(Washington, DC) – Today the United States Supreme Court scheduled oral argument in a Helmer Friedman LLP case — Lightfoot v. Fannie Mae, Cendant Mortgage Corporation, et. al. (14-1055) — for November 8, 2016. At issue in the Lightfoot v. Fannie Mae case is whether individual homeowners who have been wrongly or fraudulently foreclosed upon by Fannie Mae have the right to sue the mortgage giant in the state courts. Commenting about the Supreme Court’s decision to schedule oral argument so quickly after the Supreme Court had granted Helmer Friedman’s petition for certiorari, Andrew H. Friedman, of Helmer Friedman LLP, exclaimed, “We are absolutely thrilled that the Supreme Court is moving so quickly on this important issue which affects thousands of homeowners as well as Fannie Mae employees who would prefer to vindicate their rights in their own state courts where the laws may be more favorable to them than in the federal courts.”
“The Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in this case is the culmination of several years of work,” said Gregory D. Helmer. “We knew it was a longshot, but decided the issue was important enough to battle the odds. For years, Fannie Mae has argued that individuals do not have the right to proceed against them in state court. But, in our view, the language of Fannie Mae’s corporate charter authorizes an individual to commence a legal action in a state court so long as that court has a legitimate basis for jurisdiction. We look forward to making that argument to the Supreme Court and hope the Court shares our perspective.”