Medrano v. Flagstar Bank, FSB
Medrano v. Flagstar Bank, FSB, 704 F.3d 661 (9th Cir. 2012)
- Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Decided
- 2012-12-11
- Docket
- 11-55412
What happened
The Medranos' lawyer sent letters challenging their monthly payment and the loan's terms. They sued when the servicer did not respond as RESPA requires.
What the court decided
The Ninth Circuit held that RESPA's response duty covers requests about servicing — how payments are received and applied — not challenges to the loan's original terms or validity.
In the court's words
“RESPA does not require magic words, and such letters may trigger a duty to respond”
Why it may matter to you
Write about servicing: payments, fees, escrow, how money was applied. That keeps your letter inside RESPA — the court noted no magic words are needed.
Why it might not apply
Binding in the Ninth Circuit only. Regulation X (2014) now defines notices of error and information requests in more detail.
Most useful when
- You are writing to your servicer to dispute the loan terms themselves
How to cite it
The full citation for the first time you mention it, a short form for later, and a sample sentence you can adapt.
Medrano v. Flagstar Bank, FSB, 704 F.3d 661 (9th Cir. 2012)Short formMedrano, 704 F.3d 661Draft — check it with free legal aid before you file or say it in court.
In Medrano v. Flagstar Bank, FSB, 704 F.3d 661 (9th Cir. 2012), the court held that a RESPA written request must relate to the servicing of the loan, not to the validity or original terms of the loan. Here, [say in one sentence what happened in your case]
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