Koker v. Aurora Loan Servicing, LLC

915 F. Supp. 2d 51, 2013 WL 40320, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 497
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJanuary 3, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 12-1069(RBW)
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 915 F. Supp. 2d 51 (Koker v. Aurora Loan Servicing, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Koker v. Aurora Loan Servicing, LLC, 915 F. Supp. 2d 51, 2013 WL 40320, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 497 (D.C. Cir. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

REGGIE B. WALTON, District Judge.

Plaintiff Lisa Koker brings this action against Aurora Loan Servicing, LLC (“Aurora”), Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), James E. Clarke, and Atlantic Law Group, LLC (“Atlantic Law”), asserting claims for wrongful foreclosure and unlawful trade practices in violation of District of Columbia and federal law. See Verified Complaint for Injunctive Relief, Damages, Declaratory and Other Equitable Relief and Civil Penalties (“Compl.”) ¶¶ 9-93. Currently before the Court are two motions to dismiss filed by Aurora and MERS (the “Lender Defendants”), and Clarke and Atlantic Law (the “Trustee Defendants”). Upon careful consideration of the parties’ submissions,1 the Court concludes for the following reasons that the defendants’ motions must be granted.

I. BACKGROUND

The complaint contains the following allegations. On November 9, 2006, the plaintiff purchased residential real estate located at 4754 6th Place, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017 (the “Property”). Compl. ¶¶ 2, 7. She “refinanced the Property on March 26, 2007, and the Deed of Trust ... was recorded among the Land Records of the District of Columbia on April 4, 2007” (the “Deed of Trust”). Id. ¶ 8. Although “[t]he lender referenced in the Deed of Trust was American Brokers Conduit,” id., Aurora is now the “purported noteholder for the Property,” id. ¶ 3. MERS was “a corporation acting as the nominee of [57]*57American Brokers Conduit and then ... Aurora,” and was also “the beneficiary of the Deed of Trust.” Id. ¶ 4. Clarke “served as the Substitute Trustee” under the Deed of Trust, and is a member of Atlantic Law. Id. ¶¶ 5-6.

In “June 2008, [the p]laintiff commenced communication with Aurora regarding a loan modification.” Id. ¶ 15. She sought the loan modification because she was experiencing “financial hardship ... due to the circumstances surrounding her divorce.” Id. The plaintiff subsequently entered into three forbearance agreements with Aurora between June 2008 and February 2009. See id. ¶¶ 15-17. Although the plaintiff paid Aurora in accordance with the terms of her forbearance agreements, “Aurora initiated [f]oreclosure proceedings” as to the Property “on February 13, 2009, after Aurora had received the [plaintiffs] initial installment payment.” Id. ¶ 18.

“On August 17, 2009, [the p]laintiff filed a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy case” in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia “in an attempt to prevent foreclosure and save her home.” Id. ¶ 19. The Bankruptcy Court confirmed “a Chapter 13 plan ... on November 11, 2009,” and entered a. “Consent Order Modifying the Stay ... on April 30, 2010.” Id. “However, the stay was eventually lifted and Aurora proceeded with foreclosure and ... conducted a foreclosure sale [of] the Property on September 21, 2010.” Id.

Following the foreclosure sale, “Aurora initiated a Complaint for Possession of Real Property in the Landlord Tenant Branch of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia [ (“Superior Court”) ] on January 4, 2011.” Id. “On February 1, 2011, [the p]laintiff filed a Verified Answer Interposing Pleas of Title” in the Superior Court action. Id. The Superior Court subsequently entered, with the parties’ consent, a “protective order/undertaking” requiring the plaintiff “to pay $1200.00 into the Court Registry each month.” Id. “The case was then certified to the Civil Division” of the Superior Court. Id. The plaintiff, however, failed “to make certain protective order payments.” Id. Consequently, the Superior Court sanctioned the plaintiff by striking her plea of title defense on November 18, 2011, and transferred the case back to the Landlord Tenant Branch. Id. The Superior Court then granted Aurora’s motion for summary judgment on March 6, 2012, and issued a Writ of Restitution on March 13, 2012. Id.

The plaintiff instituted this action in the Superior Court on March 21, 2012. Aurora then removed the case to this Court,on June 29, 2012. The plaintiffs complaint asserts the following thirteen counts:

■ • Count I (Violation of D.C.Code § 28-3904 — Against Defendant Aurora)
• Count II (Violation of D.C.Code § 42-815 — Against All Defendants)
• Count III (Violation of D.C.Code § 47-1431 — Against MERS, James E. Clarke, and Atlantic Law)
• Count IV (Violation of D.C.Code § 28-3904 — Against All Defendants)
• Count V.. (Breach of Contract— Against All Defendants)
• Count VI (Tortious Interference with a Contract — Against All Defendants)
• Count VII (Breach of the Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing— Against All Defendants)
• Count VIII (Breach of Fiduciary Duty — Against James E. Clarke and Atlantic Law)
• Count IX (Violation of 12 U.S.C. § 2605 — Against Defendants Aurora and MERS)
[58]*58• Count X (Declaratory Relief/Quiet Title — Against All Defendants)
• Count XI (Equitable Estoppel— Against All Defendants)
• Count XII (Unjust Enrichment— Against All Defendants)
• Count XIII (Injunctive Relief— Against All Defendants)

Id. ¶¶ 9-93.

The Lender Defendants and Trustee Defendants have now moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests whether the complaint “state[s] a claim upon which relief can be ' granted.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). “To survive a motion to dismiss [under Rule 12(b)(6) ], a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). A plaintiff receives the “benefit of all inferences that can be derived from the facts alleged.” Am. Nat’l Ins. Co. v. FDIC, 642 F.3d 1137, 1139 (D.C.Cir.2011) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
915 F. Supp. 2d 51, 2013 WL 40320, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 497, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/koker-v-aurora-loan-servicing-llc-cadc-2013.