Katherine K. Meleski joined The Ryan Firm in September 2020 and focuses her time primarily on real estate and mortgage lending litigation. She has practiced for over 17 years in all aspects of business litigation and also brings experience to the Firm in eminent domain law and other real estate issues. She obtained her law degree from Whittier Law School, receiving a full academic scholarship and graduating fourth in her class with summa cum laude honors. While in law school, she served as a judicial intern at the Orange County Superior Court for now Associate Justice David A. Thompson of the California Court of Appeal. She also studied law in Salzburg Austria, including a course with former Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. Prior to embarking upon her legal career, Ms. Meleski held roles in sales, marketing, and customer relations training with Fortune 500 companies, NCR Corporation, Baxter International, Inc., and General Electric Company. Ms. Meleski also holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Marketing.

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Ms. Meleski's notable victories include: 

 

• Negotiated and secured borrower’s release of $1.2M in funds wrongfully withheld by borrower from insurance payment following Northern California brush fire that destroyed the real property securing the loan.

• Obtained dismissal of action on motion for summary judgment in the Central District of the United States District Court in matter involving false claims that national mortgage loan servicer failed to provide statutory notice before foreclosure proceedings initiated. (Phillips v. Specialized Loan Servicing, LLC, 2022 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 27456 (C.D.Cal Feb. 11, 2022).)

• Obtained dismissal of action following motion for summary judgment evidencing plaintiff’s misrepresentations regarding a purported lack of notice of receipt of loan modification application by national mortgage loan servicer. 

• Dismissal of action in Central District on plaintiff’s claim for breach of contract by loan servicer based on numerous grounds. (Ladewig v. The Bank of N.Y. Mellon Corp., 2021 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 12548 (Jan. 21, 2021).)

• Secured dismissal of repeat litigant’s frivolous bankruptcy appeal of order lifting stay in the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit and obtained attorneys’ fee award of nearly $20k. (In re: Tania Elissia Batache, 2021 U.S.App. LEXIS 28253 (Sep. 17, 2021).)

• Obtained affirmation on appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of mortgage loan servicer’s judgment dismissing action by serial litigant. (Thompson v. Barrett, Daffin, Frappier, Treder, et al., 2021 U.S.App. LEXIS 32310 (Oct. 20, 2021).)

• Obtained dismissal of action alleging violations of Homeowner Bill of Rights and Business & Professions Code section 17200 following plaintiffs’ failure to appear at hearing on our motions to compel discovery and for terminating and monetary sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure section 128.7.

• Obtained voluntary dismissal with prejudice following our filing of Code of Civil Procedure section 128.7 motion for sanctions in action alleging violations of Homeowner Bill of Rights and Business & Professions Code section 17200.

• Obtained dismissal with prejudice of federal action concurrently pursued with state action, each alleging violations of statutes governing foreclosure proceedings, including a claim for violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200, based on Plaintiff’s allegations that foreclosure was wrongfully pursued while a loan modification application was pending.

• Obtained dismissal in action to obtain and secure possession for purchaser of multi-million dollar property in Manhattan Beach following nonjudicial foreclosure.

• Action dismissed following successful motion for judgment on the pleadings that established the senior loan was not subsumed by a modification of the junior note.

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