TRUTH-IN-LENDING STATUTE Rescission
Posted by BS - 26/04/12 at 10:04 amDeutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Pelletier, 2011 ME 87, August 9, 2011, Saufley, C.J.
This is a foreclosure action in which the mortgagors filed a motion to dismiss that was treated as a motion for summary judgment seeking rescission under the federal Truth-in-Lending statute. The mortgagors’ motion was granted because the bank did not submit a statement of material fact, and its affidavit was unsigned and left blank in the spaces for the affiant’s name, title, and date. The District Court granted rescission but did not specify any procedures for that process.
The bank appealed, and the Law Court affirmed the judgment for rescission finding that the borrowers’ assertion of the right to rescind was timely because it was filed within three years after the consummation of the transaction. The three-day period did not apply because the borrowers were not notified as required by the statute.
The Law Court then found that further consideration was necessary to effectuate rescission under the statute. It concluded that further proceedings were necessary to define the scope of the remedy. The parties did not follow the process specified by the statute “with precision and clarity,” so the Court ordered that the District Court could otherwise order appropriate procedures as provided for by the statute.