Lawrence v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA

District Court, E.D. California·Decided December 5, 2023·No. 1:23-cv-01581·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8

9 ROBERT F. LAWRENCE, Case No. 1: 23-cv-01581-ADA-SKO

10 Plaintiff, FIRST SCREENING ORDER

11 v. ORDER FOR PLAINTIFF TO: 12 WELLS FARGO BANK, FIRST AMERICAN (1) FILE A SECOND AMENDED 13 TITLE COMPANY, COMPLAINT;

14 Defendants. (2) NOTIFY THE COURT THAT HE WISHES TO STAND ON HIS

15 COMPLAINT; OR 16 (3) FILE A NOTICE OF VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL 17 (Doc. 1) 18 THIRTY-DAY DEADLINE 19 _____________________________________/

21 Plaintiff Robert F. Lawrence, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed a complaint 22 on November 8, 2023. (Doc. 1.) Upon reviewing the complaint, the Court concludes that the 23 complaint fails to state any cognizable claims. 24 Plaintiff has the following options as to how to proceed. He may file an amended 25 complaint, which the Court will screen in due course. Alternatively, Plaintiff may file a statement 26 with the Court stating that he wants to stand on this complaint and have it reviewed by the 27 presiding district judge, in which case the Court will issue findings and recommendations to the 28 1 district judge consistent with this order. If Plaintiff does not file anything, the Court will 2 recommend that the case be dismissed. 3 5 In cases where the plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis, the Court is required to screen 6 each case and shall dismiss the case at any time if the Court determines that the allegation of 7 poverty is untrue, or that the action or appeal is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon 8 which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from 9 such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2); see also Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1106 (9th Cir. 10 1995) (district court has discretion to dismiss in forma pauperis complaint); Barren v. Harrington, 11 152 F.3d 1193 (9th Cir. 1998) (affirming sua sponte dismissal for failure to state a claim). If the 12 Court determines that a complaint fails to state a claim, leave to amend may be granted to the 13 extent that the deficiencies of the complaint can be cured by amendment. Lopez v. Smith, 203 14 F.3d 1122, 1130 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc). 15 In determining whether a complaint fails to state a claim, the Court uses the same pleading 16 standard used under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a). A complaint must contain “a short and 17 plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 18 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of 19 a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 20 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). A 21 complaint may be dismissed as a matter of law for failure to state a claim based on (1) the lack of 22 a cognizable legal theory; or (2) insufficient facts under a cognizable legal theory. See Balistreri 23 v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1988). The plaintiff must allege a minimum 24 factual and legal basis for each claim that is sufficient to give each defendant fair notice of what 25 the plaintiff’s claims are and the grounds upon which they rest. See, e.g., Brazil v. U.S. Dep’t of 26 Navy, 66 F.3d 193, 199 (9th Cir. 1995); McKeever v. Block, 932 F.2d 795, 798 (9th Cir. 1991). 27 In reviewing the pro se complaint, the Court is to liberally construe the pleadings and 28 accept as true all factual allegations contained in the complaint. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 1 94 (2007). The Court, however, need not accept a plaintiff’s legal conclusions as true. Iqbal, 556 2 U.S. at 678. “Where a complaint pleads facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s 3 liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of ‘entitlement to relief.’” 4 Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557). 5 7 Plaintiff attached a Civil Cover Sheet to his complaint (Doc. 1-1). Plaintiff lists the 8 following defendants: Wells Fargo Bank N.A., a National Association (“Wells Fargo”) and First 9 American Title Insurance Company, a Nebraska Corporation (“First American”) (collectively, the 10 “Defendants”). (Id.) Under “Basis for Jurisdiction,” Plaintiff checked the box for “Diversity.” 11 Plaintiff lists himself as a citizen of the state and his county of residence as “Kern County.” (Id.) 12 Plaintiff also checked boxes indicating the Defendants are citizens of the state and are either 13 incorporated in or have a principal place of business in the state. (Id.) Plaintiff lists Wells Fargo’s 14 county of residence as San Francisco County and First American’s county of residence is listed as 15 Orange County. (Id.) Plaintiff also alleges that First American is a Nebraska corporation. (Doc. 1 16 at 4.) Plaintiff alleges “[t]his court has subject-matter jurisdiction over the causes of action alleged 17 in this Complaint because this court is a court of general subject-matter jurisdiction and is not 18 otherwise excluded from exercising subject-matter jurisdiction over said causes of action.” (Id. at 19 6.) 20 At the center of Plaintiff’s complaint is the foreclosure of an owner-occupied residential 21 real property located at 935 East Laurel Avenue in Porterville, California (the “Property”). (Doc. 22 1 at 4.) On or about August 15, 2003, Plaintiff entered into a written loan agreement (the “loan”) 23 with Wells Fargo. (Id. at 5.) Wells Fargo agreed to loan plaintiff $190,000 secured by the 24 Property. (Id.) The loan included a Deed of Trust, naming Wells Fargo as the beneficiary and 25 Fidelity National Title Insurance Company (“Fidelity”) as the trustee. (Id. at 5.) 26 In 2013, Plaintiff suffered from pneumonia and meningitis, and he fell behind on payments 27 to Wells Fargo after the costs associated with his care mounted. (Id. at 6.) Plaintiff sought a 28 forbearance or modification to his mortgage, which Wells Fargo denied. (Id.) In January 2016, 1 Plaintiff sought to reinstate the loan and requested a “payoff quote” from Wells Fargo. (Id.) 2 Wells Fargo informed the Plaintiff that he would have to pay $15,244.75 to reinstate the loan. 3 (Id.) Based on this representation, Plaintiff made a $15,244.75 payment to Wells Fargo. (Id.) 4 Plaintiff attempted to follow-up with Wells Fargo to ensure his payment was applied to the loan, 5 but he never received any confirmation. (Id.) Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, Wells Fargo applied the 6 funds to an “unapplied” account and not to the loan. (Id. at 7.) Plaintiff continued to make 7 monthly payments he believed were being applied to the principal and interest of the loan. (Id.) 8 However, because Wells Fargo applied the funds to a different account, it appeared that Plaintiff 9 had not reinstated his loan and was in default. (Id.) At some point, First American replaced 10 Fidelity as the trustee under the Deed of Trust, though Plaintiff was unaware of this change. (Id. 11 at 6).

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