Carlos Villanueva v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al.

District Court, E.D. New York·Decided August 19, 2026·No. 1:25-cv-06383·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -------------------------------------------------------x CARLOS VILLANUEVA,

Plaintiff, MEMORANDUM & ORDER - against - 25-CV-6383 (PKC) (MMH)

WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., et al.,

Defendants. -------------------------------------------------------x PAMELA K. CHEN, United States District Judge: The Court is in receipt of Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend his Complaint, (Dkt. 24), Proposed Amended Complaint (“PAC”), (Dkt. 24-4), and Letter Motion proposing a briefing schedule. For the following reasons, the Court denies the Motions as futile because Plaintiff’s Proposed Amended Complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. However, the Court grants Plaintiff a final opportunity to seek to amend his complaint within thirty (30) days, if he can state a cognizable claim over which the Court has jurisdiction. BACKGROUND I. Factual Background Plaintiff’s PAC alleges that, in 2009, he purchased a property located at 57 Stillwell Avenue (the “Property”), which had been the subject of prior foreclosures. (PAC, Dkt. 24-4, ¶¶ 11, 20.) Plaintiff purchased the Property using a loan issued by Nationstar Mortgage (“Nationstar”) through Resource One Inc. (“Resource One”), a mortgage broker. (Id. ¶ 28.) Nationstar and Resource One informed Plaintiff that “he would be able to use rental income from the second floor of the [P]roperty to help pay the mortgage” and promised to make repairs on the second floor to ensure its habitability. (See id. ¶¶ 29–30.) Plaintiff closed on the Property, but at the time, was unaware that the seller could not deliver clean title to him because the seller had previously sold the deed to the Property. (Id. ¶ 33.) The repairs on the second floor were never completed, and, at some point, Plaintiff defaulted on his loan. (Id. ¶¶ 31, 36.) In 2012, Nationstar assigned its rights under the note and mortgage to Wells Fargo Bank N.A. (“Wells Fargo”), which proceeded to pursue foreclosure. (Id. ¶¶ 37–38.) Plaintiff alleges

that Wells Fargo failed to notify Plaintiff of the foreclosure proceedings at his address in Pennsylvania, and therefore a default judgment was entered against him. (Id. ¶¶ 45–46.) Plaintiff alleges that, during foreclosure proceedings, “Defendants possessed documents reflecting . . . inconsistencies” in the ownership and transfer history of the note and mortgage to Wells Fargo, as well as omissions of “material information regarding other parties who still had unextinguished interests in the premises.” (Id. ¶¶ 54–56.) “At the time of [Default] Judgment, foreclosure records . . . could not be accessed remotely,” and only after records were digitized in 2020 was Plaintiff able to discover these omissions and inaccuracies. (Id. ¶¶ 47–48, 50, 54.) “Had Plaintiff been able to access these records before entry of [Default] Judgment, Plaintiff would have been able to expose earlier fraud engaged in by Wells Fargo against Plaintiff and against the

property,” (id. ¶ 49), and “the state court would have . . . declined to enter a default judgment against Plaintiff,” (id. ¶ 58). In February 2025, Plaintiff’s agent “sent an email to the Board Members” of Wells Fargo “concerning the loan and servicing history, title issues and recycling of debt to generate mortgage insurance revenue.” (Id. ¶¶ 62, 69.) The Board Members never responded. (Id. ¶ 63.) II. Procedural Background On November 18, 2025, Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, initiated a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York. (Dkt. 1.) After the Court held a Pre-Motion Conference regarding Defendants’ anticipated motion to dismiss, during which the Court explained that Plaintiff’s Complaint failed to state a claim for relief, the Court gave Plaintiff an opportunity to obtain counsel and move for leave to amend his Complaint. (04/21/2026 Min. Entry.) Plaintiff, now counseled, filed a proposed briefing schedule for the Motion for Leave to Amend on July 15, 2026, (Dkt. 21), and Motion for Leave to Amend on August 7, 2026, (Dkt. 24). Plaintiff’s PAC names as Defendants Wells Fargo; Nationstar; the Directors of Wells Fargo—Steven D. Black, Mark A.

Chancy, and Theodore F. Craver Jr (collectively, the “Director Defendants”); John and Jane Doe Defendants; and Stewart Title Guaranty Company d/b/a Stewart Title Agency (“Stewart Title”), the issuer of title insurance to Plaintiff and a lender policy to Nationstar. (See PAC, Dkt. 24-4, ¶¶ 12–19, 53.) Plaintiff claims that Defendants violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), because they “failed to adequately disclose material information relating to mortgage servicing and ownership at the time of making the loan” and “failed to respond appropriately” to Plaintiff’s February 13, 2025 report. (Id. ¶¶ 68–69.) Plaintiff also claims that Defendants violated the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) because they “failed to provide accurate disclosures concerning the loan transaction” and “failed to accurately disclose material information required by federal law.” (Id. ¶¶ 72–73.) Plaintiff also raises civil conspiracy, fraud in the inducement, and breach of

fiduciary duty claims. (Id. ¶¶ 75–93.) Plaintiff requests damages, injunctive relief, and declaratory relief. (See id. ¶¶ 94–101.) LEGAL STANDARD Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 15(a)(2) provides that “[t]he court should freely give leave [to amend] when justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). “Leave to amend may be denied ‘for good reason, including futility, bad faith, undue delay, or undue prejudice to the opposing party.’” Kim v. Kimm, 884 F.3d 98, 105 (2d Cir. 2018) (quoting McCarthy v. Dun & Bradstreet Corp., 482 F.3d 184, 200 (2d Cir. 2007)). Leave to amend is futile if the amended complaint “‘would be subject to dismissal for failure to state a [claim] upon which relief may be granted’ and therefore could not survive a [Rule] 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.” Doyle v. United Airlines, Inc., 914 F. Supp. 2d 325, 333 (E.D.N.Y. 2012) (quoting Candelaria v. Spurlock, No. 08- CV-1830 (BMC) (RER), 2008 WL 2640471, at *5 (E.D.N.Y. July 3, 2008)). To survive Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556

U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible on its face where it “pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). In reviewing a complaint for failure to state a claim, the Court accepts as true all factual allegations and draws from them all reasonable inferences, while disregarding “conclusory allegations or legal conclusions couched as factual allegations.” Hamilton v. Westchester Cnty., 3 F.4th 86, 90–91 (2d Cir. 2021) (quoting Dane v. UnitedHealthcare Ins. Co., 974 F.3d 183, 188 (2d Cir. 2020)). DISCUSSION The Court denies Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Amend as futile. Because of the large number of deficiencies in the PAC, Court does not identify all of reasons that the PAC would be

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Carlos Villanueva v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al., (E.D.N.Y. 2026).

Carlos Villanueva v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al. (Carlos Villanueva v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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