Nevada Homeowners Saddled By IndyMac With "Exploding ARMS" To Freeze Foreclosure By Joining Class Action?

In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports on homeowner Luis Armando Benito and others who allege to have been duped into unaffordable adjustable rate mortgages from IndyMac Bank that "exploded" on them shortly after obtaining the loans:

• Today, Benito and other locals with Indymac mortgages are fighting back -- and making progress. They have joined a federal class-action lawsuit against Indymac Mortgage brought by attorneys Matthew Callister and Brooke Bohlke. Their clients' homes range in value from $150,000 to more than $1 million.

• Among many allegations, the attorneys contend OneWest "breached the loan agreements/contracts by failing to disclose the following: APR, method of determining the finance charge, balance, actual finance charge, total payments, amount financed, number of payments, and due dates. OneWest breached the loan agreements/contracts by doubling Plaintiffs mortgage payments when the mortgage 'arms' came due."

• Although they come from vastly different backgrounds, the homeowners share a common story of how creatively they were qualified for their loans. Some of the loan documents contained more fiction than a Stephen King novel.

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• The list of homeowners taking action grows as they learn about the lawsuit. "Somebody's got to bite the bullet and say, 'We're going to freeze foreclosures on single family homes,'" Callister says. "If it takes the court system's intervention, then so be it." Once a troubled Indymac borrower learns of the lawsuit, Bohlke says, "We've been able to stop foreclosures with 24 hours' notice." With about 1,000 Indymac mortgage loans heading into default in Southern Nevada alone, the phones at the law office figure to keep ringing for some time to come.

For the story, see Homeowners whose mortgages fizzled fight back with class-action lawsuit. UndoMortgageLoans TILAdelta