I am in a situation in which I have been dragged into a civil lawsuit for a loan transaction that was done by a Loan Officer that worked for me over 2 years ago. The charges allege that I fraudulently induced the plaintiff to sign a grant deed to transfer ownership to her life partner and then further induced her to sign the loan papers which put the property back into a joint trust between the two people. The plaintiff I have never even met before. My name was signed on the loan application and that was the extent to my involvement. WHat are my rights here? Its obvious that it doesn't look as though the plaintiff signed these papers, or maybe she did, I just don't know because I never even was aware of the details until this litigation popped up. Being just the manager who signed the loan application, am I responsible? What is my broker's responsibility? I've got absolutely no money to find representation and Im forced to defend myself. I am just looking for some help in writing my initial response to the summons I was served. PLEASE HELP!!

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Originally Posted by rsg77

I am in a situation in which I have been dragged into a civil lawsuit for a loan transaction that was done by a Loan Officer that worked for me over 2 years ago. The charges allege that I fraudulently induced the plaintiff to sign a grant deed to transfer ownership to her life partner and then further induced her to sign the loan papers which put the property back into a joint trust between the two people. The plaintiff I have never even met before. My name was signed on the loan application and that was the extent to my involvement. WHat are my rights here? Its obvious that it doesn't look as though the plaintiff signed these papers, or maybe she did, I just dont know because I never even was aware of the details until this litigation popped up. Being just the manager who signed the loan application, am I responsible? What is my broker's responsibility? I've got absolutely no money to find representation and Im forced to defend myself. I am just looking for some help in writing my initial response to the summons I was served. PLEASE HELP!!!

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This is one lawsuit that I would most definitely NOT attempt to handle myself - your language is a little confusing: "Its obvious that it doesn't look as though the plaintiff signed these papers, or maybe she did, I just don't know ..." How much money is involved here?

Were you supposed to be supervising the loan officer and has he/she also been named?

What State? Were/are both you and the loan officer somehow licensed? Did you turn this over to your professional liability carrier?

Sorry for all the questions -

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

This is one lawsuit that I would most definitely NOT attempt to handle myself - your language is a little confusing: "Its obvious that it doesn't look as though the plaintiff signed these papers, or maybe she did, I just don't know ..." How much money is involved here?

Were you supposed to be supervising the loan officer and has he/she also been named?

What State? Were/are both you and the loan officer somehow licensed? Did you turn this over to your professional liability carrier?

Sorry for all the questions -

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Answers to your questions:
1) I intended to say that since I had never met the client I do not or would not know what their signature would look like.
2) $ involved is in excess of 300k. Keep in mind that dollar amount includes their new mortgage.
3) The Loan officer was not named in the suit, but the Lender was named, the Title Company, and the Notary involved, as well as the Life Partner of the Plaintiff. Apparently the Life partner was alleged to gain a substantial amount of $ from the transaction.
4) California. No the Loan officer wasn't licensed, he was under my supervision but we were operating under a CFL license from a corporation which has dissolved due to the recent credit crisis.
5) This issue was turned over to our Risk Management Carrier; however they informed me that since the company I worked for had been dissolved, the contract to cover such litigation had become void.

Having no means to retain an attorney... What option do I have?

What exactly did you sign as a witness, to OK loan, for sell of house, what was your legal duties in your job function.

If you had a duty to check on any of this, yes you can be held liable

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Originally Posted by rsg77

Answers to your questions:
1) I intended to say that since I had never met the client I do not or would not know what their signature would look like.
2) $ involved is in excess of 300k. Keep in mind that dollar amount includes their new mortgage.
3) The Loan officer was not named in the suit, but the Lender was named, the Title Company, and the Notary involved, as well as the Life Partner of the Plaintiff. Apparently the Life partner was alleged to gain a substantial amount of $ from the transaction.
4) California. No the Loan officer wasn't licensed, he was under my supervision but we were operating under a CFL license from a corporation which has dissolved due to the recent credit crisis.
5) This issue was turned over to our Risk Management Carrier; however they informed me that since the company I worked for had been dissolved, the contract to cover such litigation had become void.

Having no means to retain an attorney... What option do I have?

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With $400,000 at stake - plus costs and expenses - I'd find an Attorney.

Check with the carrier again - risk policies are NOT "claims made" policies (policy which must be in effect on the date the claim was made). They are regular policies - same as auto insurance - and if you were insured on the date of the event you can drop the insurance, dissolve the company, change companies and you're STILL covered.

Otherwise it appears you had some sort of supervisory/review/approval powers and that's going to be the problem.