Filed an amicus letter with the California Supreme Court seeking review or depublication of Brewer Corp. v. Point Center Financial Inc., a case in which a lender was forced to disgorge all of its fees and earned interest on a construction loan in favor of a stop notice claimant after the developer’s loan proceeds were depleted. The court turned down the request, and CBA has formed a task force to consider other avenues to correct the erroneous judicial cases that underpin this result.

Published Regulatory Compliance Bulletins on:

• Nativi v. Deutsche Bank, in which a tenant successfully brought landlord-tenant claims against a bank that took possession of residential property by foreclosure. The case exposes risks to banks and other successors following foreclosure for actions committed by the former owner/landlord.
• Discussing the errors contained in the OCC’s Examiner’s Handbook about handling garnishment orders under the federal garnishment rule.
• The California Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Duran v. U.S. Bank, a decision that limits the use of statistical methods both to certify a class action and ascertain liability based on a sample of class members. The decision also preserves defendants’ rights to assert individual defenses. CBA had supported the bank’s successful request for review.
• To report an unusual request by the State Treasurer’s Office for banks to disclose information related to bank customers that are state agencies. The Treasurer’s Office was seeking to take control of bank accounts that are maintained by agencies without its knowledge.

Submitted comments to the Department of Business Oversight opposing its proposal to regulate bank subsidiaries and affiliates under the California Finance Lender Law and Residential Mortgage Lending Act. We argued that changes in federal preemption laws do not authorize the DBO to disregard the statutory exemptions created by these state laws for entities that operate under laws relating to banks.