Since its inception almost two decades ago, Kluever Law Group has represented banks, investors, loan servicers, and financial institutions.
Contested Foreclosure Litigation:
A large portion of Kluever Law Group’s practice centers on contested foreclosure litigation in state and federal court, including at the appellate level. Kluever Law Group has successfully defended more than 55 foreclosure appeals on behalf of our clients over the years. Clients routinely turn to us when other firms lack the necessary experience to resolve hotly-contested cases. Our attorneys tasked with achieving swift resolution of such matters possess significant experience in this field—experience other default foreclosure firms lack.
Complex Federal and State Statutory Litigation
Large institutional clients who maintain frequent contact with consumers run the risk of potentially running afoul of any number of federal and state laws intended to protect consumers, and can face litigation from an individual or on a class-wide basis. But Kluever Law Group’s breadth of knowledge and expertise in counseling and defending clients facing such lawsuits is extensive and will prove key to navigating what can seem like a daunting challenge.
Kluever Law Group routinely and successfully litigates and defends all manner of defenses and counterclaims asserted against our financial institution clients, including claims and defenses arising from:
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- Truth in Lending Act
- Regulation X
- Regulation Z
- Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act
- Fair Credit Reporting Act
- Illinois Consumer Fraud Act
- Residential Mortgage License Act
Representative Matters
Deutsche Bank v. Schoenberg, 2018 IL App (1st) 160871. Kluever Law Group succeeded in representing the foreclosure plaintiff in Schoenberg, including efforts to overturn the lower court’s rulings in its favor, ultimately securing an important ruling from the appellate court on a new issue: must a special representative be appointed to represent the interests of a deceased mortgagor who no longer had any interest in the property before January 1, 2016? The appellate court answered that question in the negative, holding that an amendment to §5/15-1501(h) of the IMFL applied retroactively.
Because of its known reputation for resolving hard-fought litigation that has been pending for years, one of Kluever Law Group’s mortgage servicing clients transferred a highly contested foreclosure to our firm to resolve—litigation that had been pending for nearly 7 years and which had been up to the appellate court twice already. Through a thorough analysis of the issues (and a lot of hard work), Kluever Law Group successfully obtained a settlement of the litigation on terms highly favorable to the servicer within less than a year of taking over the file.
Deutsche Bank v. Jacobs, 2017 IL App (2d) 151288-U. In this mortgage foreclosure appeal that we defended on behalf of the servicer, the appellate court adopted Kluever Law Group’s arguments and positions concerning the trust’s standing to foreclose in the absence of any evidence from the borrower to the contrary. We also successfully obtained a careful analysis from the court concerning the sufficiency of the successful bid amount for the property at the judicial sale.
Bank of New York Mellon v. Brown, 2016 IL App (3d) 150180-U. In this mortgage foreclosure appeal, Kluever Law Group successfully defended the plaintiff trust to secure a complete affirmance by the appellate court of all of the circuit court rulings. The issues on appeal concerned the borrowers’ attempt to reverse orders striking their affirmative defenses, granting summary judgment, and entering a judgment of foreclosure and sale in the plaintiff trust’s favor.
After multiple bankruptcy filings by borrowers embroiled in extensive foreclosure litigation, Kluever Law Group successfully obtained an in-rem order of relief from the bankruptcy court’s automatic stay, which prevented any future bankruptcy petitions from halting the orderly progression of the foreclosure to judgment.
Kluever Law Group represented a commercial lender in foreclosure proceedings and for breach of note and breach of guaranty. After we appointed a receiver to manage the multi-unit residential building to preserve the collateral, we ultimately prevailed and obtained judgment just 13 months after we filed the complaint.
Kluever Law Group represented a commercial lender in an action to foreclose on seven parcels of partially-developed housing and to enforce a commercial guaranty against the borrower’s principal. After obtaining appointment of a receiver to manage the property during the foreclosure, we worked to resolve two mechanics lien claims recorded against the property and later obtained judgment in the bank’s favor on all counts. The monetary judgment we obtained against the borrower and guarantor totaled in excess of $3 million, for which we initiated supplementary proceedings to collect on the judgment against the guarantor. We obtained a substantial monetary settlement with the guarantor.
Kluever Law Group successfully defended against administrative action against our mortgage servicer client that alleged numerous violations of the Protecting Tenants in Foreclosed Rental Property Ordinance, ultimately securing a settlement for less than 2% of total amount of fines sought by the City of Chicago.
