NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co and US Bancorp lost a ruling by Massachusetts’ top court on Friday that found the banks failed to show they held the mortgages at the time they foreclosed on two homes.
The ruling could cause other foreclosure sales to be invalidated, especially where lenders may not have all of the underlying documentation.
It may also be significant in the realm of securitization, where mortgages are packaged into securities to be sold to investors.
In midday trading, Wells Fargo shares were down $1.03 or 3.2 percent at $31.12, while U.S. Bancorp shares were down 1.3 percent at $25.95.
The KBW Bank Index, which includes both lenders, was down 1.7 percent.
Representatives of U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the court decision.
Attorneys general in all 50 U.S. states are examining foreclosure practices, including whether lenders are forcing people out of their homes despite incomplete documentation.
The cases are U.S. Bank N.A. v. Ibanez and Wells Fargo Bank NA v. LaRace et al, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, No.
SJC-10694.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Matthew Lewis)
In Fiorentino v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., No. 09-CV-2284, 2010 WL 4595524 (M.D. Pa., Nov. 15, 2010), the United States District Court addressed a variety of issues in the first ruling to arise from a tort claim for personal injuries and property damage from Marcellus Shale Gas drilling. This case arises out of the allegations in Dimock, Pennsylvania that drilling for Marcellus Shale gas by the defendant, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., caused property damage and personal injuries to residents.
As has been highlighted both in a documentary movie and on 60 Minutes, drinking water supplies have been alleged to contain methane, natural gas and other toxins and allegedly have been released onto plaintiff’s land. Plaintiffs brought suit seeking an injunction prohibiting future natural gas operations, seeking compensatory and punitive damages, the cost of future health monitoring, attorneys’ fees and other unspecified relief.
The plaintiffs’ complaint alleged the following claims against the defendant: 1) Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, 35 P.S. §§ 6020.101 et seq. (“HSCA”); 2) negligence; 3) private nuisance; 4) strict liability; 5) breach of contract; 6) fraudulent misrepresentation; 7) medical monitoring trust funds; and 8) gross negligence.
The defendant filed a motion to dismiss the claims brought pursuant to HSCA, strict liability, medical monitoring and gross negligence. The defendant also filed a motion to strike a number of allegations largely related to the claims they were seeking to dismiss, as well as negligence per se and attorneys’ fees. The ruling by Judge John E. Jones, related only to the motion to dismiss these claims and the motion to strike. For the most part, in his ruling, the Judge sided with the plaintiffs. Issues
Whether the court should dismiss claims against a natural gas drilling company relating to HSCA, strict liability, medical monitoring and gross negligence.
Whether the court should strike allegations relating to punitive damages, negligence per se and attorneys’ fees.
Pa. allows dumping of tainted waters from gas boom
By: DAVID B. CARUSO
The Associated Press
Monday January 3, 2011 10:34 PM
Published by The Beaver County Times
The natural gas boom gripping parts of the U.S. has a nasty byproduct: wastewater so salty, and so polluted with metals like barium and strontium, most states require drillers to get rid of the stuff by injecting it down shafts thousands of feet deep.
Not in Pennsylvania, one of the states at the center of the gas rush.
There, the liquid that gushes from gas wells is only partially treated for substances that could be environmentally harmful, then dumped into rivers and streams from which communities get their drinking water.
In the two years since the frenzy of activity began in the vast underground rock formation known as the Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania has been the only state allowing waterways to serve as the primary disposal place for the huge amounts of wastewater produced by a drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
State regulators, initially caught flat-footed, tightened the rules this year for any new water treatment plants, but allowed any existing operations to continue discharging water into rivers.
At least 3.6 million barrels of the waste were sent to treatment plants that empty into rivers during the 12 months ending June 30, according to state records. That is enough to cover a square mile with more than 8 1/2 inches of brine.
Researchers are still trying to figure out whether Pennsylvania’s river discharges, at their current levels, are dangerous to humans or wildlife. Several studies are under way, some under the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency.
DECATUR — One year to the day after a company set up its drilling rigs on their land in eastern Wise County, Tim and Christine Ruggiero confirmed the depth of their loss.
Originally on the 2010 tax rolls for $257,330, their home and 10-acre horse property are now worth $75,240.
The Wise County Central Appraisal District Appraisal Review Board — five community members with varying expertise in real estate — agreed that the drilling company’s use of the Ruggieros’ land warranted the extraordinary reduction.
“It’s the biggest cut I’ve ever seen,” said Bob Boughton, board chairman, at the conclusion of a nearly two-hour hearing Thursday afternoon.
It took the couple about 30 minutes to present all the significant events — from the day crews moved in without proper agreements to the recent installation of a “thermal oxidizer,” which continuously burns emissions — leading up to their 10-year-old daughter’s health problems.
The couple’s daughter has been having breathing difficulties for several months. After her latest trip to the emergency room, she was diagnosed with asthma, the couple testified. A neighbor’s child also had recently been diagnosed with asthma.
Some board members said they would neither be able to sell the property, nor even consider listing the property, after hearing the couple’s disclosures, including the fact that they had filed a lawsuit against the company for damages.
Beaver County Blue: Voice of the 17th CD of Progressive Democrats of America 
