City of Miami v. JPMorgan Chase & Co.

171 F. Supp. 3d 1309, 2016 WL 1156882, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56116
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedMarch 18, 2016
DocketCASE NO. 1:14-CV-22205-WPD
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 171 F. Supp. 3d 1309 (City of Miami v. JPMorgan Chase & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Miami v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., 171 F. Supp. 3d 1309, 2016 WL 1156882, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56116 (S.D. Fla. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT

WILLIAM P. DIMITROULEAS, United States District Judge

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon the Motion to Dismiss Second Amended Complaint (the “Motion”) [DE 42], filed herein on December 14, 2015 by Defendants JPMorgan Chase & Company (“Chase & Co”), JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase Bank”), JPMorgan Chase, and Chase Manhattan Bank USA, N.A. (“Defendants”). The Court has carefully considered the Motion [DE 42], the Plaintiff City of Miami (“Plaintiff’ or “City”)’s Response [DE 45], the Defendants’ Reply [DE 46], and the oral arguments made by counsel at the March 11, 2016, hearing. The Court is otherwise fully advised in the premises.

I. BACKGROUND

This suit is brought pursuant to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (“FHA”), as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., to seek redress against Defendants

for the economic impact of its longstanding, unbroken policy and practice of [1311]*1311steering minority borrowers in Miami into “predatory” mortgage loans (defined herein as loans that have higher costs and risk features than more favorable and less expensive loans issued to similarly situated white borrowers) and for its policy of refusing to extend credit to minority borrowers who desired to refinance the more expensive loans they previously received when such credit was extended to white borrowers.

Sec. Am. Comp. [DE 40] at ¶ 1.

On October 9, 2014, prior to ruling on Defendants’ motion to dismiss, the Court entered an order staying stay further proceedings in this action pending the Eleventh Circuit’s resolution of appeals filed by the City in the three related actions, in which the Court had granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss: City of Miami v. Bank of Am. Corp., No. 1:13-ev-24506-WPD; City of Miami v. CitiGroup Inc., No. 1:13-cv-24510-WPD; and City of Miami v. Wells Fargo & Co., No. 1:13-cv-24508-WPD. See [DE 38],

In the dismissal orders on appeal, the Court held the City lacked statutory standing to sue under the FHA1, that the City’s FHA claim was barred by the statute of limitations, and that the City’s claim for unjust enrichment failed to state a claim. See id. Although the Court held that it was “possible that an amendment could remedy the statute of limitations problems the Court [ ] identified with Plaintiffs Complaint,” the Court ruled that an attempted amendment would be futile because of the City’s lack of standing under the FHA to bring the action. See [DE 71] in case no. 1:13-cv-24506-WPD at p. 14, n. 4. On September 1, 2015, the Eleventh Circuit entered an Order affirming the Court’s dismissal of the City’s unjust enrichment claim for failure to state a claim, reversing the Court’s dismissal as to statutory standing under the FHA, and remanding to allow the City the opportunity to replead in attempt to cure the time-bar problem. See City of Miami v. Bank of America Corp., 800 F.3d 1262, 1284, 1286-87 (11th Cir.2015) (“Appeal Op.”).

The Eleventh Circuit’s opinion also provided guidance to the parties and the Court on remand. For the City to avoid another dismissal, it must plead a timely FHA claim by alleging sufficient facts to demonstrate discriminatory loans that were a continuation of Defendants’ alleged practices closed within the limitations period. See Appeal Op., 800 F.3d at 1283-84. However, if the City could plead sufficient facts to show that such discriminatory loans closed within the limitations period, the City could “plausibly invoke the continuing violation doctrine” “at least at the pleading stage,” despite the alleged changes over the years in the burdensome terms of the Defendants’ mortgage loans. Appeal Op., 800 F.3d at 1284-86. Additionally, regarding the pleading requirements for a disparate impact claim under the FHA, the Eleventh Circuit guided the parties and the Court that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2507, 192 L.Ed.2d 514 (2015) (“Inclusive Communities ”) “may materially affect the resolution of this [1312]*1312case.” Appeal Op. at 1286. Thus, it instructed that:

Any newly pled complaint must take into account the evolving law on disparate impact in the FHA context. Without the new pleadings before us, we have no occasion to pass judgment on how Inclusive Communities will impact this case, but we flag the issue both for the parties and for the district court on remand.

Appeal Op. at 1287.

On November 30, 2015, the.City filed its Se'cond Amended Complaint. [DE 40] (“SAC”). Defendants now move to, dismiss the SAC on the grounds that (1) the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (“FIRREA”) deprives this Court of jurisdiction over “any claim relating to any act or omission” of Washington Mutual Bank (“WaMu”), a failed bank; (2) the City engages in improper group pleading; (3) the City fails to allege a timely violation of the FHA; and (4) the City fails to plead a disparate impact claim under Inclusive Communities. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Motion to Dismiss Standard

Under Rule 12(b)(6), a motion to dismiss should be granted if the plaintiff is unable to articulate “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility when the pleaded factual content allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). When determining whether a claim has facial plausibility, “a court must view a complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and accept all of the plaintiffs well-pleaded facts as true.” Am. United Life Ins. Co. v. Martinez, 480 F.3d 1043, 1066 (11th Cir.2007).

However, the court need not take allegations as true if they are merely “threadbare recitals of a cause of action’s elements, supported by mere conelusory statements.” Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949. “Mere labels and conclusions or a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do, and a plaintiff cannot rely on naked assertions devoid of further factual enhancement.” Franklin v. Curry, 738 F.3d 1246, 1251 (11th Cir.2013). “[I]f allegations are indeed more conelusory than factual, then the court does not have to assume their truth.” Chaparro v. Carnival Corp., 693 F.3d 1333, 1337 (11th Cir.2012).

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City of Miami Gardens v. Wells Fargo & Co.
328 F. Supp. 3d 1369 (S.D. Florida, 2018)

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Bluebook (online)
171 F. Supp. 3d 1309, 2016 WL 1156882, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-miami-v-jpmorgan-chase-co-flsd-2016.