Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Doral Financial Corp.

841 F. Supp. 2d 593, 2012 WL 234667, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9569
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJanuary 26, 2012
DocketCivil No. 11-1344 (SEC)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 841 F. Supp. 2d 593 (Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Doral Financial Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Doral Financial Corp., 841 F. Supp. 2d 593, 2012 WL 234667, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9569 (prd 2012).

Opinion

OPINION and ORDER

SALVADOR E. CASELLAS, Senior District Judge.

Before the Court are defendants’ motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) (Dockets # 22 and 41), and plaintiffs opposition thereto (Dockets # 29 and 47). After reviewing the filings and the applicable [597]*597law, defendants’ motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

Background

The present suit stems from the alleged mishandling of a $658,874 check (the “Check”) and is premised on 12 C.F.R. § 229.32(c) as well as under Puerto Rico’ Civil Code and Law of Negotiable Instruments. Plaintiff is Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas (“Deutsche”), a New York chartered bank headquartered in Manhattan, New York. Docket # 16, ¶ 4. Defendants, on the other hand, are Doral Financial Corporation (“DFC”) and its wholly owned subsidiary Doral Bank (“Doral”) (collectively, “Defendants”), two Puerto Rico chartered banking enterprises. The events underlying Deutsche’s claims, as averred in the complaint, follow.1

In November 2007, Deutsche received the Check for collection from a non-United States customer. The Check was drawn on a Bank of America account, makers Nasser Ghazi and Erym Khan Ghazi, for payee Vista Real Estate, Ltd. Deutsche, who was the bank of first deposit, processed the Check and presented it to the Federal Reserve Bank for payment from Bank of America. The latter, however, refused payment on the Check due to insufficient funds in the Ghazi account. Things unraveled thereafter.

Upon returning the Check to the Federal Reserve, Bank of America mistakenly identified Defendants as the bank of first deposit, so the Federal Reserve sent the Check to them. Defendants then sat on the Check for several weeks. Thus, unaware of the issues with the Check, Deutsche incorrectly credited its customer’s account for $658,874 on December 5, 2007.

On January 23, 2008, Defendants submitted a “Not Our Item” adjustment claim on the Check to the Federal Reserve. The claim, however, was denied because the 20-day deadline for its filing had expired. The same day, Defendants notified Deutsche about the Check and requested a reimbursement, alleging that their account had been incorrectly debited for the Check amount. Deutsche refused. Nevertheless, the Federal Reserve eventually reimbursed Defendants and, on February 21, 2008, debited Deutsche’s account for $658,874.

Immediately, Deutsche began efforts with the Federal Reserve to obtain additional information regarding the Check and continued trying to resolve the dispute with Defendants. On May 5, 2008, the Federal Reserve sent a letter to Deutsche explaining the reasons behind the $658,874 debit and Defendants’ actions in connection with it.2

On July 25, 2008, Deutsche sent a letter to Defendants, claiming that they had negligently mishandled the Check and re[598]*598questing a reimbursement.3 Defendants nonetheless denied any wrongdoing, and a second collection letter followed on September 25, 2008. Still unable to collect the Check, Deutsche’s counsel continued pressing Defendants for payment, contacting them in February, April, June, and July of 2009.4 Defendants remained unyielding. So, on May 5, 2010, Deutsche informed them that it would file suit if payment was not forthcoming before May 20,2010. Docket # 29-16.

On June 9, 2010, Deutsche made good on its word; it filed suit against Doral in New York’s Supreme Court under the Uniform Commercial Code and New York’s general tort statute. Docket # 1-9. That suit, however, ended on January 6, 2011 through a stipulation of dismissal without prejudice. Docket #29-2. This case began three months later. Docket #1.

As stated above, Deutsche’s complaint is premised on both federal and state law. And, in pertinent part, it states that “had [Defendants] properly handled the Check as a Not Our Item when [they] received the same, the Check would have been properly researched and returned ... in a timely manner [which] would have enabled Plaintiff to charge the Check to its Customer.” Docket # 16, ¶ 21. After preliminary procedural nuances, Defendants moved to dismiss, claiming that Deutsche’s complaint as drafted fails the pleading standards imposed in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Alternatively, Defendants also contend that all causes of action are time barred. Id. Deutsche timely opposed each contention. Docket # 29.

Standard of Review

To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, Plaintiffs’ "well-pleaded facts must possess enough heft to show that [they are] entitled to relief." Clark v. Boscher, 514 F.3d 107, 112 (1st Cir.2008).5 In evaluating whether Plaintiffs are entitled to relief, the court must accept as true all "well-pleaded facts [and indulge] all reasonable inferences" in plaintiff’s favor. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955. The First Circuit has held that "dismissal for failure to state a claim is appropriate if the complaint fails to set forth factual allegations, either direct or inferential, respecting each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable legal theory." Gagliardi v. Sullivan, 513 F.3d 301, 305 (1st Cir.2008). Courts "may augment the facts in the complaint by reference to documents annexed to the complaint or fairly incorporated into it, and matters susceptible to judicial notice." Id. at 305-306. Nevertheless, in judging the sufficiency of a complaint, courts must "differentiate between well-pleaded facts, on the one hand, and `bald assertions, unsupportable conclusions, periphrastic circumlocution, and the like,’ on the other hand; the former must be credited, but [599]*599the latter can safely be ignored." LaChapelle v. Berkshire Life Ins., 142 F.3d 507, 508 (1st Cir.1998) (quoting Aulson v. Blanchard, 83 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1996)); Buck v. American Airlines, Inc., 476 F.3d 29, 33 (1st Cir.2007); see also Rogan v. Menino, 175 F.3d 75, 77 (1st Cir.1999). Thus, Plaintiffs must rely on more than unsupported conclusions or interpretations of law, as these will be rejected. Berner v. Delahanty, 129 F.3d 20, 25 (1st Cir.1997) (citing Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 515 (1st Cir.1988)).

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841 F. Supp. 2d 593, 2012 WL 234667, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9569, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deutsche-bank-trust-co-americas-v-doral-financial-corp-prd-2012.