In Riddle v. Bank of America Corporation, et al., the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a putative class action suit against Bank of America because the borrowers’ claims under Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”) were time-barred. 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 19730 (3d. Cir. Oct. 15, 2014).
The putative class plaintiffs purchased homes in 2005 with mortgages obtained from Bank of America, and were required to obtain private mortgage insurance in connection with their loans. In 2012, the borrowers received advertisements from their legal counsel regarding possible causes of action they may have related to their private mortgage insurance. Although the borrowers had not previously investigated the reinsurance arrangement in connection with their mortgage insurance, they brought suit against Bank of America, alleging that the reinsurance arrangement between the bank and the insurer was in violation of RESPA.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that the plaintiffs’ claims were time-barred by RESPA’s one-year statute of limitations. The District Court also held that their claims did not meet the requirements for equitable tolling because the borrowers did not exercise reasonable diligence in investigating their claims, and the defendants did not mislead the plaintiffs.
On appeal, the Third Circuit affirmed the District Court’s decision, on the basis that the plaintiffs did “absolutely nothing” to investigate the reinsurance of their mortgage insurance during the seven-year period between when their claims arose and when they brought suit. The Court also noted that although the plaintiffs’ lack of reasonable diligence was a sufficient basis on which to deny equitable tolling, there was also inadequate evidence that the defendants misled the plaintiffs.