Andrea Guajardo v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.

605 F. App'x 240
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit·Decided March 10, 2015·No. 13-51025·Unpublished·Cited by 24 cases

Opinion

PER CURIAM: **

We sua sponte withdraw the prior panel opinion, Guajardo v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 13-51025, 2015 WL 136403 (5th Cir. Jan. 12, 2015), and substitute the following:

In this case we address whether the district court erred in dismissing, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), Plaintiffs’ claims relating to the foreclosure of their home. Because Plaintiffs failed to state any valid claim for relief, we AFFIRM.

I.

According to the Third Amended Complaint, 1 Plaintiffs, Andrea C. Guajardo and Juanita Zepeda, purchased a home in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas (Property). JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JPMC) loaned the purchase money to Plaintiffs in exchange for a mortgage note which was secured by a deed of trust on the Property. Later, Plaintiffs could no longer make them payments on the mortgage. They notified JPMC of their situation, and filed an application for a loan modification. JPMC told them on four occasions that it would review their application and respond before “any non-judicial foreclosure action would be taken.” Plaintiffs never heard back from JPMC. JPMC foreclosed on the Property and AH4R I TX, L.L.C. (AH4R) purchased it at the non-judicial foreclosure sale. Plaintiffs claim that, because they ' did not discover the foreclosure until after JPMC completed the sale, they lost the opportunity to prevent foreclosure.

Plaintiffs sued Defendants in Texas state court based on various causes of action, including breach of contract and wrongful foreclosure. Defendants removed the case to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction. The parties went through multiple rounds of pleadings during which Plaintiffs tried to correct defects identified in JPMC’s motions to dismiss.

Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint alleged causes of action for breach of contract, misrepresentation, wrongful foreclosure, ‘violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), and declaratory judgment. JPMC moved to dismiss Plaintiffs’ claims pursuant to 12(b)(6), arguing that Plaintiffs asserted these causes of action without providing facts sufficient to state a claim that was plausible on its face.

Plaintiffs responded by requesting leave to file their Second Amended Complaint, which was identical to the First Amended Complaint except for the addition of “promissory estoppel and constructive fraud” to the list of claims. The district court granted Plaintiffs’ request for leave and accepted the Second Amended Complaint, but also simultaneously granted, in part, JPMC’s motion to dismiss “because the [second] amended complaint [did] not address the issues in the Defendant’s mo *243 tion to dismiss.” The district court dismissed Plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim on the ground that the Second Amended Complaint “only allege[s] generally that Chase breached unspecified contract provisions by failing to comply with unspecified requirements of [Tex. Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § ] 51.002.”

JPMC then filed a motion to dismiss the remaining claims in Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs obtained leave to file a Third Amended Complaint. In their Third Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs added allegations relating to then-fraud claim and specified the notice procedures in § 51.002 that JPMC allegedly violated. The district court granted JPMC’s motion to dismiss under Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim because the “third amended complaint does not address the defects in the Plaintiffs’ second amended complaint.” Plaintiffs appealed.

II.

We review a district court’s 12(b)(6) dismissal de novo, applying the same standard that the district court applied. Gen. Elec. Capital Corp. v. Posey, 415 F.3d 391, 395 (5th Cir.2005). We may affirm the district court’s dismissal “on any grounds supported by the record.” City of Clinton v. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., 632 F.3d 148, 153 (5th Cir.2010). When ruling on a motion to dismiss, we must accept as true a plaintiffs factual allegations. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). To overcome a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff must plead facts sufficient to state a “legally cognizable claim that is plausible” on its face. Lone Star Fund V (U.S.), L.P. v. Barclay’s Bank PLC, 594 F.3d 383, 387 (5th Cir.2010). “When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). The federal pleadings standard requires a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 8; Id. at 677-78, 129 S.Ct. 1937. The standard does not require detailed factual allegations, but where a complaint lacks allegations that can plausibly support the required elements of claim, it should be dismissed. Blackburn v. City of Marshall, 42 F.3d 925, 931 (5th Cir.1995).

III.

Plaintiffs’ Third Amended Complaint includes the following claims: breach of contract, 2 wrongful foreclosure, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, promissory estoppel, constructive fraud, violation of the DTPA, declaratory judgment, and trespass to try title. The district court dismissed all claims. For the reasons discussed in detail below, we affirm the district court’s judgment.

A.

“[T]he essential elements of a breach of contract action are: (1) the existence of a valid contract; (2) performance or tendered performance by the plaintiff; (3) breach of the contract by the defendant; and (4) damages sustained by the plaintiff as a result of the breach.” Smith Int'l, Inc. v. Egle Group, LLC, 490 F.3d 380, 387 (5th Cir.2007) (citing Valero Mktg. & Supply Co. v. Kalama Int'l, 51 S.W.3d 345, 351 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] *244 2001, no pet.)). In their Second Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs alleged that they entered into a mortgage agreement with JPMC and executed a deed of trust in favor of JPMC. They generally claimed that JPMC) breached the terms of the mortgage agreement and deed of trust but did not specify which provisions or obligations. Plaintiffs also claimed that JPMC breached the mortgage agreement and deed of trust by violating Tex. Prop.

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Andrea Guajardo v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N., 605 F. App'x 240 (5th Cir. 2015).

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