Barbara Small, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC, NewPenn Financial LLC d/b/a Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, and The Bank of New York Mellon f/k/a The Bank of New York, as Trustee for the Certificateholders CWABS, Inc., Asset-Backed Certificateholders, Series 2006-24

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 27, 2026
Docket1:25-cv-01834
StatusUnknown

This text of Barbara Small, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC, NewPenn Financial LLC d/b/a Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, and The Bank of New York Mellon f/k/a The Bank of New York, as Trustee for the Certificateholders CWABS, Inc., Asset-Backed Certificateholders, Series 2006-24 (Barbara Small, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC, NewPenn Financial LLC d/b/a Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, and The Bank of New York Mellon f/k/a The Bank of New York, as Trustee for the Certificateholders CWABS, Inc., Asset-Backed Certificateholders, Series 2006-24) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barbara Small, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC, NewPenn Financial LLC d/b/a Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, and The Bank of New York Mellon f/k/a The Bank of New York, as Trustee for the Certificateholders CWABS, Inc., Asset-Backed Certificateholders, Series 2006-24, (E.D.N.Y. 2026).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK --------------------------------------------------------------- BARBARA SMALL, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated,

Plaintiff, MEMORANDUM & ORDER 25-CV-1834 (MKB) v.

LOGS LEGAL GROUP LLP f/k/a SHAPIRO, DICARO & BARAK, LLC, NEWPENN FINANCIAL LLC d/b/a SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING, and THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON f/k/a THE BANK OF NEW YORK, AS TRUSTEE FOR THE CERTIFICATEHOLDERS CWABS, INC., ASSET- BACKED CERTIFICATEHOLDERS, SERIES 2006-24,

Defendants. --------------------------------------------------------------- MARGO K. BRODIE, United States District Judge: Plaintiff Barbara Smalls commenced the above action on behalf of herself and others similarly situated on April 3, 2025 against Defendants LOGS Legal Group LLP formerly known as Shapiro DiCaro & Barak LLC (“LOGS Legal Group”), The Bank of New York Mellon formerly known as The Bank of New York, as Trustee for the Certificateholders of the CWABS, Inc., Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2006-24 (“BNY”), and Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing (“Shellpoint”).1 (Compl., Docket Entry No. 1.) Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on July 2, 2025 asserting ten causes of action claiming that Defendants conspired to defraud her of surplus money and award themselves inflated compound interest from the foreclosure sale of her

1 Plaintiff initially also named John and Jane Doe Investors 1–10 and John and Jane Does 1–10 as Defendants but dismissed them from the action on June 11, 2025. (Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, Docket Entry No. 30; Order dated June 12, 2025.) property located at 308 Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn, New York (the “Subject Property”). (Am. Compl., Docket Entry No. 33.) Plaintiff asserts five causes of action against Defendants for violations of: (1) the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. (the “FDCPA”), (id. ¶¶ 77–84); (2) New York General Business Law § 349 (“GBL § 349”), (id. ¶¶ 85–90); (3) the Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organizations Practices Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(c) and (d) (“RICO”), (id. ¶¶ 95–127); (4) prima facie tort, (id. ¶¶ 150–54); and (5) conversion, (id. ¶¶ 155–60). In addition, Plaintiff alleges four claims individually against LOGS

Legal Group for violations of (1) New York Judiciary Law § 487 (“Judiciary Law § 487”), (id. ¶¶ 91–94); (2) negligence, (id. ¶¶ 128–37); (3) gross negligence, (id. ¶¶ 138–40); and (4) legal malpractice, (id. ¶¶ 141–44). Plaintiff also alleges a claim individually against BNY for unjust enrichment, (id. ¶¶ 145–49). Plaintiff seeks against all Defendants a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief enjoining Defendants from continuing their alleged unlawful debt collection activities, actual and compensatory damages, treble damages pursuant to RICO and Judiciary Law § 487, statutory damages pursuant to the FDCPA, disbursements, costs, and attorneys’ fees. (Id. at 40–41.) BNY and Shellpoint move jointly to dismiss the Amended Complaint, LOGS Legal Group moves separately to dismiss the Amended Complaint, and Plaintiff opposes the motions.2

For the reasons discussed below, the Court grants Defendants’ motions and dismisses the Amended Complaint.

2 (BNY’s and Shellpoint’s Mot. to Dismiss (“BNY’s and Shellpoint’s Mot.”), Docket Entry No. 36; BNY’s and Shellpoint’s Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss (“BNY’s and Shellpoint’s Mem.”), appended to BNY’s and Shellpoint’s Mot., Docket Entry No. 36-1; BNY’s and Shellpoint’s Reply in Supp. of Mem. (“BNY’s and Shellpoint’s Reply”), Docket Entry No. 41; LOGS Legal Group’s Mot. to Dismiss (“LOGS Legal Group’s Mot.”), Docket Entry No. 34; LOGS Legal Group’s Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss (“LOGS Legal Group’s Mem.”), appended to LOGS Legal Group’s Mot., Docket Entry No. 34-1; LOGS Legal Group’s Reply in Supp. of Mem. (“LOGS Legal Group’s Reply”), Docket Entry No. 40; Pl.’s Opp’n to Mot. to Dismiss (“Pl.’s Opp’n”), Docket Entry No. 39.) I. Background a. The parties Plaintiff is a New York State resident and a “consumer” as defined by the FDCPA. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 21, 78.) BNY is an FDIC insured bank headquartered and doing business in the State of New York, (id. ¶ 22), is a “debt collector” as defined by the FDCPA, (id. ¶ 78), and acts as a mortgage noteholder, (id. ¶ 25). Shellpoint is a limited liability corporation headquartered in South Carolina that conducts business in New York, (id. ¶ 23), is a “debt collector” as defined by

the FDCPA, (id. ¶ 78), and acts as a mortgage servicer that manages the loans, (id. ¶¶ 25–26). LOGS Legal Group is a limited liability partnership located and doing business in New York State. (Id. ¶ 24.) BNY retained LOGS Legal Group as a law firm to “collect on consumer debt that [BNY] [ ] claims to own” and “[p]ursuant to that retention, LOGS [Legal Group] files and maintains actions in New York State courts seeking debt collection” for amounts owed on mortgage agreements. (Id. ¶¶ 24, 28.) b. Plaintiff’s allegations Plaintiff alleges Defendants “collectively engaged in a fraudulent scheme to purposefully miscalculate interest due and owing on residential mortgages in order to obtain vastly inflated payouts from court-ordered foreclosure sales.” (Id. ¶ 11.) In support, Plaintiff contends that

Defendants “submit[ed] deceptive documentation to New York Courts” that they expected would be “blindly approve[d]” and “prematurely utilize[d] the final monetary judgment award to the noteholder [BNY] awarded in a court’s [j]udgment of [f]oreclosure and [s]ale . . . in calculating improper compound interest accrued on a mortgage loan before the [judgment of foreclosure and sale] was actually entered.” (Id. ¶¶ 12–13.) By using the “already-determined [judgment of foreclosure and sale] amount as the basis for the calculation of interest . . . instead . . . of the mortgage principal,” (id. ¶ 14), Defendants received excess money from the state court-ordered foreclosure sale of the Subject Property and “deprived Plaintiff . . . of [her] legal right to be awarded surplus monies.”3 (Id. ¶¶ 11, 12.) i. The foreclosure action Plaintiff had a mortgage on the Subject Property with non-party Old Merchants Mortgage, Inc. (Am. Compl. ¶ 53.) On July 30, 2009, non-party Old Merchants Mortgage, Inc. assigned the mortgage to BNY. (Id. ¶ 54.) On April 21, 2015, BNY commenced a foreclosure action captioned The Bank of New York Mellon FKA The Bank of New York, as Trustee for the

Certificateholders of the CWABS, Inc., Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2006-24 v. Barbara Small, et al., Index No. 504771/2015, against Plaintiff in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Kings County (the “State Court Action”).4 (Am. Compl. ¶ 55; State Court Action Compl.,

3 In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff seeks certification of this action as a collective action pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on behalf of herself, individually, and the following class: (a) all persons sued, or creditors of such persons or lienholders of liens against the property that was the subject of the [State Court Action] in question, in state-court lawsuits related to the collection of debt owed on a mortgage loan document secured by real property, (b) that were sold at auction, (c) in which LOGS [Legal Group] was identified as counsel for the plaintiff in the complaint, (d) within six years of the date of the filing of this action.

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Barbara Small, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC, NewPenn Financial LLC d/b/a Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, and The Bank of New York Mellon f/k/a The Bank of New York, as Trustee for the Certificateholders CWABS, Inc., Asset-Backed Certificateholders, Series 2006-24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barbara-small-individually-and-on-behalf-of-all-others-similarly-situated-nyed-2026.