James W. Wright, Jr.

Jay’s practice focuses on financial services litigation and regulation and asbestos litigation. Jay is actively involved in lawsuits and disputes across the country in which he represents companies involved in a wide array of state and federal law claims. His representation includes general defense of various claims against financial institutions, mortgage companies, and other commercial entities. Many of these claims involve allegations of wrongful foreclosure proceedings or violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations, as well as various deceptive trade practices claims under state law. 

Jay also advises some of the nation’s largest financial institutions and mortgage companies as they adapt to changes in the regulatory and judicial environments in which they operate. Jay’s regulatory practice involves assisting clients in the financial services and mortgage industries comply with obligations imposed on them by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (FRB), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and a host of state banking regulators and court systems. A significant portion of Jay’s practice is devoted to helping lenders and servicers of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs or “reverse mortgages”) implement regulatory changes mandated by HUD, as well as interfacing directly with HUD to seek clarification about or revision to proposed regulatory changes. As part of his general regulatory practice, Jay has developed and regularly updates standardized judicial and non-judicial foreclosure documents for mortgage companies, conducts third party vendor management legal compliance interviews, and provides due diligence of internal procedures and files being service-transferred between financial institutions and mortgage companies.