Klehr Harrison Client Receives Favorable Decision in NJ Lender Liability Action
PHILADELPHIA (January 17, 2020) — Klehr Harrison is pleased to announce that on January 16, 2020, a team of attorneys that included Morton Branzburg, Carol Ann Slocum and Robert Johns, obtained a fully favorable decision in the matter of Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc. v. Karen Costa before Judge Susan L. Claypoole of the Superior Court in New Jersey.
The firm’s client, Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc., had been exposed to treble damages and a million dollars in the defendant’s legal fees in a case of first impression under New Jersey’s Home Ownership Security Act. The claims based on the alleged wrongdoing by a home improvement contractor, a mortgage broker and a title company. The defendant contended that her home contractor either arranged the loan or referred her to Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc., thereby making Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc. liable for all claims that could be asserted against the home contractor, in accordance with the New Jersey Home Ownership Security Act. At the conclusion of a trial over a two-week period, the jury returned a verdict rejecting all claims asserted against Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc.
“This has been a long and intensely contested case and we are gratified that the jury found in our client’s favor,” Slocum said of the twelve-year case.