Stern v. Norwest Mortgage, Inc.

Stephen Stern and his wife, Catherine Harth (plaintiffs), filed a class action in the circuit court of Cook County against Norwest Mortgage, Inc. (defendant). Plaintiffs claimed that defendant violated the Mortgage Escrow Account Act (Escrow Act) (765 ILCS 910/1 et seq. (West 1992)) and the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (Fraud Act) (815 ILCS 505/2 (West 1992)). The circuit court granted defendant’s section 2 — 615 motion to dismiss (735 ILCS 5/2 — 615 (West 1992)), finding that the Escrow Act did not prevent defendant from charging an "escrow waiver fee.” On appeal, the…