In his last administrative act as banking commissioner, on June 4, 2010, Peter Hildreth ruled that Countrywide Home Loans violated the state’s consumer protection law when it switched the terms of a Manchester woman’s mortgage just days before her closing.
He ordered the mortgage giant, which was purchased by Bank of America in 2008, to void the mortgage note, repay the woman’s money and pay her closing costs and legal fees. Countrywide appealed, and last week the case landed in the state Supreme Court.
The case goes to the heart of New Hampshire’s version of the Consumer Protection Act. The Legislature has established that four regulated industries — banking, insurance, securities and public utilities — are exempt from the CPA; instead, it’s the commissioners of those departments who enforce the law against unfair and deceptive trade practices.
Among the issues the high court must decide is whether the homeowner filed her original complaint and request for a rehearing within the legal time limits, and whether Hildreth acted properly in the kind of restitution he ordered.
The case dates back to 2005, when Rachel Nicholson applied for a mortgage to buy a condex in Manchester. She received pre-approval from Countrywide and signed a lock-in agreement for a fixed-rate, 30-year loan at 6 percent interest.
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