Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Steven D. Fodge, et al. v. Trustmark National Bank, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 19-30279 · judgment December 19, 2019

Certiorari denied · June 29, 2020

Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Fifth Circuit decision below, counsel with five or more prior petitions here, and a circuit split argued in the petition, and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

Louisiana law allows banks to use “confession of judgment” clauses embedded in mortgage documents to seize and sell the homes of military personnel while on active duty without appointing an attorney for the absent service member and without affording a hearing of any kind. Does this practice violate the Supremacy Clause when the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. §§ 3901-4043) invalidates these clauses and temporarily suspends these foreclosure proceedings during the service member’s active military duty?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Dennis P. Derrick

For respondent
William Scott Hastings
Locke Lord LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

Jun 29 2020
Petition DENIED.
Jun 09 2020
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/25/2020.
May 19 2020
Waiver of right of respondent Barksdale Federal Credit Union to respond filed.
May 18 2020
Waiver of right of respondent Bank of America, N.A. to respond filed.
May 18 2020
Waiver of right of respondent Ocwen Loan Serving, LLC to respond filed.
May 14 2020
Waiver of right of respondent PHH Mortgage Corporation to respond filed.
May 13 2020
Waiver of right of respondent PennyMac Loan Services, L.L.C. to respond filed.
May 13 2020
Waiver of right of respondent Trustmark National Bank to respond filed.
Apr 29 2020
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 5, 2020)