Gary C. Tepper is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Commercial Litigation, Consumer Financial Services, Mortgage Banking, and Franchise and Distribution Groups. He is an experienced litigator, having defended claims against lenders and franchisors across the country.
Mr. Tepper litigates cases and counsels clients regarding loan purchase agreements, warehouse lines of credit, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Guides, the False Claims Act, title insurance, state law receiverships, mechanic's liens, the Truth in Lending Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Bankruptcy Code, usury, and other regulatory and common law issues.
Mr. Tepper also represents franchisors and distributors in litigation nationwide before state and federal courts and arbitral panels. He has effectively defended and counseled franchisors and distributors on matters relating to the FTC Rule on Franchising, antitrust, state franchise acts, state business opportunity acts, consumer fraud statutes, trademark law, unfair competition, trade dress infringement, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the Bankruptcy Code, and breach of contract.
Representative Matters
Lender Liability
- Defending a mortgage-backed securities issuer and bank trustees in a consumer class action alleging usury in Missouri federal court
- Won summary judgment dismissing a federal action filed against a nationally ranked mortgage wholesale lender in Massachusetts by settlement agents seeking repossession of purchased notes and/or damages; won affirmance by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; defended the same wholesale lender in similar actions in the state Court of Appeals in Florida and U.S. District Courts in Washington, D.C., and Maryland
- Won summary judgment for an investor/lender in West Virginia regarding fees charged to the borrower in alleged violation of state consumer law; thereafter negotiated settlement in a parallel class action, and subsequent indemnification from another lender
- Negotiated a large settlement in a multimillion-dollar repurchase action filed in federal court in Arizona on behalf of a nationally ranked mortgage wholesale lender; completed a 100-subpoena investigation demonstrating the fictitious nature of purported borrower down payments
- Won dismissal of FCRA and related stated law claims in Georgia federal court based in part on federal preemption
- Won summary judgment for a mortgage lender in a District of Columbia lending discrimination case; won affirmance by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Won dismissal of multiple borrower challenges to servicer actions in Maryland and D.C. federal court based upon arbitration and mediation clauses
- Won a trial in Maryland federal court for a nationally ranked lender against borrowers alleging predatory lending practices
- Won a trial for a borrower and nationally ranked lender in Maryland state court in an adverse possession matter; the decision was affirmed by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and certiorari denied by the Court of Appeals
- Won summary judgment in Texas federal court for a mortgage wholesale lender against a title company that had misrepresented the terms of the loan closing
- Won summary judgment for a lender in multiple Truth in Lending/usury actions in Virginia state court
- Assisted a mortgage lender in a late-fee class action in Illinois; wrote the amicus brief for a mortgage banking trade association
- Assisted in resolving a lending discrimination investigation in Connecticut of a nationally ranked wholesale mortgage lender
- Won summary judgment for a commercial lender in multiple due-process challenges to a D.C. foreclosure statute
Franchise and Distribution
- Won a $2.5 million award for a fast-food franchisor in an arbitration against a multinational Southeast Asia conglomerate in a dispute over the conglomerate’s failure to develop a 10-country territory
- Obtained a defense verdict for a fast-food franchisor in a three-week antitrust jury trial in Pennsylvania; affirmed by the Third Circuit
- Obtained dismissal of RICO and other claims brought against an accounting- services franchisor in U.S. district courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland; the Maryland decision was affirmed by the Fourth Circuit
- Obtained a preliminary injunction in Michigan against a terminated franchisee’s use of trademark and violation of a noncompetition covenant
- Won summary judgment in New Jersey for a franchisor dismissing breach of contract, deceptive trade practices, and franchise statute claims brought by the majority of franchisees of a franchise system
- Obtained a preliminary injunction in North Carolina for a fast-food franchisor barring a terminated franchisee from using trademarks and violating a noncompetition covenant
Judicial Clerkships
Hon. Gilbert S. Merritt, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit