Evergreen Square of Cudahy v. Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority

105 F. Supp. 3d 907, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63322, 2015 WL 2344746
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedMay 14, 2015
DocketCase No. 13-CV-743-JPS
StatusPublished

This text of 105 F. Supp. 3d 907 (Evergreen Square of Cudahy v. Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Evergreen Square of Cudahy v. Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority, 105 F. Supp. 3d 907, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63322, 2015 WL 2344746 (E.D. Wis. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

J.P. STADTMUELLER, District Judge.

Before the Court are Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint (Docket # 7) and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s motion to dismiss the third-party complaint (Docket # 29). The Court will grant in part and deny in part both of these motions, for the reasons that follow.

1. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Evergreen Square of Cudahy, Grant Park Square Apartments Company, and Washington Square Apartments Company — each a Wisconsin business entity owning a multifamily rental housing project located in southeastern Wisconsin— bring this case against Wisconsin Hodsing and Economic Development Authority (‘WHEDA”), “a public body corporate and politic” of the State of Wisconsin, seeking remedies for alleged breaches of contracts. (See Docket # 4).

In particular, each plaintiff asserts claims based upon a contract it entered into with WHEDA in order to receive federal rental subsidies passing through WHEDA from the United - States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) as part of a program under Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (“Section 8”), 42 U.S.C. § 1437f. (Docket #4). The plaintiffs allege three breach of contract claims (Counts I, II, and III) and also request a declaratory judgment (Count IV)- Id. at 9-14.

WHEDA, in turn, filed a third-party complaint against HUD that alleges three causes of action. (Docket # 19). In Count I, WHEDA alleges that if the Court finds that WHEDA breached its HAP contracts with the plaintiffs, HUD is responsible for those breaches and owes '“damages [to WHEDA] for all costs and expenses that it has sustained or will sustain to remedy those breaches.” Id. at 7. WHEDA’s third-party complaint also includes á claim under the' Administrative Procedure Act (Count II) and a request for a declaratory judgment (Count III). Id. at 7-9.

On August 29, 2013, WHEDA filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ amended complaint for failure to state a claim, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Docket # 7). Thereafter, HUD took a similar tactic and filed a motion to dismiss WHEDA’s third-party complaint, pursuant to both Rule 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). (Docket # 29). Both motions to dismiss were fully briefed in mid-January, 2014.

On February 28, 2014, the Court granted both motions to dismiss, finding “no basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction over this case.” (Docket # 37 at 2). The plaintiffs appealed (Docket # 39) and WHEDA cross-appealed (Docket # 44). On January 12, 2015, the Seventh Circuit reversed this Court’s decision and remanded this case “with instructions to reinstate [the plaintiffs’] [a]mended [c]omplaint and WHEDA’s [t]hird-[p]arty [c]omplaint.” Evergreen Square of Cudahy v. Wisconsin Hous. & Econ. Dev. Auth., 776 F.3d 463, 469 (7th Cir.2015). The Seventh Circuit found that this case met the requirements of .the “federal, ingredient doctrine,” see One & Ken Valley Hous. Grp. v. Maine State Hous. Auth, 716 F.3d 218, 224 (1st Cir.2013), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 134 S.Ct. 986, 187 L.Ed.2d 775 (2014), which defines a “slim category” of cases where [910]*910“ ‘arising under jurisdiction still lies/ ” despite involving claims with “‘origins in state rather than federal law.’ ” See Evergreen Square, 776 F.3d at 465-66'(quoting Gunn v. Minton, — U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 1059, 1064, 185 L.Ed.2d 72 (2013)); id. at 468 (“We find that this case fits within the ‘special and small category of cases’ in which federal ‘arising under’ jurisdiction lies over a complaint raising state-law causes of action.”).

After the Court' received the Seventh Circuit’s mandate (Docket # 52), the Court scheduled a ■ Fed.R.Civ.P. 16 scheduling conference (see Docket # 54); that conference was held on April 8, 2015 (see Docket # 56). At the Rule 16 conference, the parties and the Court discussed the best way to proceed in this case. Id. The parties requested — in the joint Rule 26(f) report and at the Rule 16 conference — that the Court first rule on the previously filed motions to dismiss. {See Docket #55) (“[T]he parties suggest that the Court decide the motions [to 'dismiss] on the current briefing and suspend all other proceedings in this case until the Court makes a decision on the motions.”); (Docket # 56). The Court indicated its willingness to do so. (SeeDocket #56). .

True to its word, the Court now turns to WHEDA’s and HUD’s motions to dismiss. Before reaching the merits of those motions, however, the Court will first lay out the .applicable legal standard. and give a synopsis of Section 8. ■ - ?

2. WHEDA’S AND HUD’S MOTIONS TO DISMISS

2.1 Legal Standard

“A motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) challenges the viability of a complaint by arguing that it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” Camasta v. Jos. A Bank Clothiers, Inc., 761 F.3d 732, 736 (7th Cir.2014). When reviewing a- complaint, the Court construes it in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, accepts as true all well-pleaded facts alleged, and draws all. reasonable inferences, in the plaintiffs favor. See Foxxxy Ladyz Adult World, Inc. v. Vill. of Dix, Ill., 779 F.3d 706, 711 (7th Cir.2015).

To survive a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), “the complaint must provide enough factual information to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face’ and ‘raise a right to relief above the speculative level.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)); see Runnion ex rel. Runnion v. Girl Scouts of Greater Chi. & Nw. Ind., 786 F.3d 510, 526 (7th Cir.2015) (explaining that a plausible claim need only “‘include enough details about the subject-matter of the case.to present a story that holds together.’”) (quoting Carlson v. CSX Transp., Inc., 758 F.3d 819, 827 (7th Cir.2014)). Thus, a plausible claim is one with “enough facts to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence supporting the plaintiffs allegations.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

To state a plausible claim, a plaintiff is not, however, required to plead specific or detailed facts, see Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93, 127 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
105 F. Supp. 3d 907, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63322, 2015 WL 2344746, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/evergreen-square-of-cudahy-v-wisconsin-housing-economic-development-wied-2015.