffs has lost money or property as a result of such unfair competition. 237. California Civil Code § 2923.5 requires that each mortgagee, trustee,
beneficiary, or authorized agent may not file a notice of default pursuant to California Civil Code § 2924 until 30 days after initial contact is made as required therein, or 30 days after satisfying the due diligence requirements to contact the mortgage described therein. 238. Defendants violated the foregoing law by causing a notice of default to be filed
against Plaintiffs without the mandatory notice. Defendants did not diligently endeavor to contact the Plaintiffs as required by § 2923.5(g) and Defendants thereby also violated California Civil Code §§ 2923.5 and 2924. 239. As a result of the foregoing unlawful conduct, Plaintiffs suffered further injury
in fact by the filing of notices of default and as such the Plaintiffs suffered monetary and property loss. Such injuries and loss included diminished credit scores with a concomitant increase in borrowing costs and diminished access to credit, fees and costs, including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees and costs with respect to wrongful notices of default and loss of some
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or all of the benefits appurtenant to the ownership and possession of real property. 240. The foregoing unlawful activities were pervasive and violate Business and
Professions Code §§ 17200 et seq. 241. As a result of Defendants’ unfair competition, Plaintiffs are entitled to restitution
for all sums received by Defendants with respect to Defendants’ unlawful and/or unfair and/or fraudulent conduct, including, without limitation, interest payments made by Plaintiffs, fees paid to Defendants, including, without limitation, the excessive fees paid at Defendants’ direction, premiums received upon selling the mortgages at an inflated value and moneys received from government agencies for ―losses‖ incurred by Defendants. As set forth above, these restitutionary amounts (including damages if recoverable hereunder) are in the amount of no more than $70,000. 242. Plaintiffs are also entitled to the issuance of a temporary restraining order, a
preliminary injunction, and a permanent injunction restraining and enjoining Defendants from any further concealment with respect to the sale of notes and mortgages, or from any further acts of misconduct of the kind alleged herein. 243. Each of the enterprise whose assets JP MORGAN purchased has an affirmative
burden to ascertain verify and prove, among other things, the identity, source, character, origin, and legitimacy of the funds which they controlled, handled, and/or facilitated in its transactions occurring throughout all periods up to and including the date of this Complaint. 244. Plaintiffs are entitled to such equitable relief as is set forth in this Cause of
Action and such further relief as is set forth below in the section captioned Prayer for Relief which is by this reference incorporated herein as though fully set forth at length. SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION (By All Plaintiffs – Breach of Contract – Against All JP MORGAN Defendants) 245. herein. 246. Defendants’ acceptance of TARP money created an obligation to modify loans Paragraphs 1 through 244 are incorporated by reference as though fully set forth
outstanding on Plaintiffs’ real estate to the extent Defendants were pronouncing rights thereto,
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to assist borrowers, and to otherwise use the TARP funds for the benefit of, among others, the Plaintiffs herein. 247. In fact, the Plaintiffs are intended third party beneficiaries of the contracts
between ther United States Government, certain intermediaries and the Defendants. 248. Defendants, and each of them, breached their contractual obligations to Plaintiffs
as set forth herein. Defendants further breached the contractual obligations owing to each Plaintiff in the manners alleged hereinabove. 249. As a proximate and foreseeable result of said breaches of contract, Plaintiffs
have been damaged in a sum according to proof, which – inclusive of all damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees – is equal to or less than $70,000 for each Plaintiff herein. 250. Plaintiffs are entitled to such relief as is set forth in this Cause of Action and
such further relief as is set forth below in the section captioned Prayer for Relief which is by this reference incorporated herein as though fully set forth at length. PRAYER FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray for judgment against Defendants and each of them as follows: 1. General and special damages according to proof under the First, Second, Third
and Sixth Causes of Action, in the sums set forth hereinabove; 2. Declaratory relief voiding the notes and mortgages of Plaintiffs held or serviced
by the JP MORGAN Defendants and temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief under the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Causes of Action. 3. 4. 5. Statutory relief according to proof under the Fifth Cause of Action; Restitution according to proof under the Fifth Cause of Action; Temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive forfeiture relief under all
causes of action; 6. 7. 8. On all causes of action, for costs of suit herein; On all causes of action, for pre- and post-judgment interest; On all causes of action for which attorney’s fees may be awarded pursuant to the
_____________________________________________________________________________________ - 49 -
governing contract, by statute or otherwise, reasonable attorneys fees; and 9. On all causes of action, for such other and further relied as this Court may deem
just and proper so that each Plaintiff shall recover no more than $70,000 in restitutionary or compensatory damages and so that each Plaintiff shall receive a judicial determination that the mortgage lien alleged to exist against their particular property is null and void ab initio. MITCHELL J. STEIN & ASSOCIATES FINANCE LAW GROUP’ MITCHELL J. STEIN THEODORE R. MALONEY
Dated: December __, 2010
By: _________________________________ MITCHELL J. STEIN Attorneys for Plaintiffs
25 26 27 28 _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 50 -
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