THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT DIMENSION The Truth-in-Lending Act, HOEPA, and other consumer protection laws exist to protect purchasers from unscrupulous lenders or sellers. As consumers become better informed about these issues, will these laws still be needed? Discuss.

WHAT IF THE FACTS WERE DIFFERENT? If the lender had been dealing with a borrower who was a professor of finance at Harvard, would the appellate judge have ruled the same way? Why or why not?

Kathleen Parnell executed a promissory note and mortgage in favor of EquiCredit Corporation of America on May 9, 2001. Later that year, EquiCredit assigned its rights to the Bank of New York. On June 19, 2003, Parnell’s attorney wrote a letter to the Bank of New York on behalf of Parnell providing a notice of rescission. The letter stated that rescission was proper because the loan was governed by the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) and that EquiCredit had failed to deliver required material disclosures. These disclosures included documents stating that Parnell did not need to enter into the loan and that she could lose her home as a result of entering into the loan. The bank responded that the loan was not large enough to trigger HOEPA disclosures but that, in any event, Parnell had received full and accurate disclosures. Later, the bank filed a petition alleging that Parnell was in default and that it was accelerating the payments due under the mortgage. Subsequently, the trial judge directed the sheriff to seize and sell the property secured by the mortgage. Parnell filed a petition to stop the seizure and sale. The bank filed a motion for summary judgment in its favor, which the court granted. Parnell appealed.