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Law360 (March 18, 2020, 5:48 PM EDT ) A proposed class of homeowners in a nearly nine-year-old suit over foreclosure fees urged a Pennsylvania federal judge Wednesday to pause litigation for 90 days due to slowing internet speeds as more people work from home during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Named plaintiffs Alexandra Trunzo and Anthony Hlista asked the court to stay their case against debt collecting law firm Phelan Hallinan & Schmieg LLP, which they say improperly assessed foreclosure fees despite renegotiated mortgages. They argued that the practice of social distancing to prevent COVID-19 from spreading further has limited their attorney's ability to work at his usual pace.
"Despite the fact that the undersigned's office has been operating virtually for three years, (undersigned counsel has attempted to semi-retire) doing so has become difficult in recent days due to the rise in others working from home, which is slowing internet service speeds and causing significant delays in the ability to receive technology support," they said.
They also pressed the court to choose between competing proposed case management orders so that they can "jumpstart" the litigation when it resumes.
Phelan Hallinan is the last defendant standing in the long-running proposed class action, which had claimed that Citi Mortgage Inc., mortgage servicer Seterus and collection law firm Phelan Hallinan had inundated borrowers with foreclosure notices, conflicting information and fees despite the borrowers renegotiating their mortgages to avoid foreclosure.
Trunzo and Hlista reached confidential settlements with Citi and Seterus in 2016, and the court let class claims against Phelan Hallinan move ahead in 2018.
Most recently, the court rejected the homeowners' bid for sanctions against Phelan Hallinan for allegedly making a false claim about its opponent. U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak found in January that the allegedly sanctionable statement was made long ago in a footnote to a sur-reply, calling it "stale."
Counsel for the parties did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment.
The plaintiffs are represented by Michael P. Malakoff of Michael P. Malakoff PC.
Phelan Hallinan & Schmieg is represented by Jonathan J. Bart of Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer PA.
The case is Trunzo et al. v. Citi Mortgage et al., case number 2:11-cv-01124, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
--Additional reporting by Matthew Santoni and Dean Seal. Editing by Abbie Sarfo.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
