Jenkins v. BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP

822 F. Supp. 2d 1369, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111235, 2011 WL 4543488
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 29, 2011
DocketCivil Case No. 7:11-cv-73 (HL)
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 822 F. Supp. 2d 1369 (Jenkins v. BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jenkins v. BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP, 822 F. Supp. 2d 1369, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111235, 2011 WL 4543488 (M.D. Ga. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER

HUGH LAWSON, Senior District Judge.

Before this Court is the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 13). In conjunction with this Motion to Dismiss, the Court is taking under consideration Plaintiffs Response to the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 21), Defendants’ Reply (Doc. 22), and a second Response from Plaintiff (Doc. 23).

I. Background

On July 20, 2007, Plaintiff executed a Security Deed on his home (“Subject Property”) in favor of non-party Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., as Lender, and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), as Nominee, to secure a promissory note in the amount of $175,750.00. On March 2, 201Ó, MERS assigned its interest in the Security Deed to Defendant BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP (“BAC”). On August 18, 2010, Plaintiff received a letter from Defendant McCalla Raymer (“McCalla”) notifying Plaintiff that he was in default and that a foreclosure sale of the Subject Property would take place unless the mortgage was paid in full. -A second letter was sent to Plaintiff on September 27, 2010 to the same effect.

In his version of the facts, Plaintiff contends that the assignment from Countrywide Home Loans to Defendant BAC was fraudulent. (Doc. 8, ¶¶ 16-25, 28-36.) To support this allegation, Plaintiff asserts that Defendants were participating in “foreclosure fraud,” an offense that included filing false documents with the Clerk of the Superior Court of Colquitt County. (Doc. 8, ¶ 26.) Additionally, Plaintiff maintains that Defendants repeatedly harassed him to collect “alleged but nonexistent debt.” (Doc. 8, ¶ 39.) Defendants deny all of these factual allegations.

Based upon these allegations, Plaintiff asserts claims against Defendants for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 et seq. (Counts I-VI), the Georgia Fair Business Practice Act (“FBPA”), O.C.G.A. § 10-1-390 et seq. (Count VII), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (“RES-PA”), 12 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. (Count VIII), as well as claims for unjust enrichment, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, conversion, libel and defamation, breach of contract, fraud and deceit, mortgage fraud and abuse (Counts IX-XVI). Plaintiff seeks compensatory damages, in addition to other relief.

II. Standard of Review

On a motion to dismiss, the Court must accept the factual allegations in the complaint as true and construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. SEC v. ESM Group, Inc., 835 F.2d 270, 272 (11th Cir.1988). To survive a motion to dismiss, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). “Where the well pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged — but it has not ‘shown’ — that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Id. at 1950. A complaint must contain enough facts to indicate the presence of the required ele[1374]*1374ments. Watts v. Fla. Int’l Univ., 495 F.3d 1289, 1302 (11th Cir.2007). However, “conclusory allegations, unwarranted deductions of fact, or legal conclusions masquerading as facts will not prevent dismissal.” Oxford Asset Mgmt., Ltd. v. Jaharis, 297 F.3d 1182, 1188 (11th Cir.2002).

III. Claims against Defendants

Plaintiff has asserted a wide variety of claims against Defendants. Each of these claims is addressed below in the order in which Plaintiff alleges them in his Amended Complaint. (Doc. 8.)

a. Counts I-VI: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

In Plaintiffs Amended Complaint (Doc. 8), he alleges six counts against Defendants under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). However, five out of six of these charges are immediately dismissed because the FDCPA provisions are inapplicable to Defendants.

The FDCPA applies to situations where there is evidence that: (1) the plaintiff is objecting to a collection activity arising from consumer debt; (2) the defendant who is attempting to collect debt qualifies as a “debt collector;” and (3) the defendant engaged in a prohibited act or failed to perform certain requirements under the statute. Buckley v. Bayrock Mortg. Corp., No. l:09-cv1387-TWT, 2010 WL 476673, at *6 (N.D.Ga. Feb. 5, 2010). “Debt collector” means “any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another.” 15 U.S.C. § 1692a.

- [3] It is well-established that mortgage servicers do not fall within the definition of debt collector. See Warren v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 342 Fed.Appx. 458, 460 (11th Cir.2009) (determining that “the act of foreclosing on a security interest is not debt collection activity for the purposes of the FDCPA.”); Bentley v. Bank of Am., N.A., 773 F.Supp.2d 1367, 1371 (S.D.Fla. Mar. 23, 2011) (concluding that plaintiffs claims under the FDCPA should be dismissed because “neither Defendants are ‘debt collectors’ as contemplated by the statute which explicitly excludes mortgage servicing companies”); Hennington v. Greenpoint Mortg. Funding, Inc., Nos. 1:09-cv-676-RWS, 1:09-cv-962-RWS, 2009 WL 1372961, at *6 (N.D.Ga. May 15, 2009) (noting that “[i]t is well established that the FDCPA applies only to ‘debt collectors’ and not to creditors'or mortgage servicers.”).

In this case, Plaintiff has not shown that either Defendant was acting as a “debt collector” within the scope of the statute. Since mortgage servicing is not considered debt collection activity, neither Defendant can be considered a “debt collector” for purposes of the FDCPA. Thus, Defendant BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP (“BAC”), a mortgage servicer, and Defendant McCalla, a law firm acting under the direction of BAC, are exempt from almost all claims under the FDCPA. Thus, Count I under 15 U.S.C. § 1692d, Count II under 15 U.S.C. § 1692e, Count III under 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(10), Count IV under 15 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
822 F. Supp. 2d 1369, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111235, 2011 WL 4543488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jenkins-v-bac-home-loan-servicing-lp-gamd-2011.