Bozarth
EAST ST. LOUIS - Lakin Law Firm attorneys who proposed a class action against mortgage lender RBMG find themselves aiming at a bigger target – the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The bankruptcy of RBMG successor NetBank has placed FDIC on the defense in a class claim the Lakins filed for borrower Cynthia Brown in Madison County.
Brown alleges that when she closed a home loan, RBMG charged $25 for a courier who didn't cost that much.
FDIC inherited the role of defendant last September, when the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision closed NetBank.
FDIC removed the suit from Madison County in December, arguing that any suit against it belongs in federal court.
The class action, five years old, will apparently last a few years longer.
U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert stayed the case March 5, pending exhaustion of NetBank's bankruptcy proceeding.
He ordered plaintiff Brown "to file a status report with the Court in August of each year" on the bankruptcy proceeding.
He asked for a final report 30 days after the bankruptcy proceedings ends.
Gilbert granted the stay on a motion from Troy Bozarth of Edwardsville, for FDIC.
Mark Brown of the Lakin firm consented to the stay.