Ninth Circuit reinstates UCL claim in wrongful foreclosure action: Oskoui v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.

In Oskoui v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. Mar. 13, 2017), the Ninth Circuit held that the district court should not have summarily adjudicated the plaintiff's UCL claim in the defendant's favor. 

According to the opinion, the evidence showed that the defendant lender strung the plaintiff borrower along for more than two years, leading her to believe that she could obtain a loan modification if she made additional payments, when in fact she was ineligible for the modification program due to the size of her loan. The lender's conduct was not only "Kafkaesque," but also "fraudulent" and "unfair" within the meaning of the UCL, whether "intentional or the result of corporate ineptitude."  Slip op. at 10-13.