WHEELING — A woman is suing US REO Fund V and First Fidelity REO LLC after she claims they breached their contract with her and caused her to lose her home.
Charissa M. Erdman purchased a home in Follansbee on July 18, 2014, on a land contract from the defendants for $24,014 and the contract required monthly payments of $340, inclusive of escrow funds for taxes and insurance, according to a complaint filed in Brooke Circuit Court before it was removed to federal court.
Erdman lived in the home with her two young children and executed a promissory note to REO Fund in the amount of $23,264, which accrued 10 percent annually. First Fidelity serviced the loan. The monthly payments for the loan were $250, according to the suit.
The plaintiff faithfully made her monthly payments on the loan and land contract and, without warning or notice, she came home to find a man in her home in the spring of 2017, according to the suit.
Erdman claims the man told her he had purchased the property at a tax sale and that the redemption period had expired.
"Despite their contractual obligations and the acceptance of Plaintiff's escrow payments, Defendants failed to pay the property taxes owed on Plaintiff's home and allowed it to be sold to a third party," the complaint states. "Defendants provided no notice of this to the Plaintiff."
Erdman claims the defendants breached their contract with her and breached their fiduciary duty. She claims their actions constituted fraud and caused her damages.
Erdman is seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. She is represented by James G. Bordas Jr. and Jason E. Causey of Bordas & Bordas.
The case was removed to federal court on Jan. 13 after it was in state court for over two years.
First Fidelity argues that complete diversity exists because the plaintiff is a West Virginia resident, while First Fidelity and US REO Fund V are New Jersey companies.
The amount in controversy also exceeds the state court threshold because she alleges West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act violations that are penalties of $1,000 per penalty and her claims for punitive damages, according to the suit.
The defendants are represented by J. Mark Adkins of Bowles Rice LLP.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Case number: 5:20-cv-00006