Sundquist
Sundquist v. Bank of America, N.A. (In re Sundquist)
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Klein, J.
Franz Kafka.lives. This automatic stay violation case reveals that he works at Bank of America,
*571 The mirage of promised mortgage modification lured the plaintiff debtors into a kafkaesque nightmare of stay-violating foreclosure and unlawful detainer, tardy foreclosure rescission kept secret for months, home looted while the debtors were dispossessed, emotional distress, lost income, apparent heart attack, suicide attempt, and post-traumatic stress disorder, for all of which Bank of America disclaims responsibility.
The case migrated to federal court after a state appellate court ruled that the federal damages remedy for stay violations, 11 U.S.C. § 3.62 (k)(1), preempts state wrongful foreclosure damage actions that are based solely on such violations. Although that appeal established, as a matter of nonbankruptcy law, that the plaintiffs’ state-court complaint stated actionable claims against Bank of America for deceit, promissory estoppel, breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, assumed liability of mortgage brokers, unfair competition, and negligence, the plaintiffs focus here on the § 362(k)(1) remedy.