Mabary v. Hometown Bank, N.A.

888 F. Supp. 2d 857, 2012 WL 3765020, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124375
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 30, 2012
DocketCase No. 4:10-cv-3936
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 888 F. Supp. 2d 857 (Mabary v. Hometown Bank, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mabary v. Hometown Bank, N.A., 888 F. Supp. 2d 857, 2012 WL 3765020, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124375 (S.D. Tex. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KEITH P. ELLISON, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (“Motion”). (Doc. No. 43.) After considering the Motion, all responses and replies thereto, and the applicable law, the Court concludes that the Motion should be DENIED.

I. FACTS

The Court reviewed the facts of this case in a prior Memorandum and Order (Doc. No. 32) and will not do so again. In brief, Plaintiff filed the present lawsuit on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, alleging that Defendant violated the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1693 et seq. (“EFTA”), and its implementing Regulation, 12 C.F.R. § 205.1 et seq. The EFTA requires any automated teller machine (“ATM”) operator who imposes fees on consumers to provide notice of the fact that a fee is being imposed and the amount of the fee. 15 U.S.C. § 1693b(d)(3)(A). The statute requires the notice to be posted in two places: both at the ATM machine and on the screen of the ATM or, alternatively, on a paper notice issued before the transaction is completed. 15 U.S.C. § 1693b(d)(3)(B).

Plaintiff alleges that, in May 2010, she was charged a $2.00 terminal fee in connection with one or more electronic fund transfers she completed using an ATM operated by Defendant. Plaintiff asserts that there was no notice posted “on or at” the relevant ATM operated by Defendant that informed consumers about the imposition of a fee. (Comply 16-19.) This putative class action is on behalf of all persons who were charged a “terminal fee” at ATMs operated by the Defendant, where there was no notice posted on the ATM machine.

On October 5th, 2011, Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss or Alternatively for Stay. Defendant argued that, because Plaintiff did not suffer actual damages, no injury-in-fact occurred. Thus, Defendant claimed that Plaintiff lacked standing. In the alternative, Defendant asked that the case be stayed pending a Supreme Court decision on a related case, First Am. Fin. Corp. v. Edwards, — U.S. —, 132 S.Ct. 2536, 183 L.Ed.2d 611 (2012). This Court did not rule on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss at that time, but granted the stay. The Supreme Court found that certiorari had been improvidently granted, and this Court subsequently unstayed the case on August 10th, 2012.

Defendant’s Motion is fully briefed and ripe for decision. The Court finds that the Plaintiff does have standing, and thus that Defendant’s Motion must be denied.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Rule 12(b)(1) standard

Unlike a dismissal for lack of prudential or statutory standing, which is [859]*859properly granted under Rule 12(b)(6), a dismissal for lack of constitutional standing should be granted under Rule 12(b)(1). Blanchard 1986, Ltd. v. Park Plantation, LLC, 553 F.3d 405, 409 (5th Cir.2008); Harold H. Huggins Realty, Inc. v. FNC, Inc., 634 F.3d 787, 795 (5th Cir.2011). Courts may dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on any one of three bases: (1) the complaint alone; (2) the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts in the record; or (3) the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts plus the court’s resolution of disputed facts. Clark v. Tarrant County, 798 F.2d 736, 741 (5th Cir.1986) (citing Williamson v. Tucker, 645 F.2d 404, 413 (5th Cir.1981)).

The plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that subject matter jurisdiction exists. Paterson v. Weinberger, 644 F.2d 521, 523 (5th Cir.1981); Menchaca v. Chrysler Credit Corp., 613 F.2d 507, 511 (5th Cir.1980); Ramming v. United States, 281 F.3d 158, 161 (5th Cir.2001). In ruling on a motion to dismiss for lack of standing, the court must accept as true all material allegations of the complaint, and must construe the complaint in favor of the complaining party. Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421-422, 89 S.Ct. 1843, 23 L.Ed.2d 404 (1969).

b. standing

Article III of the Constitution limits the scope of the federal judicial power to the adjudication of “cases” or “controversies.” U.S. Const, art. Ill, § 2. Standing is an element of Article Ill’s case or controversy requirement, and the lack of standing precludes subject matter jurisdiction. Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 750, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984). Article III standing is a “threshold jurisdictional question.” Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 102, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998).

Standing is composed of three elements: (1) the plaintiff must have suffered an “actual or imminent” injury which is “concrete and particularized,” and may not be “conjectural or hypothetical;” (2) there must be a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of; and (3) “it must be likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.” Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). Particularized means “that the injury must affect the plaintiff in a personal and individual way.” Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130.

Before the Court is a putative class action, where Plaintiff represents other similarly situated individuals who were allegedly charged a terminal fee by Defendant without two forms of notice. The Article III standing requirements apply equally to class actions. Grant ex rel. Family Eldercare v. Gilbert, 324 F.3d 383, 390 (5th Cir.2003) (citing Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 357, 116 S.Ct. 2174, 135 L.Ed.2d 606 (1996)). The class representative must allege an individual, personal injury in order to seek relief on behalf of herself or any other member of the class. Id.

At the pleading stage, general factual allegations of injury resulting from the defendant’s conduct may suffice, for on a motion to dismiss we “presum[e] that general allegations embrace those specific facts that are necessary to support the claim.” Lujan, 504 U.S. at 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130; Public Citizen, Inc. v. Bomer,

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

Related

Lisa Mabary v. Home Town Bank, N.A.
771 F.3d 820 (Fifth Circuit, 2014)
Reed v. Chase Home Finance, LLC
893 F. Supp. 2d 1250 (S.D. Alabama, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
888 F. Supp. 2d 857, 2012 WL 3765020, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mabary-v-hometown-bank-na-txsd-2012.