Johnnie Teresa Marchisio, Et Al.v.Carrington Mortgage Services, Llc.
After a foreclosure settlement extinguished their mortgage debt, Johnnie Teresa and Adrian Marchisio alleged that Carrington Mortgage Services repeatedly reported the nonexistent debt, pursued collection activity, and charged lender-placed insurance on property they no longer owned. The district court granted Carrington summary judgment on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Florida consumer-collection, and breach-of-contract claims and awarded attorney fees. The Eleventh Circuit issued a mixed ruling. It reversed summary judgment on the consumer-collection claim because factual disputes concerned collection calls, the company’s procedures for avoiding violations, and whether a vendor acted as Carrington’s agent. It also reversed summary judgment on the breach-of-contract claim because disputes remained about whether Carrington breached the settlement agreement and whether the plaintiffs proved damages. The court affirmed the rejection of emotional-distress damages based on the contract and vacated the attorney-fee award for recalculation after the litigation. The lengthy published opinion is notable for its treatment of repeated inaccurate credit reporting, bona fide error, agency, settlement enforcement, and the limits of summary judgment when the record contains competing evidence.
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