Opinion ID: 2318998
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Schultz v. Citimortgage, Inc

Text: On 11 June 1999, Frank J. Schultz, Jr. and his wife (since deceased and no longer a party to this action) closed on a secondary mortgage loan, secured by their residence, with California Lending Group. The principal amount of the loan was $21,775.00 and the last scheduled payment on the loan would have been due on 1 July 2014. At or around the time of closing, the note and deed of trust were assigned to Home Equity Services, Inc. Through mergers and name changes, Home Equity Services, Inc. became the defendant Citimortgage, Inc. (Citimortgage). Schultz paid-off the loan early and a certificate of satisfaction of the indebtedness was recorded on 10 January 2001. On 4 November 2010, Schultz filed, in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, a complaint against Citimortgage for alleged violations of the SMLL. At the time the complaint was filed, Schultz did not possess copies of the note or other documents relating to the secondary mortgage loan or the closing from 1999. Prior to filing the suit, Schultz requested copies of the documents from Citimortage, which denied the request. The complaint alleged Citimortgage was subject to all claims against the original lender, California Lending Group, through assignee liability under Com. Law Art., § 3-306. Schultz alleged further that Citimortgage was not a holder-in-due-course because it had notice of the alleged SMLL violations based on information in the HUD-1 form from the 1999 closing, received ostensibly through the assignment of the loan. Schultz complained of the same violations of breach of contract, the CPA, and the SMLL as described in Dinnis, discussed supra. [10] Citimortgage filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, which was granted by Judge Philip Caroom in a 20 January 2011 order. Judge Caroom concluded that the complaint was comprised of general, conclusory allegations as to violations of statute `on information and belief,' and that the allegations failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, according to the Maryland pleading requirements explicated in Md. Rule 2-322(b), and explained in A.J. Decoster Co. v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 333 Md. 245, 634 A.2d 1330 (1994). The Circuit Court concluded further that there is no statutory or common law right to disclosure of records on a closed account when a) it is not alleged that such information was not provided initially to the Plaintiff and b) there could be no retroactive `reliance' for deceit or consumer protection purposes for failure to disclose. Schultz filed timely an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, but we issued a writ of certiorari, Schultz v. Citimortgage, Inc., 424 Md. 54, 33 A.3d 981 (2011), before the intermediate appellate court decided the appeal.