Garrett v. BNC Mortgage, Inc.

929 F. Supp. 2d 1120, 2013 WL 878749, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32296
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedMarch 7, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 11-cv-03242-PAB-BNB
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 929 F. Supp. 2d 1120 (Garrett v. BNC Mortgage, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garrett v. BNC Mortgage, Inc., 929 F. Supp. 2d 1120, 2013 WL 878749, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32296 (D. Colo. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

PHILIP A. BRIMMER, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge (the “Recommendation”) [Docket No. 30] filed on August 3, 2012.

I. BACKGROUND

The undisputed facts are as follows. On June 26, 2006, plaintiffs Michelle and Richard L. Garrett refinanced their home mortgage loan with defendant BNC Mortgage, Inc. (“BNC”). Docket No. 1 at 5, ¶¶ 12-13; Docket No. 22 at 2. In early 2009, plaintiffs defaulted on the loan. Docket No. 1 at 8, ¶ 32. In May 2011, Mr. Garrett filed for bankruptcy. Docket No. 1 at 11, ¶ 50; Docket No. 22 at 2. U.S. Bank, N.A. (“U.S.Bank”) filed a motion for relief from the automatic stay, which the bankruptcy court granted in September 2011.1 Docket No. 1 at 11-12, ¶¶ 52, 58; Docket No. 22 at 2. Plaintiffs filed a motion for reconsideration of the court’s grant of relief from the automatic stay, which was denied. Docket No. 1 at 12, ¶ 59-60. On November 2, 2011, the property was sold at a foreclosure sale. Docket No. 1 at 12, ¶ 61; Docket No. 22 at 2.

On December 12, 2011, plaintiffs, acting pro se, brought this case against BNC, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc. (“Wells Fargo”),2 and Aronowitz & Mecklenburg, LLP,3 alleging violations of state and federal debt collection laws, violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”), violations of state laws governing mortgage loans, and civil conspiracy. Docket No. 1 at 16-34. Defendant Aronowitz & Mecklenburg moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), (2), (5), [1123]*1123and (6), Docket No. 17, and the Court granted its motion. Docket No. 33.

Defendants U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, and MERS4 moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Docket No. 22. The magistrate judge recommended that this motion be granted in part and denied in part. Docket No. 30. The moving defendants filed timely objections to the Recommendation. Docket No. 32. Plaintiffs did not file any objections.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

In the absence of an objection, the Court may review a magistrate judge’s recommendation under any standard it deems appropriate. See Summers v. Utah, 927 F.2d 1165, 1167 (10th Cir.1991); see also Thomas v. Am, 474 U.S. 140, 150, 106 S.Ct. 466, 88 L.Ed.2d 435 (1985) (“[i]t does not appear that Congress intended to require district court review of a magistrate’s factual or legal conclusions, under a de novo or any other standard, when neither party objects to those findings”). However, the district court must review de novo any part of a magistrate judge’s recommendation that has been properly objected to. Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b)(3).

The moving defendants challenge plaintiffs’ claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Dismissal of a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) is appropriate where the plaintiff fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For a complaint to state a claim, it must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed.R.Civ.P. (8)(a)(2). Rule 8(a)’s “short and plain statement” language requires that a plaintiff allege enough factual matter that, taken as true, makes her “claim to relief ... plausible on its face.” Bryson v. Gonzales, 534 F.3d 1282, 1286 (10th Cir.2008) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). This “plausibility” standard requires that relief must plausibly follow from the facts alleged, not that the facts themselves be plausible. Bryson, 534 F.3d at 1286. In considering a plaintiffs claims, the Court “must accept all the well-pleaded allegations of the complaint as true and must construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Alvarado v. KOB-TV, LLC, 493 F.3d 1210, 1215 (10th Cir.2007).

Because plaintiffs are proceeding pro se, the Court construes their pleadings liberally. Haines v. Kemer, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972); Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir.1991).

III. DISCUSSION

A. Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts

Plaintiffs allege that defendants violated § 1692f of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), which prohibits “[tjaking or threatening to take any nonjudicial action to effect dispossession or disablement of property if — (A) there is no present right to possession of the property claimed as collateral through an enforceable security interest.” 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6)(A). Plaintiffs also allege that defendants U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo violated the Colorado FDCPA (“CFDCPA”), which is patterned on federal law, Flood v. Mercantile Adjustment Bureau, LLC, 176 P.3d 769, 772 (Colo.2008), by failing to provide a written notice outlining the amount owed and the name of the secured creditor and by failing to [1124]*1124abide by the statutory requirements when plaintiffs disputed their debts. Colo.Rev. Stat. §§ 12-14-105(3)(a), 12-14-109(1).

The magistrate judge recommended denying the motion to dismiss with respect to plaintiffs’ federal and state debt collection claims against defendants U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. Docket No. 30 at 10-13. U.S. Bank objects on the grounds that plaintiffs’ claims are precluded by the bankruptcy court’s grant of relief from the automatic stay and that non-judicial foreclosure is not debt collection activity subject to the FDCPA. Docket No. 32 at 6-9. Wells Fargo objects on the ground that, in this case, it did not act as a debt collector within the meaning of the FDCPA or the CFDCPA. Docket No. 32 at 8-10.

1. Issue Preclusion

Defendant U.S. Bank argues that plaintiffs’ first and second claims for relief, pursuant to the FDCPA and CFDCPA, are precluded because they are premised on the underlying assertion that U.S. Bank lacked standing to foreclose, which, U.S. Bank argues, was determined by the bankruptcy court when it granted relief from the automatic stay and denied Mr. Garrett’s motion for reconsideration of that order.5 Docket No. 32 at 6-8.

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Bluebook (online)
929 F. Supp. 2d 1120, 2013 WL 878749, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32296, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garrett-v-bnc-mortgage-inc-cod-2013.