Lam v. PNC Mortgage

130 F. Supp. 3d 429, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122126, 2015 WL 5330848
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedSeptember 14, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 12-10992-LTS
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 130 F. Supp. 3d 429 (Lam v. PNC Mortgage) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lam v. PNC Mortgage, 130 F. Supp. 3d 429, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122126, 2015 WL 5330848 (D. Mass. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Leo T. Sorokin, United States District ■ Judge

■ Plaintiff Marie Lam, acting pro se, brought this suit against PNC Bank, National Association, alleging claims stemming from the foreclosure of her home.1 [434]*434Before the Court is Defendant PNC Bank, National Association’s (“PNC”) Motion for Summary Judgment on all of Lam’s claims. Doc. No. 48. Lam has opposed the motion. Doc. No. 57. PNC has replied to Lam’s opposition, Doc. No. 66, and the Court held a hearing on the motion. See Doc. No. 63 (setting the date for a motion hearing). For the reasons that follow, PNC’s Motion for Summary Judgment is ALLOWED on all counts.

1. FACTS

This recitation of undisputed facts relies principally upon the Local Rule 56.1 Statement of Undisputed Material Facts. See Doc. No. 50. The Court reserves certain facts for the discussion of particular claims to which they are relevant. On August 31, 2001, Lam obtained a loan (“Loan”) from National City Mortgage Co. (“National City”), subsequently succeeded by merger by PNC, for $242,585.00 plus interest. Id. ¶¶ 1, 2, 7. Lam secured the Loan via a mortgage on property located at 11 Russell Terrace, Newburyport, Massachusetts (“Property”). Id. ¶ 3. The parties modified the Loan on June 3, 2004. Id. at ¶ 5. Lam experienced financial difficulties shortly thereafter, and filed a petition for relief under Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. Id. ¶ 9. On March 31, 2009, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order discharging Lam as debtor from this Bankruptcy Action, which Lam had converted to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy a little over four months earlier. Id. ¶¶ 10,11.

In April 2010, Lam decided to sell the Property. Id. ¶ 16. On May 3, 2010, she signed a repayment agreement with PNC. Id. ¶ 13. The agreement, stipulated, inter alia, that the arrearage was $82,512.49, and that this included $10,277.95 in “Attorney’s Fees and Costs.” Doc.. No. 52-7 at 2. Eight days later, on May 11th, she sought a Loan payoff statement from PNC. Id. ¶ 17. PNC sent the - payoff statement, which Lam received shortly thereafter, the next day. Id. ¶ 18. The payoff statement claimed that the.balance payoff due, as of May 28, 2010, was $300,576.86.' Id. This amount included a line item for legal fees and costs, valued .at $10,075.24. Id. Lam sent PNC a letter on May 30, 2010 disputing the legal fees expense, which she claimed was discharged in bankruptcy. Id. ¶ 19. On August 17, 2010, PNC sent Lam a letter denying her request for hardship assistance, and thus continuing normal loan' servicing, on the grounds that Lam purportedly failed to remit payments in accordance with the repayment plan. Id. ¶ 15.

That same month, Lam rejected, an-offer to purchase the Property for $338,000, an amount sufficient to fully pay off the Loan. Doc. No- 50 ¶¶ 20, 21. The next month, she rejected a second offer sufficient to pay off the Loan, this one for $332,000. Id. ¶¶ 22, 23. Later that month, Lam took the Property off the market. Id. ¶ 24. On April 25, 2012, Lam received a notice from PNC, dated April 9, 2012, that PNC had scheduled a foreclosure sale on the property at 9:00 a.m. on May 9, 2012. Id. ¶25. No foreclosure sale-has taken place at this point. Doc. No. 51 ¶ 16.2

On May 8,- 2012, Lam filed a lawsuit against PNC in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts- Superior Court, County of Essex. Doc. No. 50 ¶ 26. PNC removed the case to this Court on June 4, 2012. Id.

[435]*435II. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate when “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Once a party “has properly supported its motion for summary judgment, the burden shifts to the non-moving party, who ‘may not rest on mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing there is a genuine issue for trial.’” Barbour v. Dynamics Research Corp., 63 F.3d 32, 37 (1st Cir.1995) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). The Court is “obliged to [ ]view the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and to draw all reasonable inferences in the nonmoving party’s favor.” LeBlanc v. Great Am. Ins., Co., 6 F.3d 836, 841 (1st Cir.1993). Even so, the Court is to ignore “conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation.” Prescott v. Higgins, 538 F.3d 32, 39 (1st Cir.2008) (quoting Medina-Muñoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990)). A court may enter summary judgment “against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof, at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Because Lam is proceeding pro se, this Court construes her filings liberally. See Rodi v. S. New England Sch, of Law (1st Cir.2004) (“[T]he fact that the* plaintiff filed the complaint pro se militates in favor of a liberal reading.”). Even so, “pro se status does not insulate a party from complying with procedural and substantive law.” Ahmed v. Rosenblatt, 118 F.3d 886, 890 (1st Cir.1997).

III. DISCUSSION

Lam’s Amended Complaint alleges nine claims for relief against PNC: 1) Violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, §§ 2 and 9; 2) Misrepresentation; 3) Breach of Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; 4) Fraud; 5) Breach of Contract; 6) Unjust' Enrichment; 7) Breach of Duty of Good Faith and Reasonable Diligence; 8) Violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183C; and 9) Violation of 15 U.S.U § 1692(c)'. See Doc. No. 2 at 3-7. PNC moves for summary judgment on all counts. See Doc. No. 48. Lam’s response does not attempt to rebut PNC’s motion on a claim-by-claim basis. See generally Doc. No. 57. Therefore, this Court will treat PNC’s motion for summary judgment for the claims that' Lain does not respond to as unopposed. Nevertheless, because “[i]t is well-settled that ‘before granting an unopposed summary judgment motion, [this Court] must inquire whether the moving party has met its burden,’” Aguiar-Carrasquillo v. Agoso-Alicea, 445 F.3d 19, 25 (1st Cir.2006) (quoting Lopez v. Corporacion Azucarera de Puerto Rico, 938 F.2d 1510, 1517 (1st Cir.1991)), this Court will consider the merits of PNC’s motion for all nine claims.

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130 F. Supp. 3d 429, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122126, 2015 WL 5330848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lam-v-pnc-mortgage-mad-2015.