In re Kissi

923 F. Supp. 2d 1367, 2013 WL 489023, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17182
CourtUnited States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
DecidedFebruary 6, 2013
DocketMDL No. 2425
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 923 F. Supp. 2d 1367 (In re Kissi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Kissi, 923 F. Supp. 2d 1367, 2013 WL 489023, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17182 (jpml 2013).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING TRANSFER

JOHN G. HEYBURN II, Chairman.

Before the Panel: Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, pro se litigants David Kissi and his wife, Edith Truvillion (the Kissis), move to centralize this litigation in the Central District of California. This litigation currently consists of three actions, as listed on Schedule A, pending in the District of District of Columbia and the District of Maryland. Bank of America, N.A. and Specialized Loan Servicing, LLC (collectively, BANA), plaintiffs in the District of Maryland action, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (Wells Fargo), and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (the Mayor), defendants in one of the District of District of Columbia actions, all oppose centralization.

The motion for centralization is plainly frivolous and merits not only denial, but limitation of the Kissis’ ability to continue taxing both the Panel’s and the parties’ limited time and resources. ,

I.

An exhaustive history of the Kissis’ conduct in the federal courts would be too long to set forth in this order, nor is it necessary. Judge Thomas C. .Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims provides some background for the genesis of-this litigation:

[The Kissis] previously owned DK & R Company, Inc. (“DK & R”). Between [1368]*13681993 and 1996, DK & R obtained three loans (“the DK & R loans”), two from the Money Store and one from Key Bank, N.A. The [Small Business Administration (SBA) ] guaranteed part of the loans, and the Kissis also personally guaranteed the loans. After DK & R failed to make timely payments on the loans, the SBA paid its guarantee obligations and then sold the loans to Pram-co II, LLC (“Pramco”). The SBA transferred the Money Store loans to Pramco on December 5, 2000 and transferred the Key Bank loan to Pramco on August 7, 2001. On May 29, 2003, Pramco obtained a judgment against the Kissis in the sum of $328,279.55.

Kissi v. United States, 102 Fed.Cl. 31, 33 (2011) (internal citations omitted). Thereafter, the Kissis engaged in what can only be described as a pattern of vexatious and harassing lawsuits against numerous entities and individuals connected to the Pramco litigation and the related bankruptcy proceedings. See Kissi v. Clement, C.A. No. 08-01784, 2008 WL 7526326, at *1-3 (N.D.Ohio Oct. 3, 2008) (describing subsequent litigation).

Mr. Kissi, in particular, has been deemed a vexatious litigant and enjoined from filing further lawsuits by four federal courts. See Kissi v. Pramco II, LLC, 401 Fed.Appx. 786, 787 (4th Cir.2010) (enjoining Kissi from filing any further appeals in the Fourth Circuit until sanction of $500 is paid to DLA Piper and a district court judge certifies his claim is not frivolous); Kissi v. United States, 102 Fed.Cl. at 36-38, aff'd, 493 Fed.Appx. 57 (Fed.Cir.2012) (enjoining Kissi from filing actions in Court of Federal Claims without leave of court); Kissi v. Clement, 2008 WL 7526326, at *5-6 (requiring Kissi to obtain leave of court before filing any further lawsuits in N.D. Ohio); Pramco II, LLC v. Kissi, C.A. No. 8:03-02241, Doc. No. 53-1 (D.Md. Oct. 10, 2003) (enjoining Kissi from continuing or filing further lawsuits in any federal or state court attempting to re-litigate the Pramco judgment).1 The District of Maryland recently denied Mr. Kissi’s request to set aside the injunction in that court, observing that:

1) Kissi’s dozens of vexatious lawsuits have been directed against numerous individuals as well as organizational entities, often against the same Defendants multiple times;
2) Both in his court papers and in out-of-court statements, Kissi has continuously maligned the individuals and organizations whom he has sued, including Judges of [the District of Maryland] and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit;
3) Kissi was sentenced to thirty (30) months plus one (1) day in prison for violating the terms of this Court’s injunction, as part of a conviction on two (2) counts of bankruptcy fraud, three (3) counts of obstruction of justice, and two (2) counts of criminal contempt of Court;
4) Except for a few technical successes, Kissi has lost virtually every one of his lawsuits in both the trial courts and on appeal, where his pleadings hav[e] been consistently characterized as vexatious and harassing....

In re David M. Kissi Litig., M.C. No. 12-0287 (D.Md. Aug. 8, 2012). A recent PACER search shows 96 separate civil actions involving David Kissi, most of which were initiated by him, since 1999.2 The [1369]*1369Panel takes judicial notice of the Kissis’ course of conduct in the federal judiciary before proceeding to the merits of their motion for centralization.

II.

Where only a minimal number of actions are involved, the moving party generally bears a heavier burden of demonstrating the need for centralization. See In re Transocean Ltd. Sec. Litig., 753 F.Supp.2d 1373, 1374 (J.P.M.L.2010). The Kissis’ motion, far from meeting this heavier burden, fails to meet any of the elements necessary for Section 1407 centralization.

The three actions that the Kissis 'propose to centralize share no common questions of fact. The two District of District of Columbia actions address: (1) Mr. Kissi’s claim that he is owed a share of the proceeds of a settlement between the May- or and Wells Fargo relating to litigation between those two parties arising from Wells Fargo’s alleged improper mortgage practices in the City of Baltimore; and (2) what appears to be another collateral attack on the Pramco judgment. The District of Maryland action involves a request by BANA for a pre-filing - injunction against the Kissis, arising from a number of lawsuits filed by them against BANA and related entities pertaining to the foreclosure and sale of two properties on Ammendale Road in Beltsville, Maryland (the Maryland properties). The only commonality between these actions is the Kissis’ participation.

The factual questions presented in. these three actions are not sufficiently.complex or numerous to warrant centralization. Nor will centralization serve to enhance the convenience of the parties and witnesses or the just and efficient conduct of the actions. See 28 U.S.C. § .1407(a). Because each action is directed to a discrete subject matter, there is no threat of duplicative discovery or inconsistent pretrial rulings.

The Kissis’ lone argument addressing convenience and efficiency — that centralization in the Central District of California will allow that court to resolve these actions pursuant to a consent order entered in an unrelated action, Federal Trade Commission v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., C.D. Cal, C.A. No. 10-04193-is untenable. That action has been closed since 2010, and the Central District of California has already determined that the Kissis were not parties to the consent order and cannot shoehorn their claims relating to the Pramco litigation or the Maryland properties into that dispute. See, e.g., Kissi v. Bank of Am.-Countrywide, et al., C.A. No. 12-06356 (C.D.Cal. Aug. 3, 2012) (dismissing Kissi’s complaint).

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Bluebook (online)
923 F. Supp. 2d 1367, 2013 WL 489023, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-kissi-jpml-2013.