Freeman v. ABC Legal Services, Inc.

877 F. Supp. 2d 919, 2012 WL 2589965, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92404
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJuly 3, 2012
DocketNos. C-11-3007 EMC, C-11-3542 EMC, C-11-3805 EMC, C-11-3824 EMC, C-11-5152 EMC, C-12-0624 EMC, C-12-0642 EMC, C-12-0644 EMC, C-12-0678 EMC, C-12-1693 EMC, C-12-1696 EMC, C-12-1904 EMC, C-12-1911 EMC, C-12-1914 EMC
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 877 F. Supp. 2d 919 (Freeman v. ABC Legal Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Freeman v. ABC Legal Services, Inc., 877 F. Supp. 2d 919, 2012 WL 2589965, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92404 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

Opinion

[921]*921ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTIONS FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS, MOTIONS TO STRIKE, AND MOTIONS TO DISMISS

EDWARD M. CHEN, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION1

Plaintiffs in each of these individual actions have filed suit against ABC Legal Services, Inc., (“ABC”), and individual process servers who worked for ABC. ABC is in the business of filing and processing legal forms. Each Plaintiff raises claims against ABC and the process servers for alleged instances of “sewer service.” See Freeman v. ABC Legal Services Inc., 827 F.Supp.2d 1065, 1068 n. 1 (N.D.Cal.2011) (“Sewer service is defined as ‘failing to serve a debtor and filing a fraudulent affidavit attesting to service so that when the debtor later fails to appear in court, a default judgment is entered against him.’ ”) (quoting Spiegel v. Judicial Atty. Servs., 2011 WL 382809, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9350 (N.D.Ill. Feb. 1, 2011)). Plaintiffs assert claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 (“FDCPA”), the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, California Civil Code § 1788 (“RFDCPA”), and California Business and Professions Code § 17200 (“UCL”). Currently pending before the Court' are Defendant ABC’s motions for judgment on the pleadings, motions to dismiss, and motions to strike Plaintiffs’ injunctive relief claims under § 17200. See Mot., 11-3007, Docket No. 61.

II. DISCUSSION

ABC styles its motions under various Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. First, it states that it brings a Rule 12(c) motion for partial judgment on the pleadings as to Plaintiffs’ claims for injunctive relief and violation of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 (“UCL”). Docket No. 61 at 1-2. Second, it states that it brings a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, on the basis that there is no case or controversy regarding Plaintiffs’ UCL claim. Id. at 2. Third, for the cases in which ABC has not yet filed responsive pleadings, ABC substitutes a 12(b)(6) motion for the 12(c) motion described above, and also asserts a Rule 12(f) motion to strike Plaintiffs’ injunctive relief claims.

The Court’s subject matter jurisdiction over these actions as a whole is not in dispute in these cases because each Plaintiff asserts claims arising under federal law, namely the FDCPA. ABC does not [922]*922challenge those claims in its motions. Instead, ABC challenges Plaintiffs’ standing to seek injunctive relief under the UCL or any other claim. Further, because Plaintiffs seek only injunctive relief under the UCL, ABC argues they have failed to state a UCL claim. Accordingly, however styled, the Court shall address the following legal issues:

(1) Whether Plaintiffs have standing and have stated a claim under the UCL; and
(2) Whether injunctive relief is available under any of Plaintiffs’ claims.

A. Legal Standard

“Because standing and ripeness pertain to federal courts’ subject matter jurisdiction, they are properly raised in a [Federal] Rule [of Civil Procedure] 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss.” Chandler v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 598 F.3d 1115, 1121-22 (9th Cir.2010). “A jurisdictional challenge under Rule 12(b)(1) may be made either on the face of the pleadings or by presenting extrinsic evidence.” Warren v. Fox Family Worldwide, Inc., 328 F.3d 1136, 1139 (9th Cir.2003). Here, ABC asserts only a facial challenge; therefore, the Court must accept all allegations of fact in the complaint as true. See Warren v. Fox Family Worldwide, Inc., 328 F.3d 1136, 1139 (9th Cir.2003) (citing Zimmerman v. City of Oakland, 255 F.3d 734, 737 (9th Cir.2001)).

Under Rule 12(b)(6), a party may move to dismiss based on the failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). A motion to dismiss based on Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the legal sufficiency of the claims alleged. See Parks Sch. of Bus. v. Symington, 51 F.3d 1480, 1484 (9th Cir.1995). In considering such a motion, a court must take all allegations of material fact as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, although “conclusory allegations of law and unwarranted inferences are insufficient to avoid a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal.” Cousins v. Lockyer, 568 F.3d 1063, 1067 (9th Cir.2009). While “a complaint need not contain detailed factual allegations ... it must plead ‘enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Id. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that 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); see also Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than sheer possibility that a defendant acted unlawfully.” Id.

Under Rule 12(c), “a party may move for judgment on the pleadings” after the pleadings are closed “but early enough not to delay trial.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). A Rule 12(c) motion is “ ‘functionally identical’ ” to a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, and therefore the same legal standard applies. Cafasso v. General Dynamics C4 Sys., Inc., 637 F.3d 1047, 1055 n. 4 (9th Cir.2011).

Under Rule 12(f), “[a] court may strike from a pleading an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(f). “Immaterial matter is that which has no essential or important relationship to the claim for relief or the defenses being pleaded.” Fantasy, Inc. v. Fogerty, 984 F.2d 1524, 1527 (9th Cir.1993) (internal quotation marks omitted), overruled on other grounds, Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., 510 U.S. 517, 114 S.Ct. 1023, 127 L.Ed.2d 455 (1994). As indicated by the language of the rule, “ ‘[t]he function of a 12(f) motion to strike is to avoid the expen[923]

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877 F. Supp. 2d 919, 2012 WL 2589965, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/freeman-v-abc-legal-services-inc-cand-2012.