Opinion
No. 03 C 904
September 8, 2003
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiff does not have a TILA claim against Ocwen Federal Bank, FSB (Ocwen), so far as she knows. She has amended her complaint, however, to name Ocwen as a defendant in a declaratory judgment claim. Ocwen objects, contending that the new allegations are an end-run around TDLA. While we think the claim is probably unnecessary, we cannot say it is subject to dismissal.
Plaintiff alleges TILA claims against other parties. Those claims, she says, justify rescission of her mortgage, which she has not been paying. Ocwen has threatened to bring a foreclosure action. If the mortgage is voidable, that could be a defense to 9 foreclosure action (and is probably the reason Ocwen has not sued. Why go to the expense of a foreclosure action when the validity of the mortgage is being contested elsewhere?). But Ocwen did make the threat, and federal law (not state law) pertaining to declaratory judgments justifies the action. And, while the complains does not indicate there is complete diversity, this Is, in all likelihood, a related claim for which there is supplemental jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367. We thus deny the motion to dismiss. That does not mean Ocwen has to do much, other than to wait around until the other claims are resolved.