Cruz v. Capital One, N.A.

192 F. Supp. 3d 832, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83526, 2016 WL 3522321
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJune 28, 2016
DocketCase Number 15-13543
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 192 F. Supp. 3d 832 (Cruz v. Capital One, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cruz v. Capital One, N.A., 192 F. Supp. 3d 832, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83526, 2016 WL 3522321 (E.D. Mich. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS AND DISMISSING COMPLAINT WITH PREJUDICE

DAVID M. LAWSON, United States Distinct Judge

Plaintiffs Cosme and Shirleann Cruz filed this action alleging that defendant Capital One, N.A. wrongfully foreclosed the mortgage on their family home to enforce collection of a delinquent promissory note. They identified six causes of action in their complaint. The defendant, maintaining that the complaint did not state a claim for which relief could be granted, moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The plaintiffs’ response to the motion did not attempt to justify or support any of the pleaded claims. Instead, the plaintiffs made a new claim for fraudulent misrepresentation, to which the defendant responded to the new claim in its reply brief. The parties agreed that- the motion could be decided without oral argument, and the court finds that the motion papers adequately set forth the relevant facts and law, and oral argument will not aid in the disposition of the motion. Therefore, it is ORDERED that the motion be decided on the papers submitted. See E.D. Mich. LR 7.1(f)(2).

Because the plaintiffs have not alleged that they were prejudiced by a fraud or irregularity in the foreclosure proceeding, which would make the foreclosure voidable, their claims based on wrongful foreclosure fail. The plaintiffs also have not pleaded with particularity their claim of fraudulent misrepresentation. Therefore, the motion to dismiss will be granted and the complaint will be dismissed with prejudice.

I.

According to the complaint and the available public records, the plaintiffs' borrowed $360,000 on December 14, 2007 from ING Bank, FSB. That same day, they granted the lender a- mortgage interest on real property located at 1017 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan (the “Property”). The mortgage was recorded on December 20, 2007. On August 11, 2014, the mortgage was assigned to defendant Capital One as successor by merger to ING Bank,

The plaintiffs allege that after several years of making all required payments under the note and mortgage, they were temporarily unable to meet their payment obligations. Aware that they were not making their payments, the plaintiffs allege that they watched diligently for any and all notices with respect to their mdrt> gage. The plaintiffs allege that the defendant never sent a notice of default (as required by paragraph 22 of the mortgage) giving the plaintiffs notice of their rights [835]*835and 30 days to cure the default before the lender invoked the acceleration clause. The plaintiffs allege that under paragraph 19 of the mortgage, exercising the right to reinstate requires payment of a much higher amount than just curing the pre-acceleration default, although that provision of the mortgage actually requires payment' of all amounts then due “as if no acceleration had taken place,” Nonetheless, the plaintiffs allege that the defendant wrongfully accelerated the debt, thus effectively nullifying the plaintiffs’ right to cure, which left them with only two options: (1) to pay the amount required to reinstate the loan; ,or (2) to pay the accelerated loan balance in full. The plaintiffs assert that they would have paid the alleged past due payments, late fees, and all the other fees necessary to reinstate under paragraph 19 of the mortgage had they received the notice of sale. It is not clear when, but it appears that the plaintiffs were engaged in the loan modification process with the defendant,

The defendant initiated foreclosure proceedings by advertisement on November 18, 2014. The defendant purchased the Property at the foreclosure sale for $195,275.61 on February 20, 2015. August 20, 2015 became the redemption deadline. The plaintiffs do not allege that they attempted to redeem the Property within the redemption period. Five days after the redemption period expired, the plaintiffs allege that they sent a qualified written request to the defendant requesting a copy of the note, but no response was received as of the date the complaint was filed.

The plaintiffs also allege that they contacted attorney Steven Ruza to assist them in investigating the foreclosure and to help them with their loan modification or other loss mitigation activities with the defendant. The plaintiffs contend that throughout the representation, attorney Ruza assured the plaintiffs that he was actively working with the defendant on the plaintiffs’ loan modification. They further allege that attorney Ruza took their money, but failed to meet his responsibilities under the agreement. On May 9, 2015, attorney Ruza was charged with thirty criminal felony counts by the Michigan attorney general, which included racketeering and obtaining money by false pretenses related to attorney' Ruza’s promises to homeowners that he would help them save their homes. The plaintiffs allege that as a result of attorney . Ruza’s deceptive and fraudulent practices, they were left without information on the status of their file with Ruza and uninformed about whether anything had been done with their loan modification.

The plaintiffs allege that they were qualified for a loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) or other loan modification. They say that they were and are able to afford a reasonable monthly mortgage payment should the defendant work with them to modify the loan. The plaintiffs allege that they have suffered damages as a result of thé defendant’s misconduct.

On September 23, 2015, the plaintiffs filed their complaint in the Macomb County Circuit Court alleging six causes of action: (1) wrongful foreclosure; (2) breach of contract; (3) slander of title; (4) declaratory relief foreclosure barred by unclean hands;, (5) preliminary injunction; and (6) request for equitable mortgage and/or for conversion to judicial foreclosure. The defendant removed the case to this Court on October 8, 2015, thereafter filing its motion to dismiss.

n.

As noted, the defendant’s motion is brought under Federal Rule of:Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). “The purpose of Rule 12(b)(6) is to allow a defendant to test whether, as a matter of law, the plaintiff is [836]*836entitled to legal relief if all the facts and allegations in the complaint are taken as true.” Rippy ex rel. Rippy v. Hattaway, 270 F.3d 416, 419 (6th Cir.2001) (citing Mayer v. Mylod, 988 F.2d 635, 638 (6th Cir.1993)). Under Rule 12(b)(6), the complaint is viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the allegations in the complaint are accepted as true, and all reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the plaintiff. Bassett v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 528 F.3d 426, 430 (6th Cir.2008). “However, while liberal, this standard of review does require more than the bare assertion of legal conclusions.” Columbia Nat’l Res., Inc. v. Tatum, 58 F.3d 1101, 1109 (6th Cir.1995); Tackett v. M & G Polymers, USA, L.L.C., 561 F.3d 478, 488 (6th Cir.2009). “To survive a motion to dismiss, [a plaintiff] must plead ‘enough factual matter’ that, when taken as true, ‘state[s] a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Plausibility requires showing more than the ‘sheer possibility of relief but less than a ‘probab[le]’ entitlement to relief. Ashcroft v.

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Bluebook (online)
192 F. Supp. 3d 832, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83526, 2016 WL 3522321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cruz-v-capital-one-na-mied-2016.