Barretta v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (In re Barreta)

560 B.R. 630, 2016 WL 2944513
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedMay 11, 2016
DocketCivil No. 3:15-cv-01781(AWT)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 560 B.R. 630 (Barretta v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (In re Barreta)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barretta v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (In re Barreta), 560 B.R. 630, 2016 WL 2944513 (D. Conn. 2016).

Opinion

RULING ON MOTION FOR STAY PENDING APPEAL

Alvin W. Thompson, United States District Judge

■ Appellant Frances Ann Barretta (“Bar-retta”) has moved for a stay pending appeal of an order granting relief from automatic stay filed by appellee Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (“Wells Fargo”). For the reasons set forth below, the motion for a stay pending appeal is being denied.

[632]*632I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Wells Fargo commenced a foreclosure action in Connecticut Superior Court against Barretta with respect to her property at 73 Lori Lane, Meriden, Connecticut on November 16, 2012. Barretta participated in the court’s mediation program for almost a year. On April 21, 2014, Bar-retta filed an answer. On September 3, 2014, Wells Fargo filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted on October 14, 2014. Final judgment in the amount of $270,014.60 was entered on December 22, 2014.

On May 7, 2015, Barretta filed a petition for relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut pursuant to Chapter 13. In the bankruptcy case, Barretta listed Wells Fargo as a secured creditor with a debt in the amount of $270,014.60. That case was converted to a Chapter 7 case on August 31, 2015. On October 6, 2015, Wells Fargo filed a motion for relief from the automatic stay, which the Bankruptcy Court granted on November 18, 2015.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Courts must consider the following four factors in deciding whether to grant a motion for stay pending appeal:

(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies.

In re World Trade Ctr. Disaster Site Li-⅛, 503 F.3d 167, 170 (2dCir.2007) (quoting Hilton v. Braunskill, 481 U.S. 770, 776, 107 S.Ct. 2113, 95 L.Ed.2d 724 (1987)). The party seeking the stay bears the burden of showing entitlement to the stay. See United States v. Private Sanitation Indus. Ass’n of Nassau/Suffolk, Inc., 44 F.3d 1082, 1084 (2d Cir.1995). “A party seeking a stay pending appeal carries a heavy burden.” In re Adelphia Commc’ns Corp,, 333 B.R. 649, 659 (S.D.N.Y.2005).

Some courts within the Second Circuit have held that all four factors must be satisfied before a stay is granted, see In re Norwich Historic Pres. Trust, LLC, 2005 WL 977067, *3 (D.Conn.2005) (citing cases), while others have held that the court must balance the factors to determine whether a stay is appropriate, see In re Adelphia Commc’ns Corp., 361 B.R. 337, 346-47 (S.D.N.Y.2007) (citing cases). The Second Circuit has held that the factors should be evaluated on a “sliding scale” and that “[t]he necessary ‘level’ or ‘degree’ of possibility of success will vary according to the court’s assessment of the other stay factors.” Thapa v. Gonzales, 460 F.3d 323, 334 (2d Cir.2006) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted).

III. DISCUSSION

“The likelihood of success is typically the most important factor.” Bank of New York Mellon v. Worth, No. 3:13-CV-1489 MPS, 2015 WL 1780719, at *3 (D.Conn. Apr. 20, 2015) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). As to this factor, Barretta has not established a likelihood of success on the merits. In her opposition to Wells Fargo’s motion for relief from automatic stay in the Bankruptcy Court, Barretta argued “that a factual dispute exists with regard to the holder and servicer of the note insofar as [Wells Fargo] lacks judicial standing.” (Mot. for Stay, Doc. No. 4, at 4). However, as Wells Fargo correctly notes, that issue was decided by the state court when it granted final judgment in foreclosure. Thus, the Rooker-Feldman doctrine precluded the Bankruptcy Court, and precludes this court, from considering that claim.

[633]*633The Rooker-Feldman doctrine directs federal courts to abstain from considering claims when four requirements are met: (1) the plaintiff lost in state court, (2) the plaintiff complains of injuries caused by the state court judgment, (3) the plaintiff invites district court review of that judgment, and (4) the state court judgment was entered before the plaintiff’s federal suit commenced. See McKithen v. Brown, 626 F.3d 143, 154 (2d Cir.2010). The Second Circuit has held that a claim that a foreclosure judgment was obtained fraudulently is barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. See Vossbrinck v. Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., 773 F.3d 423, 427 (2d Cir.2014). In Vossbrinck, the plaintiff alleged that:

Defendants engaged in fraud during the foreclosure action by (1) misrepresenting that they had standing to seek foreclosure, when in fact [the defendant] was not the holder of [the plaintiffs] note and mortgage when the foreclosure action was initiated, and Deutsche Bank lacked standing to enter as substitute plaintiff; and (2) submitting fraudulent title documents in the state action.

Id. The court held that the Rooker-Feld-man doctrine barred such claims, because:

[the plaintiff] is asking the federal court to determine whether the state judgment was wrongfully issued in favor of parties who, contrary to their representations to the -court, lacked standing to foreclose. This would require the federal court to review the state proceeding and determine that the foreclosure judgment was issued in error. And the injury of which Vossbrinck “complains” in this claim for relief, and which he seeks to have remedied, is the state foreclosure judgment. This is evident from the relief Vossbrinck requests — title to and tender of his property and, in his brief on appeal, to have the state judgment declared “void.” ... Rooker-Feldman bars ■such claims[.]

Id.

“[A] party losing in state court is barred from seeking what in substance would be appellate review of the state judgment in a United States district court, based on the losing party’s claim that the state judgment itself violates the loser’s federal rights.” Johnson v. De Grandy, 512 U.S. 997, 1005-06, 114 S.Ct. 2647, 129 L.Ed.2d 775 (1994). Here, Barretta challenged the defendant’s standing during the state court proceeding. However, she had already raised this argument when she unsuccessfully moved to open and vacate the judgment in the state case. The state court has not acted on that motion because of the automatic stay.

In In re Ward, a foreclosure sale was conducted prior to the filing of the bankruptcy petition. When the purchaser sought relief from stay in the bankruptcy case in order to proceed to evict the debt- or, the debtor opposed the motion.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
560 B.R. 630, 2016 WL 2944513, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barretta-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-in-re-barreta-ctd-2016.