Tahir Zaman, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Barbara Felton and Mr. Felton, Her Husband, Defendants-Appellants

Summary

The Court upheld the jury’s finding that Felton knowingly sold the property to Zaman and rejected her claims under the Consumer Fraud Act and the unauthorized-practice-of-law principles governing attorney-free residential closings. It reversed the rejection of her equitable-mortgage claim, adopted an eight-factor framework for determining whether the sale, lease, and repurchase agreements constituted a single equitable mortgage, and remanded for application of that framework and consideration of contingent statutory claims. The Court also held that most Truth in Lending Act claims were time-barred and that claims not raised below were properly subject to preservation requirements.