9 unchanged sentences
The Company has not accrued for any additional anticipated recovery at this time.
−Removed: On September 11, 2020, the Company received notice of a demand letter served on the Company and the Bank by a former mortgagee of the Bank pursuant to the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, M.G.L Ch.
−Removed: 93A (“Chapter 93A).
−Removed: The demand letter alleges that a mortgage payoff statement tendered by the Bank to the mortgagee included a mortgage discharge preparation fee that is purportedly impermissible under Massachusetts law.
−Removed: The demand letter also claims that the Bank failed to provide a copy of the recorded mortgage discharge to the mortgagee in a timely manner.
−Removed: The demand letter further purports to state claims on behalf of a putative class of similarly situated Massachusetts mortgage customers of the Bank, who allegedly may have suffered similar violations of Massachusetts law.
−Removed: The demand letter seeks monetary damages for the original mortgagee claimant and the putative class, plus double or treble damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees, as may be allowed under Chapter 93A.
−Removed: The Company and the Bank have retained outside litigation counsel in this matter, and discussions have proceeded between the parties to find a mutually acceptable resolution.
−Removed: On July 28, 2021, a class action complaint was filed by the original 93A claimant against the Bank in the Massachusetts Superior Court for Suffolk County, pursuant to a pre-negotiated Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) between the parties.
−Removed: In accordance with the MOU, the parties have filed and the court has preliminarily approved a settlement agreement, under which the Bank expects to pay damages of approximately $510,000 in exchange for the dismissal with prejudice and release of all claims that have been or could have been asserted in the filed class action lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiff and all putative settlement class members, plus certain costs for administration of the class action settlement and legal fees incurred by the named plaintiff up to the amount of $85,000.
−Removed: The court granted preliminary approval of the settlement on October 18, 2021 and set a hearing date for final approval.
−Removed: The settlement administrator issued notice to class members shortly after preliminary approval, informing them of the settlement and of the opportunity to object.
−Removed: No objections were received prior to the objection deadline set by the court.
−Removed: On February 23, 2022, the court granted final approval of the settlement agreement and dismissed this action with prejudice accordingly.
On or about August 10, 2020, a former employee of the Bank’s subsidiary First Choice Loan Services Inc.
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The Company's liability insurer has provided outside litigation counsel to defend the Company and the Bank in this matter, as well as FCLS and its former senior corporate officers.
−Removed: On December 7, 2020, defense counsel filed Preliminary Objections on behalf of the Company, the Bank, FCLS and FCLS’s former senior corporate officers denying the plaintiff’s claims and seeking dismissal of the case and an order that the plaintiff’s claims must proceed through arbitration in accordance with contractual obligations set forth in plaintiff’s
−Removed: previous employment agreement with FCLS.
+Added: On December 7, 2020, defense counsel filed Preliminary Objections on behalf of the Company, the Bank, FCLS and FCLS’s former senior corporate officers denying the plaintiff’s claims and seeking dismissal of the case and an order that the plaintiff’s claims must proceed through arbitration in accordance with contractual obligations set forth in plaintiff’s previous employment agreement with FCLS.
On June 30, 2021, the court dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint without prejudice in support of FCLS’s petition to compel arbitration.
−Removed: The parties are preparing for arbitration proceedings that are expected to occur in the first half of 2022.
+Added: The parties have mutually agreed on an arbitrator to hear the case and are preparing for arbitration proceedings that are expected to occur in the second half of 2023.
+Added: Discovery is currently ongoing among the parties.
MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
1 unchanged sentence
Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.