Fowler v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc., 8:15-cv-01084

Plaintiff Sandra Fowler bought a home in Prince George's County, MD on March 30, 2006; Mid-Atlantic Builders allegedly built the home.
Defendants allegedly steered Fowler to the loan; closing conducted by Village Settlements with Sullivan and Southern Trust as lenders and Wells Fargo as escrow agent; mortgage amount about $952,130.32.
Plaintiff’s income and expenses at closing were approximately $12,283 and $1,455 respectively; loan described as a five-year ARM with adjustable rate.
Plaintiff alleges predatory lending and minority-targeting, and later loan transfers to Wells Fargo and sale to MBS; claims of misstatements and missing loan documents at closing.
Plaintiff exhausted savings, fell behind on mortgage, bankruptcy filings in 2013 and 2014 (dismissed for nonpayment), foreclosure sale scheduled for March 20, 2015, but stayed while TRO/PI/PII motions are considered.
Plaintiff’s complaint includes RICO, Fraud, RESPA, TILA, and FTCA-based allegations; current motion seeks TRO and preliminary injunction only against Wells Fargo.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Likelihood of success on the merits for TRO/PII	Fowler asserts feasible claims of predatory lending and violations of governing laws; seeks injunction to stop foreclosure.	Claims are time-barred or unlikely to succeed on the merits; no showing of irreparable harm or public interest support sufficient for TRO.	Not satisfied; no likelihood of success on the merits established.
Timeliness of RICO and fraud claims	RICO and fraud claims arise from 2006 actions and tolling due to concealment or discovery delays.	Statutes of limitations run from 2006; no tolling justified or proven; claims time-barred.	RICO and fraud claims time-barred; not likely to succeed.
RESPA and TILA claim viability	Violations of RESPA and TILA due to missing disclosures and improper loan handling.	Some RESPA claims lack private right of action; remaining claims time-barred; TILA damages limited by one-year statute.	Claims unlikely to succeed; some time-barred under RESPA/TILA.
FTCA claim viability and relief for foreclosure	FTCA-based unfair/deceptive practices support injunctive relief to prevent foreclosure.	FTCA provides no private right of action; TILA-related defects already undermine FTCA claim.	FTCA claims unlikely; no injunction to prevent sale.

Klehr v. A.O. Smith Corp., 521 U.S. 179 (U.S. 1997) (limitations and discovery rules for RICO claims)
Rotella v. Wood, 529 U.S. 549 (U.S. 2000) (timing of injury governs statute of limitations)
Dewhurst v. City of Charlotte, 649 F.3d 290 (4th Cir. 2011) (four-factor test for TRO/prerequisites for injunctive relief)