If I sent a package through an express delivery service to my mortgagee and it contained loan modification papers but was lost so my modification was denied, can I sue the delivery service?
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If I sent a package through an express delivery service to my mortgagee and it contained loan modification papers but was lost so my modification was denied, can I sue the delivery service?
Asked on May 4, 2015 under Business Law, Maryland
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
No, you cannot--or rather, you could technically sue for the value of the *paper* (a few cents, or a dollar or two, presumably) but not for the loss of your modification:
1) Foreseeability: it is not foreseeable that a lost package would impose such a large "penalty" on you (remember: the delivery service does not know what the package is, or what happens if lost), and without foreseeability, you cannot establish the necessary duty.
2) Causation: you can't necessarily prove that the delay in or loss of the package was the reason you didn't get the modification--you could have been turned down for numerous other reasons.
3) Contributory negligence: you have a duty to take reasonable care to avoid losses. In this case, that means following up when the package was due to arrive and, if it had not, re-sending the papers some other way.
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