Jones v. Glendale Apartments Properties LLC.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedSeptember 17, 2025
Docket8:24-cv-03731
StatusUnknown

This text of Jones v. Glendale Apartments Properties LLC. (Jones v. Glendale Apartments Properties LLC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Glendale Apartments Properties LLC., (D. Md. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

: TYRONE JONES :

v. : Civil Action No. DKC 24-3731

: GLENDALE APARTMENT PROPERTIES LLC :

MEMORANDUM OPINION This is a putative class action brought by Plaintiff Tyrone Jones (“Plaintiff”) pursuant to the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act (“MCDCA”) and the Maryland Consumer Protection Act (“MCPA”), against Defendant Glendale Apartment Properties LLC (“Defendant”). Plaintiff, a tenant of an apartment Defendant allegedly manages, contends that Defendant collected rent without a collection agency license. Presently pending are the motion to dismiss filed by Defendant, (ECF No. 11), and Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a supplement based on a recent case, (ECF No. 15). The issues have been briefed, and the court now rules, no hearing being deemed necessary. Local Rule 105.6. For the following reasons, the motion to dismiss will be granted, the motion for leave to file a supplement will be denied as moot, and Plaintiff will be provided an opportunity to file a motion for leave to amend. I. Background1 A. Factual Background2 Plaintiff “rented from Glendale Management Company from

January 19, 2024, through the present,” with “Glendale Management Company” acting as the management agent. (ECF No. 3 ¶¶ 58–59).3 He “signed a standard form lease provided to him and made his rent payments to the Glendale Management Company collecting for the owner.” (Id. ¶ 60). Plaintiff alleges that “[a]s a proximate result of Glendale’s illegal collection activities, [Plaintiff] and Class members suffered actual damages including but not limited to paying fees wrongfully charged.” (Id. ¶ 64). Plaintiff alleges that Defendant does business as a collection agency under Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. § 7-401(a) because Defendant threatens to sue, sues, and obtains judgments against or otherwise collects rent from tenants, including Plaintiff, on behalf of another. (Id. ¶¶ 35, 39–40). Plaintiff alleges that

1 The following facts are set forth in the complaint and construed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff.

2 The complaint is virtually devoid of concrete facts. As a result, this section consists largely of Plaintiff’s conclusory allegations.

3 Defendant clarified that “Glendale Management Company” does not exist, (ECF No. 11-1, at 4 n.2), and Plaintiff conceded this mistake in his opposition, (ECF No. 12, at 1 n.1). Instead, the entity Plaintiff refers to here is in fact Defendant, Glendale Apartment Properties LLC. 2 Defendant “has never obtained a license to collect debts, but has collected debts in Maryland for many years, directly or indirectly.” (Id. ¶ 50). Additionally, Plaintiff alleges that

Defendant “knew or acted with reckless disregard that it was required to have a license to act as a collection agency in the State of Maryland and it failed to obtain a license to act as [a] collection agency before seeking monies from Class Members.” (Id. ¶ 89). Plaintiff further alleges that Defendant charges and collects late fees in violation of the MCPA. (Id. ¶¶ 41-45). B. Procedural Background On November 14, 2024, Plaintiff filed a putative class action against Defendant in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, restitution, and monetary damages under the MCDCA and MCPA. (ECF Nos. 1 ¶ 1; 3). The proposed class consists of “[a]ll residential tenants with an address in the State [of] Maryland that Glendale Management Company sought to collect from in the three years preceding the filing of

the Complaint.” (ECF No. 3 ¶ 65). On December 23, 2024, Defendant removed the case to this court, asserting diversity jurisdiction. (ECF No. 1 ¶ 4). On January 27, 2025, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. (ECF No. 11). On February 10, 2025, Plaintiff filed a response in opposition. (ECF 3 No. 12). On February 21, 2025, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to file a supplement based on a recent case. (ECF No. 15). On March 3, 2025, Defendant filed a reply to Plaintiff’s opposition.

(ECF No. 16). II. Standard of Review A motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) tests the sufficiency of the complaint. Presley v. City of Charlottesville, 464 F.3d 480, 483 (4th Cir. 2006). The court “must accept the complaint’s factual allegations as true and construe the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Barnett v. Inova Health Care Servs., 125 F.4th 465, 469 (4th Cir. 2025) (citing Barbour v. Garland, 105 F.4th 579, 589 (4th Cir. 2024)). A plaintiff’s complaint must only satisfy the standard of Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2), which requires a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.”

“[W]here 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 ‘show[n]’—‘that the pleader is entitled to relief.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2)). A Rule 8(a)(2) “showing” requires “stat[ing] a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that 4 allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Mays v. Sprinkle, 992 F.3d 295, 299-300 (4th Cir. 2021) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678).

Before reaching the merits of Defendant’s 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the court must also assure itself that Plaintiff has standing. Defendant did not move to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.4 The court, however, has an independent duty to determine whether it possesses jurisdiction over the case. Wells v. Johnson, -- F.4th --, No. 24-cv-1829, 2025 WL 2315981, at *2 (4th Cir. Aug. 12, 2025) (published) (citing Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 101–02 (1998)). “In making this assessment” at the motion to dismiss stage, the court “accept[s] all allegations in the complaint as true and construe[s] those allegations ‘in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.’” Buscemi v. Bell, 964 F.3d 252, 258 (4th Cir. 2020) (quoting

4 In its motion to dismiss, Defendant argues that Plaintiff “failed to plausibly allege any injury or damages.” (ECF No. 11- 1, at 17). Defendant makes this argument, however, in the context of Plaintiff’s failure to allege the injury element of its claims under the MCDCA and MCPA. (Id. at 17–18). In other words, Defendant’s argument is not jurisdictional but rather relates to whether Plaintiff has established all elements of his claims. Accordingly, this is not a situation in which the court could construe Defendant’s motion to dismiss as a 12(b)(1) motion. Cf. Cooper v. I.Q. Data Int’l, Inc., No. 24-cv-2120-RDB, 2025 WL 1827956, at *1 n.1 (D.Md.

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Jones v. Glendale Apartments Properties LLC., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-glendale-apartments-properties-llc-mdd-2025.