Munroe v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC

207 F. Supp. 3d 232, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124017, 2016 WL 4766244
District Court, E.D. New York·Decided September 13, 2016·No. 15-CV-0879 (MKB)·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

MARGO K. BRODIE, United States District Judge

On February 19, 2015, Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, commenced the above-captioned action against Nationstar Mortgage LLC (“Nationstar”), alleging that Nationstar violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 (the “FCRA”), and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p (the “FDCPA”), and asserting claims for unconscionable and deceptive trade practices in violation of New York City Administrative Code, N.Y. City Admin. Code § 20-493 (“City Admin Code”), and the New York State General Business Law, N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 349 (“GBL”).1 (Compl. ¶¶ 1, 15-48, Docket Entry No. 1.) On November 16, 2015, Na-tionstar moved to dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Rules 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to state a claim. (Def. Mot. to Dismiss (“Def. Mot.”), Docket Entry No. 14; Def. Mem. of Law in Supp. of Def. Mot. (“Def. Mem.”), Docket Entry No. 14-6; Def. Reply Mem. of Law in Supp. of Def. Mot. (“Def. Reply”), Docket Entry No. 15.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Nationstar’s motion to dismiss the Complaint.

I. Background

The following facts are taken from the Complaint and are accepted as true for the purposes of deciding the motion.

On July 17, 2006, Plaintiff executed a promissory note for $300,000 payable to Aegis Wholesale Corporation (the “Loan”) and secured by a mortgage (the “Mortgage”) on real property located at 210-21 89th Avenue, Queens Village, New York 11428 (the “Property”).2 (Note, annexed to [235] Compl. as Ex. I.) According to Plaintiff, he incurred the debt “primarily for personal, family or household purposes.” (Compl. ¶ 5.) On March 10, 2009, Aurora Loan Services LLC (“Aurora”) initiated a foreclosure proceeding in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Queens County (the “Foreclosure”). (Summons, .annexed to Compl. as Ex. Ill; see Compl. ¶ 7.) On October 22, 2012, Aurora assigned the Mortgage to Nationstar (the “Assignment”).3 (Assignment of Mortgage, annexed to Compl. as Ex. IV; see Compl. ¶ 8.)

On or about January 22, 2014, Plaintiff filed a “Consumer Notice of Dispute” in the pending foreclosure action, demanding validation of the mortgage debt pursuant to the FDCPA (the “Notice of Dispute”). (Notice of Dispute, annexed to Compl. as Ex. V; see Compl. ¶ 9.) In a letter dated February 4, 2014, Nationstar responded to Plaintiffs Notice of Dispute and stated that it enclosed copies of the promissory note, mortgage, and assignment to “verify the proof of debt.” (Verification Letter, annexed to Compl. as Ex. VI; see Compl, ¶ 10.) According to Plaintiff, the legal documents provided to him by Nationstar, which are not attached to the Complaint, “name[ ] an entirely different entity” than Nationstar. (Compl. ¶ 10.)

Plaintiff states that Nationstar began “reporting [the] alleged debt to the credit reporting agencies” and that the “amounts alleged to be due and owing” in Plaintiffs credit report were “in conflict with the alleged amounts” reported in the documentation mailed to Plaintiff to verify the Loan, (Id.) In a letter dated February 1, 2014, the credit reporting agency, Tran-sUnion notified Plaintiff of a change in his credit report, identifying Nationstar as a new creditor. (TransUnion Letter, annexed to Compl. as Ex. VII.) Plaintiff states that he then “obtained his consumer credit report from the three major” credit reporting- agencies—Equifax, Experian and TransUnion—and that Plaintiff “discovered” that Nationstar had reported “this alleged debt” to all three agencies. (Compl. ¶ 11.) On April 13, 2014, Plaintiff “filed disputes with the credit agencies,” pursuant to the FCRA (Id.) On or about May 13, 2014, each of the three major credit reporting agencies informed him that, after conducting an investigation with Na-tionstar, they determined the debt was valid and owed by Plaintiff. (Id.) Plaintiff asserts that the credit reporting was “erroneous.” (Id. ¶ 12.) Plaintiff states that Nationstar has failed to verify or validate the debt, causing him economic harm. (Id.) Plaintiff further asserts that Nationstar is not a “[c]reditor[ ], [l]ender[ ], nor [m]ort-gagee[ ]” and that it did not “provide any credit or services” to Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 13.)

II. Discussion

a. Standards of review

i. Motion to dismiss

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Munroe v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC, 207 F. Supp. 3d 232, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124017, 2016 WL 4766244 (E.D.N.Y. 2016).

207 F. Supp. 3d 232 (Munroe v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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