Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Brown
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
737 S.E.2d 640 (2012)
Quicken Loans (defendant) approved a grossly inflated appraisal of Lourie Brown's (plaintiff) $46,000 home at over $181,000, pressured her by repeated phone calls into a loan whose final terms (including a balloon payment) differed substantially from what was initially offered, sent no representative to the closing to explain the roughly 81 pages of documents she signed, and later refused to honor its promise that she could refinance after default. The trial court awarded Brown nearly $2.2 million in damages and fees, and Quicken appealed.
Whether a mortgage is unconscionable if the lender conceals important loan terms from the borrower with the intent to mislead and induce the borrower into executing the mortgage.