Nantucket's "Joe The Plumber" Sues Lenders To Back Out Of Bad Loans

On Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, The Inquirer and Mirror reports:

• [A]fter falling behind on his home mortgage last month, Joe Ciarmataro, an island plumber, has sued two mortgage companies in Nantucket Superior Court, claiming they knew he could not afford the $790,000 loan he took out to purchase a condominium on Witherspoon Drive in 2007.

• The lawsuit alleges “unfair and deceptive acts and practices” by Connecticut-based Master Key Mortgage as well as a Texas corporation, American Home Mortgage Servicing, and that Ciarmataro was defrauded by the two companies.

• Filed last week in Nantucket Superior Court, the lawsuit is illustrative of the national debate over whether predatory lenders or irresponsible borrowers are more responsible for the meltdown in the housing market and the dramatic rise in foreclosures.

• Ciarmataro is seeking to have a judge rescind the mortgage altogether, in addition to compensation for losses, interest costs and attorney’s fees.

For more, see Nantucket’s own “Joe the Plumber” sues mortgage co. for unfair practices.