Houser Wins Jury Trial in Massachusetts

In 37 years, Eric Houser has never lost a court or jury trial. Last week in Barnstable County Superior Court (Cape Cod) Massachusetts that streak continued. At trial, Houser’s aggressive cross-examination resulted in the Plaintiff/Borrower asserting his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination after being caught in repeated lies while on the stand.

By a vote of 12-0, the jury granted Houser LLP's clients a complete defense verdict. The Judge then rendered his decision on the Plaintiffs’ statutory 93A (MA consumer law) claim in favor of Houser’s clients ?finding that the Plaintiffs had committed fraud on the Court. The Judge took it one step further awarding Houser’s clients their attorneys’ fees and costs along with equitable relief against the Plaintiffs.

It was a big win for Houser LLP's financial institution and mortgage servicer clients. Prior to trial, Plaintiffs demanded a seven-figure settlement package.?Plaintiffs brought claims under Rule 93A, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, Massachusetts’ loss mitigation statute, intentional interference with a contract ?and declaratory relief. Houser’s clients denied any wrongdoing and proved at trial they were correct.

In 2023, Plaintiffs had survived Houser LLP's summary judgment motion by submitting what Houser believed was a false affidavit. Plaintiffs had also submitted incomplete and false information relating to their loan modification applications and a partial lien release request.? Plaintiffs blamed Houser’s clients, however, the evidence at trial belied Plaintiffs’ story.?

Houser was assisted by associate attorneys Jesse LaFlamme, Esq. and Robert Morris in the firm’s Boston office. The Houser LLP trial team dug up a plethora of evidence against the Plaintiffs from other litigation, ?judgments, bank records, tax records, probate and administrative proceedings which was used as cross-examination fodder by Houser. ?The ability to authenticate and prove the relevancy of the information required advanced evidence skills. The trial team’s jury instructions and special verdict forms were successfully adopted by the Court.

Eric Houser’s cross-examination exposed the false Plaintiff/Borrower’s statements set forth Plaintiff’s affidavit and a myriad of other lies. Prompting the Judge to conclude the actions of Plaintiffs ?“operated as a fraud on the Court by submitting to this Court and this Jury knowingly false sworn statements by Plaintiff, repeatedly, and failing to withdraw them or correct them at any point in time. On the other hand, the Defendants and their attorneys throughout this entire process conducted themselves with integrity and adherence to their legal obligations and ethical values.”

Houser began his closing argument by referencing the movie “ A Few Good Men” and the iconic line delivered by Jack Nicholson’s character on the stand in which he proclaimed, ?“You can’t handle the truth.”? Houser reminded the jury that its whole purpose was to handle the truth, and that Plaintiffs knew that if they told the truth they would lose. ?In closing Houser stated, “the Plaintiffs lied to my clients, lied to the Court and lied to you.” Houser ended his closing statement by telling the jury that he wanted to leave them with a complex legal word to describe Plaintiffs’ case. Houser feigned that he didn’t know if the word was Latin or Greek. The word was “Baloney.” Houser ended with ?“Plaintiffs case’ was a big stack of rotten baloney.” ?

The jury deliberated a mere 45 minutes before rendering its defense verdict for Houser LLP's clients. Houser will now apply to the Court for his clients’ fees and costs along with a request for a receiver to take over the 6.5-acre waterfront property located in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.

Houser credits his success to hard work and faith in the judicial system, his clients, his firm’s talented team members, and a higher purpose, along with self-awareness and knowledge of your opponent, the jury, and the Court. Houser stated, “our job on the defense side is to manage risk.” According to the immortal Kenny Rogers,” You got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them.” In Massachusetts, the Houser LLP team did the former and prevailed with a complete victory, again. #mortgageservicing #jurytrialwin #bankinglaw