Santos v. U.S. Bank National Association, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-081-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 15-P-334 Appeals Court MILTON R. SANTOS[1] vs. U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, trustee,[2] & others.[3] No. 15-P-334. Suffolk. February 24, 2016. – July 8, 2016. Present: Katzmann, Milkey, & Blake, JJ. Bank. Loan. Mortgage, Real estate, Foreclosure. Real Property, Mortgage. Notice. Practice, Civil, Motion to dismiss, Summary judgment, Summary process. Summary Process. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on March 28, 2011. The case was heard by Heidi E. Brieger, J., on a motion for summary judgment. Michael J. Traft (Robert Graves with him) for the plaintiff. Sean R. Higgins (Michael Stanley with him) for the defendants. KATZMANN, J. The plaintiff mortgagor Milton R. Santos appeals from orders of a Superior Court judge dismissing his claim that the mortgagee and mortgage servicing defendants violated G. L. c. 244, § 35A, and granting summary judgment to the defendants on his claim that U.S. Bank National Association (U.S. Bank) negligently processed his loan modification applications made pursuant to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). We affirm. Background. We recite the facts alleged in Santos’s complaint as supplemented by the undisputed facts in the summary judgment record and descriptions of HAMP from case law. HAMP.[4] “HAMP was part of Congress’s response to the financial and housing crisis that struck the country in the fall of 2008.” Spaulding v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 714 F.3d 769, 772 (4th Cir. 2013). Acting under authority conferred by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), 12 U.S.C. § 5201 et seq. (and specifically the Troubled Asset Relief Program [TARP], 12 U.S.C. §§ 5211–5241), and in conjunction with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) introduced the Making Home Affordable Program in February, 2009. HAMP, which is administered by Fannie Mae, is part of this initiative. Markle v. HSBC Mort. Corp. (USA), 844 F. Supp. 2d 172, 176 (D. Mass. 2011). “HAMP aims to provide relief to borrowers who have defaulted on their mortgage payments or who are likely to default by reducing mortgage payments to sustainable levels. . . . Under HAMP, loan servicers receive incentive payments for each permanent loan modification completed. . . . Mortgage lenders approved by Fannie Mae […]