Linda Frye-Chaikin v. Eric Bradley, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedDecember 30, 2025
Docket5:25-cv-13514
StatusUnknown

This text of Linda Frye-Chaikin v. Eric Bradley, et al. (Linda Frye-Chaikin v. Eric Bradley, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Linda Frye-Chaikin v. Eric Bradley, et al., (E.D. Mich. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

Linda Frye-Chaikin,

Plaintiff, Case No. 25-13514

v. Judith E. Levy United States District Judge Eric Bradley, et al., Mag. Judge Kimberly G. Altman Defendants.

________________________________/

OPINION AND ORDER DISMISSING STATE-LAW CLAIMS FOR LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION

This case involves allegations related to litigation over a real estate transaction, and unlawful access to a booking platform. Plaintiff Linda Frye-Chaikin filed this action against Defendants Eric D. Bradley and Crystal Blue Ltd. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendants unlawfully accessed her VRBO1 account in violation of federal laws. (Id. at PageID.31–32.) Two federal statutes serve as the basis for federal question subject matter jurisdiction: the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) and the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”). (Id.) The

1 VRBO is an online marketplace for vacation rentals. VRBO, https://www.vrbo.com/ (last visited Dec. 12, 2025). remaining twenty-five claims arise under state law, and twenty-one of them relate to a real estate transaction that has already been litigated.

(Id. at PageID.15–32.) The Court granted Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed Without

Prepaying Fees or Costs, which is otherwise known as proceeding in forma pauperis. (ECF No. 5.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s state-law claims that

relate to the litigated real estate transaction and dismisses those claims without prejudice.

I. Background

Plaintiff’s Complaint contains extensive and detailed allegations regarding a real estate dispute. (ECF No. 1.) The allegations span over a decade, from 2014 to 2025, and involve two jurisdictions: Michigan and

the Cayman Islands. (Id.) The core allegations center on a 2014 real estate transaction

concerning Plaintiff’s Crown leasehold interest in a condominium unit in Grand Cayman. (Id. at PageID.2.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Bradley solicited the purchase when she sought a loan for her mother’s cancer care, and that she signed a Michigan “Real estate Sales Contract” in May 2014 based on representations that a third party named “Mike”

(Michael Scarfo) would pay cash to purchase the property. (Id. at PageID.4.) Plaintiff contends that no closing ever occurred under the

2014 contract, that material terms remained open, and that all parties acknowledged in November 2015 that the contract “did not reflect a meeting of the minds.” (Id. at PageID.5–7.)

Plaintiff further alleges that Bradley obtained an order of specific performance in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, which she challenges

as having exceeded the permissible scope of specific performance by supplying missing material terms and effectively executing a Cayman conveyance without her consent. (Id. at PageID.8–10.) She states that in

2023, while she was in England, Defendants prepared a new contract without her knowledge, changed the governing law to Cayman law, and fraudulently represented ownership. (Id. at PageID.11–12.) Plaintiff

claims she never signed the 2023 contract and that in 2025, Defendants unlawfully entered the property, changed the locks, and removed her belongings. (Id. at PageID.12–14.) Beyond the real estate dispute itself, Plaintiff alleges that she can no longer access her VRBO account because Defendants blocked it,

declaring ownership and displaying the purportedly fraudulent 2023 contract. (Id. at PageID.14.) She claims she lost a paid booking for June

21–July 5, 2025 (approximately $8,000) and further lost income through February 2026 totaling approximately $58,000 for the 2025–2026 season. (Id.) Plaintiff also alleges she paid $330 for a tourist license and fire

extinguisher service and $400 to a locksmith to re-enter the property. (Id.) She indicates that “VRBO was hacked in 2014,” and that “later ownership changes left limited historical records available.” (Id.)

Plaintiff additionally alleges various ancillary harms stemming from the real estate dispute, including that Defendants attempted a

reverse mortgage and ignored her off-season caretaker lease that runs through December 2027. (Id. at PageID.14–15.) She references concerns about identity theft, noting that Bradley had access to her Social Security

number and “full financials from the 2014 loan application,” as well as her American Express “card number from paying part of a ‘deposit’ by check to her card.” (Id. at PageID.15.) Plaintiff states she will seek IRS

letters regarding a 20-year audit and prior rejected returns. (Id.) She asserts that she continues to suffer from a clouded title, loss of possession and control, lost rental income, security and restoration costs, and

emotional distress. (Id.)

The Complaint asserts twenty-five state-law claims, including: declaratory judgment2 and quiet title claims (Counts 1–2, 10, 25); property-related tort claims including trespass, conversion, slander of

title, and tortious interference (Counts 3–5, 8, 18–19, 23); equitable claims including unjust enrichment, accounting, constructive trust, enforcement of the Michigan order, and enforcement of a Cayman Islands

“Charge” (Counts 6–7, 9, 11–12, 24); permanent injunctive relief3 (Count 13); fraud-based claims including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and civil conspiracy (Counts 14–16); statutory claims under Michigan

law (Counts 17–18); and intentional tort claims including intrusion upon

2 Declaratory and injunctive relief are remedies, not independent causes of action. In re Sonic Corp. Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., No. 1:17-md-2807, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114891, at *16 (N.D. Ohio July 1, 2020) (citing Duncan v. Tenn. Valley Auth. Ret. Sys., 123 F. Supp. 3d 972, 982 (M.D. Tenn. 2015), aff’d in part by Duncan v. Muzyn, 833 F.3d 567 (6th Cir. 2016); Goryoka v. Quicken Loan, Inc., 519 F. App’x 926, 929 (6th Cir. 2013)). 3 Id. seclusion, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and abuse of process (Counts 20–22). (Id. at PageID.15–31.)

Only four of those twenty-five counts are related to the unlawful

access to Plaintiff’s VRBO account: Permanent Injunction (Count 13) (only to the extent that Plaintiff seeks to protect exclusive control of VRBO and related accounts); “Tortious Interference with Contract and

Business Expectancy” (Count 19) (only to the extent that she alleges “commandeering VRBO”); Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (Count 21) (to the extent that “digital commandeering” caused her severe

emotional distress); and “Trespass to Chattels (Digital)” (Count 23). (Id. at PageID.23, 27–30.) The complaint lists two counts under federal law, which also relate to the alleged unlawful access to the VRBO account: (1)

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030) (Count 26); and (2) Stored Communication Act (18 U.S.C. § 2701) (Count 27). (Id. at PageID.31–32.)

II. Legal Standard

Because Plaintiff has been given permission to proceed without prepayment of the filing fee, the Court must screen the complaint under § 1915(e)(2)(B) to determine if the action “is frivolous or malicious,” “fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(e)(2)(B); see McGore v.

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