SYLLABUS

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).

Gonzalez v. Wilshire Credit Corp. (A-99-09) (065564)

Argued January 18, 2011 -- Decided August 29, 2011

ALBIN, J., writing for a unanimous Court.

In this appeal, the Court addresses the applicability of the Consumer Fraud Act (CFA), N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 to -195, to a post-foreclosure-judgment agreement to not pursue a sheriff’s sale contingent on the payment of loan arrears and additional costs and fees.

Plaintiff, Blanca Gonzalez, and Monserate Diaz purchased a home as tenants in common. Subsequently, Diaz borrowed $72,000 from Cityscape Mortgage Corporation (Cityscape) and executed a note. Plaintiff did not sign the note. Plaintiff and Diaz secured that loan by mortgaging their home to Cityscape. Although plaintiff was not personally liable on the note, her ownership interest in the home was subject to foreclosure to pay Diaz’s debt. Cityscape subsequently assigned the note and mortgage to defendant U.S. Bank National Association (U.S. Bank). After Diaz died, plaintiff continued to make the monthly loan payments. Over time, plaintiff fell behind on the payments and U.S. Bank obtained a foreclosure judgment. The trial court ordered that the home be sold to satisfy the judgment. In May 2004, before the sheriff’s sale, plaintiff entered into a written agreement with defendant Wilshire Credit Corporation (Wilshire), U.S. Bank’s servicing agent. A Legal Services attorney negotiated the agreement on plaintiff’s behalf. Wilshire agreed to forbear pursuing the sheriff’s sale contingent on plaintiff making a lump sum payment and then monthly payments that consisted of the original loan’s monthly payment of $699.31, an amount to be applied to the arrears, and other fees through January 2006. The agreement included language indicating that it was an attempt to collect a debt and stated that the foreclosure action would be dismissed when plaintiff made the account current.