Juergens v. URBAN TITLE SERVICES, INC.

533 F. Supp. 2d 64, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7618, 2008 WL 287998
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedFebruary 4, 2008
DocketCivil Action 06-1524 (CKK)
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 533 F. Supp. 2d 64 (Juergens v. URBAN TITLE SERVICES, INC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Juergens v. URBAN TITLE SERVICES, INC., 533 F. Supp. 2d 64, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7618, 2008 WL 287998 (D.D.C. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY, District Judge.

Currently pending before the Court are the Motions to Dismiss Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint filed by Defendants First Mount Vernon Mortgage, L.L.C. (“FMVLLC”) and Dale Duncan (“Duncan”), as well as two Motions for Partial Summary Judgment filed by Plaintiff, Mary Juergens. Plaintiff brings this thirty-six count action against ten individual and corporate Defendants, asserting claims based on two disparate loans extended to Plaintiff, each of which was secured by a condominium located at 1230 23rd Street, NW, Apartment 505, Washington, D.C. 20037 (the “Condo”). Plaintiff alleges that the first loan was extended by Urban Title Services, Inc. (“UTS”), and that Defendants William Kenney (“Ken-ney”), Robert William Carney (“Carney”), and Paul Erb (“Erb”) (collectively, with UTS, the “UTS Defendants”), each played a role in the extension of the UTS Loan. *66 Plaintiff alleges that the second loan was extended by a combination of Defendants FMVLLC, Duncan, First Mount Vernon Industrial Loan Association, Inc. (“FMVI-LA”), and Arthur Bennett (“Bennett”) (collectively the “FMV Defendants”). Finally, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Brickshire Settlements, LLC (“Brick-shire”) served as the Settlement Agent on the loan extended to Plaintiff by the FMV Defendants.

On May 25, 2007, the Court issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order regarding Plaintiffs then-operative Amended Complaint. See Juergens v. Urban Title Seros., 246 F.R.D. 4 (D.D.C.2007). That Opinion denied without prejudice Plaintiffs previous motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of whether she transferred legal ownership of the Condo to a limited liability company via a properly executed and acknowledged deed in accordance with District of Columbia law, concluding that genuine issues of material fact existed. Id. That Opinion also denied without prejudice the FMV Defendants’ previous motions to dismiss, which the Court determined had been converted to motions for summary judgment, and as to which genuine issues of material fact also existed. Id. In that Opinion, the Court noted that Plaintiffs opposition to the FMV Defendants’ motions to dismiss raised for the first time a number of allegations not included in her Amended Complaint. Noting that Plaintiff could not amend her complaint through her Opposition, and in light of the fact that the FMV Defendants’ motions to dismiss had been converted to motions for summary judgment, the Court granted Plaintiff leave to amend her complaint to add additional allegations, and thus pursue discovery on those claims.

Plaintiff has now filed her Second Amended Complaint, which Defendants FMVLLC and Duncan have again moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. In addition, although discovery has yet to be conducted in this case, Plaintiff has filed a new Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the issue of the whether she transferred legal ownership to the Condo to a limited liability company, and has also filed a second Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the issue of the alleged lack of consideration for that transfer. Plaintiffs Motions for Partial Summary Judgment are opposed by all of the FMV Defendants, as well as Brickshire. 1

Upon a searching review of the memo-randa filed with respect to the pending motions, the exhibits thereto, the relevant case law and statutes, and the entire record herein, the Court shall grant Defendant FMVLLC’s motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint, shall deny Defendant Duncan’s motion to dismiss, and shall deny without prejudice Plaintiffs Motions for Partial Summary Judgment. The Court’s conclusions with respect to Plaintiffs Motions for Partial Summary Judgment are based upon the presence of genuine issues of material fact, which must be resolved through discovery. As a result, as set forth in the accompanying Order, the parties shall be precluded from filing any additional dispositive motions prior to the completion of discovery in this matter.

I. BACKGROUND

The Court assumes familiarity with the factual background of this case, which is set forth in detail in its May 25, 2007 Memorandum Opinion, see generally Juer-gens, 246 F.R.D. 4, and therefore discusses *67 herein only those facts that are relevant to the motions currently pending before the Court. In particular, although Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint includes a variety of allegations regarding the loan extended to her by the UTS Defendants, the Court does not recount the bulk of those allegations because Plaintiffs claims as to the UTS Defendants are irrelevant to the motions at issue in this Opinion.

Plaintiff, Mary Juergens, alleges that she resided in and owned a condominium unit located at 1230 23rd Street, N.W., Apartment 505, Washington, D.C. 20037 (the “Condo”), and that, prior to October 2003, she owned the Condo free and clear of any encumbrances or liens, other than a condominium fee assessment of approximately $8000. Second Am. Compl. (“SAC”) ¶¶ 12, 15, 23. However, in October 2003, she required a loan of $60,000 to pay off her condominium fee assessment and to perform renovations on the Condo. Id. ¶ 16. Plaintiff alleges that she spoke with Defendant Kenney, who presented himself as an agent of Defendant UTS, about securing a loan, and Defendants Kenney and UTS agreed to act as lender on a loan to be secured by a deed of trust on the Condo (the “UTS Loan”). Id. ¶¶ 17-18, 22. According to Plaintiff, the proceeds of the UTS Loan were to be used to pay Plaintiffs $8000 condominium fee assessment in full and Plaintiff was to receive approximately $52,000 in cash, less reasonable settlement costs, at closing. Id. ¶ 24. Plaintiff alleges that at the UTS Loan closing, the condo fee assessment was paid off, and Plaintiff received an escrow check in the amount of approximately $24,597.06. Id. ¶ 31. However, according to Plaintiff, she never received an accounting for the other $27,402.84. of the UTS ■Loan. Id. ¶¶ 31, 35.

Plaintiff next alleges that, in August 2005, she went to “the First Mount Vernon Defendants” in order to obtain a loan on the Condo, which would be used to pay off the UTS Loan. Id. ¶¶46, 48. 2 Plaintiff asserts that the loan she sought from the FMV Defendants “was a personal consumer refinance loan as opposed to a commercial loan,” id. ¶ 47, and further asserts that she told Defendants Bennett and Duncan that she planned to live in the Condo after obtaining the loan, id. ¶¶ 54-55, 61. According to Plaintiff, FMVILA and FMVLLC — acting through Defendants Bennett and Duncan — indicated that they would not extend a lqan as small as $60,000, and instead encouraged Plaintiff to take out a loan of $250,000 (hereinafter the “FMV Loan”). Id. ¶49. Plaintiff alleges that under the terms of the FMV Loan, the proceeds would be used to pay off the UTS Loan (plus accrued interest), and Plaintiff would receive approximately $190,000 in cash at closing, less reasonable settlement costs. Id. ¶ 50, 181.

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Bluebook (online)
533 F. Supp. 2d 64, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7618, 2008 WL 287998, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/juergens-v-urban-title-services-inc-dcd-2008.