Dallas Business Lawyer Blog

US Sues Bank Over Home Loans and Breach of Contract - Dallas, Texas

 

To date, the U.S. government has brought few cases against big Wall Street banks in response to the mortgage crisis that nearly toppled the world's financial system almost three years ago. But the Justice Department today filed suit against Deutsche Bank for hundreds of millions of dollars, alleging that the banking giant unfairly stuck taxpayers with the tab for bad home loans it issued.

The complaint, filed in Federal District Court in New York, accused Deutsche Bank of failing to adequately scrutinize potential borrowers, then lying to government officials about its lapses of due diligence.

The bank "ignored every type of red flag and breached every duty of due diligence before underwriting thousands of federally insured mortgages," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara charged in a statement to reporters.  "While the homes the defendants issued loans for may have been built on solid ground, the defendants' lending practices were built on quicksand. Ultimately, prudence was trumped by profit, and good faith took a back seat to good fees."

In its own statement issued this morning, Deutsche Bank called the charges "unreasonable and unfair," and said it planned to defend against the lawsuit "vigorously."

For more information about breach of contract, go to www.businesslawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034. 

Woman Sues State Farm for Breach of Contract Resulting From Car Crash - Dallas, Texas

 

A woman who was diagnosed with a concusion a month after a rear-ender was awarded $82,817. In 2004, Terri Burt, then 34, was rear-ended in a parking lot as she was exiting. She sought an underinsured motorist claim with her carrier, State Farm, which disputed the value of her claim. She then sued her insurer for breach of contract. Burt claimed a head injury, as well as bulges in the cervical spine, which caused her constant pain, she said. She was diagnosed with a concussion a month after the accident, and said she never fully recovered. She claimed occasional dizziness, nausea, headaches and memory loss.

For more information on breach of contract in Dallas, Texas go to www.businesslawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034. 

Texas Joins Investigation Into Wrongful Foreclosures By Mortgage Companies - Dallas, Texas

 

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today said his office has joined with the attorneys general of all 49 other states in a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

The alliance, known as the Mortgage Foreclosure Multistate Group, will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly. The inquiry will include the attorneys general of all 50 states and bank regulators. Alabama initially was the only state that did not sign onto the investigation, but Alabama Attorney General Troy King said in a statement today that his office would take part.

Four large lenders already have halted questionable foreclosures after reports that bank employees processed thousands of foreclosure documents without reading them, a process known as “robo-signing.”

For more information, go to www.businesslaywerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034.

Texas Jury Awards 5.5M In Employment Breach of Contract Dispute in Dallas County

 

A Dallas County jury has awarded a $5.5 million verdict to a former independent sales agent for Plano-based AmeriPlan USA in a contract dispute. The plaintiff’s lawyer, meanwhile, is pursuing two similar cases and says AmeriPlan’s promotional materials pose a challenge for the company.

Anthony Anderson worked nine years as a sales contractor for AmeriPlan in the Houston area until the company terminated his contract Nov. 1, 2005. It ceased paying him sales commissions at the end of that month, according to court records.

Anderson argued in court that his contract as a regional sales director entitled him to a vested, lifetime contract for his work signing up health care providers and other sales representatives.

“That was their candy stick, and their drawing card that set AmeriPlan apart from any other network marketing company I’ve ever seen,” Anderson said.

He sued AmeriPlan in November 2007. On Aug. 27, a Dallas County District Court awarded Anderson $5.5 million — $5 million in punitive damages, $150,000 in actual damages and $372,000 in attorneys’ fees.

For more information regarding breach of contract in Texas, go to www.businesslaywerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034.

 

Class Action Against AT&T Alleges Deceptive Behavior and Breach of Contract - Dallas, Texas

 

A class action suit in California claims  AT&T charges "exorbitant" fees for international roaming on calls that customers did not answer, and "structured their bills so that customers were not aware of these charges," court documents say.

The Dallas company also hid from customers how they could avoid those fees, according to the the suit, which was filed Aug. 5 in federal district court in Oakland, Calif.

While traveling in Belgium in May 2005, the lead plaintiff, Los Angeles resident Kenneth Thelian, was charged $12.90, partly for calls that he did not answer, court records say. After Thelian complained, AT&T reversed $8 of the charges, but the company representative "did not adequately explain why these charges were incurred."

Then, while traveling in Montreal in August 2005, Thelian was hit with a $15.81 charge, partly for calls he didn't answer, court records claim.

And in February and March of 2007, Thelian was billed $92.72.

"The bill did not indicate which of these charges were for calls that he did not answer while traveling abroad," the suit alleges.

The litigation alleges violations of federal truth-in-billing laws, false advertising and deceptive trade practices under New York law, and breach of contract, among other things.

For more information regarding breach of contract or deceptive practices in Dallas, Texas go to www.businesslawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034.
 

Texas Alleges IBM has Breached Contract Multiple Times

 

IBM has told Texas it wants to salvage a troubled data center contract, but the company does not accept responsibility for a litany of problems outlined by the state.

In a letter released Friday, IBM executive Cynthia McLean defended the company's performance and said it will continue to meet with the agency to resolve issues in the 7 ½ year, $863 million contract with the Texas Department of Information Resources.

Last month, the department blasted IBM for poor service and gave it 30 days to cure 15 alleged contract breaches that ranged from inadequate staffing to poor service to rising numbers of server outages. The notice could be a preliminary step in terminating the contract.

Instead of a formal response, McLean said IBM would meet with state officials and attempt to hammer out a plan.

"As you know, we do not agree that IBM is responsible for the problems that you outline in that letter," McLean wrote, adding that the company nevertheless recognizes that the information resources department, "is dissatisfied with the current state of the project."

IBM said earlier that the department delivered too few of the state IT experts it promised and has balked at pushing 27 leery state agencies into consolidating their computer, Internet, printing and mailing services into two privately managed data centers.

For several seeks, IBM and the state publicly have danced around whether they'll end their relationship four years early.

For more information regarding contract disputes or breach of contract claims, go to www.businesslawyerdallastexas.com

 

Luminant Prevails In Breach of Contract Suit Filed In Texas

 

Luminant, a power-generation company under the umbrella of Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings Corp., has won a $500 million lawsuit that was filed against the company by aluminum manufacturer Alcoa.

Alcoa alleged that Luminant had violated a contract between the two companies by mismanaging a pollution-control project at Luminant’s Sandow Unit Four power plant in Milam County. Luminant said through its contract with Alcoa, the company was to receive 398 megawatts of power and was obligated to pay 83 percent of the cost to run the plant’s pollution control technology. It takes about $277 million to operate the technology, Luminant said.

In the lawsuit, Alcoa accused Luminant of causing outages at Alcoa's Sandow unit in 2008. Alcoa said because of this the company had to pay a higher price when closing its aluminum smelter near Rockdale. Alcoa also blamed Luminant for job cuts resulting from the closure. 

Attorneys for Luminant said a jury cleared the company of the accusations and found Alcoa breached an obligation to pay its share of installing the pollution control technology on the unit. The jury said Alcoa still has a duty to pay $10 million toward the operation of the equipment.

Kevin Lowery, a spokesman for Alcoa, said the company is evaluating its next step, including the possibility of appeal. “We are disappointed in the verdict itself,” he said. But he said the company is looking ahead to determine where it will go next.

David Campbell, Luminant CEO, said in a statement that the company "cares deeply about our reputation and are dedicated to honoring our responsibilities and commitments.” He said Luminant is “delighted the jury agreed with us.”

 

What must you prove to show a Breach of Contract in Texas?

To prove a a party breached or violated a contract, you must prove:

1. a valid and enforceable contract;

2.  privity  between the parties;

3. one party performed its obligations under the contract;

4.  one party did not perform it obligations under the contract; and

5. damages.

You must also file your lawsuit within applicable statute of limitations. 

Developer Seeks 5 Billion From Subway Founder

 

A developer on Thursday sued the founder and president of Subway restaurants for $5 billion, claiming the billionaire businessman hijacked his dreams of creating the nation's first eco-sustainable city.

Multimillionaire Anthony Pugliese filed the lawsuit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against Fred DeLuca, alleging breach of contract, fraud, and predatory lending, among other claims.

Destiny, the new city set to be built on some 41,000 acres of overgrown brush and cattle pastures just off Florida's Turnpike about 160 miles north of Miami, was to be even larger than Disney World.

It had been Pugliese's vision since early 2000. He was looking to build a city larger than Miami, but with just about 150,000 people, a biotechnology hub, 40 miles of navigable lakes, and a sustainable energy source.

According to the complaint, DeLuca persuaded Pugliese to let him handle financing of the deal for the project that was to be valued at some $9 billion. In the process, Pugliese claims he was pushed out of most business dealings even though he remained a partner. In addition, he says DeLuca secured financing at a low interest rate only to charge Pugliese a much higher inflated rate while pocketing the remainder of the funds.

22 Doctors Sue Medical Edge for Breach of Contract

 

Twenty-two former and current physician employees of Medical Edge Healthcare Group PA, a Dallas-based physicians group, have filed suit against the company, accusing it of improper billing and practices that violate Texas laws that prohibit corporate control over physicians.

The lawsuit originally filed by 10 physicians plaintiffs in October in Dallas district court has since added more plaintiffs.

Medical Edge, which has more than 300 physicians in its group, denies all claims and has filed a counterclaim primarily for breach of contract against five of the doctors.

Each physician signed a contract to work for Medical Edge PA sometime between 2002 and 2007. They claim that the group’s affiliated billing, coding and collections company, Medical Edge Healthcare Group Inc., used “deceptive accounting practicing” and charged them unfairly for taxes, benefits and other expenses. The suit alleges the billing was “designed to maximize Medical Edge compensation while charging any and all losses to the physicians.”