Kenneth Taggart v. Chase Bank USA NA

375 F. App'x 266
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit·Decided April 14, 2010·No. 09-4509·Unpublished·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Kenneth Taggart appeals pro se from a District Court order dismissing his action with prejudice as barred by res judicata. For the reasons below, we will affirm.

On March 5, 2009, Taggart initiated an action in state court asserting violations of the Truth In Lending Act (“TILA”) regarding his mortgage closing on July 20, 2005. Appellees removed this case to federal court and filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that Taggart’s TILA claims were time-barred and not actionable. The District Court agreed and dismissed Tag-gart’s complaint with prejudice. This Court affirmed. Taggart v. Chase Bank USA, N.A., 353 Fed.Appx. 731 (3d Cir.2009).

On July 17, 2009, Taggart filed a second action in state court regarding the same July 20, 2005 mortgage closing at issue in his March 2009 complaint. This second complaint involved seventeen claims, including claims brought under TILA, as well as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Appellees removed this case to federal court and filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). The *268 District Court granted the motion, finding" that although Taggart asserted different causes of action, both lawsuits concerned the same mortgage and loan transaction. Because these causes of action could have been raised in the first complaint, the second complaint was barred by res judicata. The court dismissed with prejudice.

Taggart timely appealed. Appellees filed a motion for summary action and Taggart filed an opposition. In his opposition, Taggart concedes that he filed the second complaint regarding the July 20, 2005 mortgage closing. However, he argues that “Counts 15, 16, & 17 occurred after the original complaint was filed,” and were unknown “at the time the original complaint was filed.” Taggart also contends that the District Court denied him to opportunity to amend his original complaint to include these violations, and cites to another case pending in federal court in which he was permitted to do so.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We will summarily affirm if Tag-gart’s appeal presents no substantial question. See 3d Cir. L.A.R. 27.4 and 3d Cir. I.O.P. 10.6. The court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Thus, we accept as true all factual allegations in the complaint and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from them. Lubrizol Corp. v. Exxon Corp., 929 F.2d 960, 962 (3d Cir.1991). A district court’s application of the doctrine of res judicata is a question of law over which we exercise plenary review. See Jean Alexander Cosmetics, Inc. v. L’Oreal USA Inc., 458 F.3d 244, 248 (3d Cir.2006).

The doctrine of res judicata “gives dis-positive effect to a prior judgment if a particular issue, although not litigated, could have been raised in the earlier proceeding.” CoreStates Bank, N.A. v. Huls Am., Inc., 176 F.3d 187, 194 (3d Cir.1999) (emphasis in original) (internal citation omitted). The doctrine bars a suit where three circumstances are present: “(1) a final judgment on the merits in a prior suit involving (2) the same parties or their privies and (3) a subsequent suit based on the same cause of action.” Lubrizol Corp., 929 F.2d at 963. A dismissal on statute of limitations grounds is a dismissal on the merits for res judicata purposes. See Elkadrawy v. Vanguard Group, Inc., 584 F.3d 169, 173 (3d Cir.2009) (citing Plant v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc., 514 U.S. 211, 228, 115 S.Ct. 1447, 131 L.Ed.2d 328 (1995)).

Here, Taggart filed his second complaint after receiving a final judgment on the merits dismissing his first complaint as time-barred per the statute of limitations under TILA. Ellcadrawy, 584 F.3d at 173. Taggart does not dispute that both complaints involve the same July 20, 2005 mortgage and are against the same defendants, Chase and JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. d/b/a Chase Home Finance, LLC. Lubrizol Corp., 929 F.2d at 963. As Ap-pellees argue, the thrust of the two complaints is the same, as Taggart seeks redress for allegedly wrongful conduct in connection with the same underlying event, the July 20, 2005 mortgage. CoreStates, 176 F.3d at 194. Even though his second complaint relies on new violations and different legal theories under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, Taggart is merely attempting to split a cause of action, which he is not permitted to do. See Churchill v. Star Enters., 183 F.3d 184, 194-95 (3d Cir.1999). Thus, Taggart’s second complaint was properly dismissed.

Taggart’s argues that his second complaint should not be barred because he was not given the opportunity to amend his first complaint. See Grayson v. Mayview State Hasp., 293 F.3d 103, 108 (3d Cir. *269 2002) (a federal court must inform a plaintiff that he has leave to amend when dismissing for failure to state a claim, unless amendment would be futile). To the extent that Taggart attempts to relitigate the District Court’s decision as it pertains to his first complaint, we cannot reconsider his argument in this instant appeal, as we have already affirmed the District Court’s decision.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Kenneth Taggart v. Chase Bank USA NA, 375 F. App'x 266 (3d Cir. 2010).

375 F. App'x 266 (Kenneth Taggart v. Chase Bank USA NA) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Thomas v. Koleno
M.D. Pennsylvania, 2025
Taggart v. Chase Bank USA, N.A.
179 L. Ed. 2d 475 (Supreme Court, 2011)