Brooks v. Branch Banking & Trust Co.

107 F. Supp. 3d 1290, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72525, 2015 WL 3478169
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedMay 28, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 1:15-CV-00186-SCJ
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 107 F. Supp. 3d 1290 (Brooks v. Branch Banking & Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brooks v. Branch Banking & Trust Co., 107 F. Supp. 3d 1290, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72525, 2015 WL 3478169 (N.D. Ga. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

STEVE C. JONES, District Judge.

This matter appears before the Court on Defendant Branch Banking and Trust Company’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. [4]) and Plaintiffs Motion to Amend her Complaint and Allow Discovery (Doc. No. [9]). For the following reasons, Defendant’s Motion is GRANTED, and Plaintiffs motion is DENIED.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff filed her complaint on November 21, 2014, in the State Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia. Doc. No. [1-1], p. 2. Defendant Branch Banking and Trust Company removed the action to the Northern District of Georgia on January 21, 2015. Doc. No. [1]. Defendant then filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs complaint on February 5, 2015. Doc. No. [4]. After being granted an extension of time to respond to Defendant’s motion, Plaintiff filed her response on March 10, 2015. Doc. No. [8]. Plaintiff filed a motion to amend her complaint and allow discovery six days later, which Defendant opposes. Doc. Nos. [9], [11].

[1294]*1294Plaintiff obtained a mortgage loan from Defendant to purchase rental property that is the subject of this action.1 Doc. No. [1-1], p. 4. When Plaintiff realized she may fall behind on her mortgage payments, she contacted Defendant to negotiate a payment plan or to refinance the property to avoid default. Id. at p. 5. Defendant refused to negotiate and insisted on strict compliance with the mortgage agreement. Id. After Plaintiff “fell-behind on her mortgage payments” she “attempted to enter into a loan modification program” with Defendant. Id.

Plaintiff claims Defendant “intentionally obfuscated its loan modification programs and frustrated Plaintiffs attempts to lawfully participate.” Id. at p. 6. “For example, [Defendant’s] proposed loan modification proposals contained numbers and monetary calculations that did not match Plaintiffs accounting, and more fundamentally, were internally inconsistent with [Defendant’s] own records.” Id. (emphasis in original). When Plaintiff requested clarification of Defendant’s numbers and calculations, Defendant consistently failed to provide- it. Id. “Further, [Defendant] refused to accept initial payment under á proposed loan modification program because it was working on another (allegedly revised) proposal ... [t]hat turned out being identical to the original proposal.” Id. Plaintiff. also claims that Defendant “accepted numerous payments from Plaintiff but failed to properly credit her for acceptance of those payments[,]” “improperly reported interest payments Plaintiff properly paid to the. Internal Revenue Service[,]” and “failed to properly credit [Defendant’s] own escrow accounts for monies Plaintiff paid to it.” Id. at p. 7.

During this time, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant or its agents and contractors “intentionally harassed and interfered with Plaintiffs tenants by: [a]dvising them not to pay rent to Plaintiff because they would be evicted; [i]nvading their privacy by visiting and photographing the property; and, [harassing them with attempted visits to 'the Property.” Id. (emphasis in original). Defendant disclosed “Plaintiffs banking status with her tenants and improperly represented- her default (or- alleged default) as - well as her efforts to keep the mortgage current.” Id. at p. 8.

In the end, Plaintiff claims Defendant “cancelled a proposed loan modification program because of an alleged lien on the Property that was inaccurate and unlawful ... [i]n spite of the fact that this issue had been clarified and corrected for [Defendant] promptly after it was discovered.” Id. Defendant declined Plaintiffs final effort to modify her loan because of “insufficient cash flow,” but Plaintiff alleges Defendant’s own actions discouraged cash flow by causing at least one tenant to abandon the property. Id. (internal quotations omitted). In addition to insufficient cash flow, Defendant declined Plaintiffs final loan modification effort because she failed to make two monthly payments in the previous sixty day period. Id. at p. 9. Plaintiff alleges, however, that she made these payments and Defendant rejected them. Id. Plaintiff made one final effort to resolve these disputes outside of litigation by'sending Defendant a “Qualified Written Request” on September 3, 2014, but Defendant failed or refused to respond. Id. (internal quotations omitted).

II. MOTION TO DISMISS THE COMPLAINT

A. Legal Standard

A complaint may be: dismissed if the facts as pleaded do not state a claim for [1295]*1295relief that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679-80, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (explaining “only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss”); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 561-62, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (retiring the prior Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) standard which provided that in reviewing the sufficiency of a complaint, the complaint should not be dismissed “unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief’). In Iqbal, the Supreme Court reiterated that although 'Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure does not require detailed factual allegations, it does demand “more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

In Twombly, the Supreme Court emphasized a complaint “requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Factual allegations in a complaint need not be detailed but “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level on the assumption that all the allegations in the complaint are true (even if doubtful in fact).” Id. (internal citations and emphasis omitted).

B. Analysis

Plaintiff raises six claims in her complaint which include 1) breach of contract/good faith and fair dealing/promissory estoppel, 2) unjust enrichment, 3) conversion, 4) intentional interference with contract/business relations, 5) intentional infliction of emotional distress, and 6) negligence. Doc. No. [1-1], p. 10-14. She believes she is entitled to litigation expenses because Defendant acted in bad faith, has been stubbornly litigious, and caused her unnecessary trouble and expense. Id. at p. 14-15; see also 0.C.G.A. § 13-6-11 (2012). Because she believes Defendant’s actions demonstrate “willful misconduct, wantonnessf,] and that entire want of care which raises the presumption of a conscious indifference to the consequences of [its] actions[,]” Plaintiff also seeks punitive damages. Doc. No. [1-1], p. 15; see also O.C.G.A.

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107 F. Supp. 3d 1290, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72525, 2015 WL 3478169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brooks-v-branch-banking-trust-co-gand-2015.