Mykhal Lloyd Polite v. TitleMax of Arizona Incorporated

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedJanuary 23, 2026
Docket2:25-cv-01574
StatusUnknown

This text of Mykhal Lloyd Polite v. TitleMax of Arizona Incorporated (Mykhal Lloyd Polite v. TitleMax of Arizona Incorporated) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mykhal Lloyd Polite v. TitleMax of Arizona Incorporated, (D. Ariz. 2026).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Mykhal Lloyd Polite, No. CV-25-01574-PHX-JZB

10 Plaintiff, ORDER

11 v.

12 TitleMax of Arizona Incorporated,

13 Defendant. 14 15 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s “Motion for Leave to File First Amended 16 Complaint” (“Third Motion for Leave to Amend,” and “Motion”) (doc. 37).1 The instant 17 Motion was filed on December 29, 2025. See (doc. 37.) Plaintiff seeks leave to file a Third 18 Amended Complaint2 (“TAC”) to narrow his legal theories, “[e]liminate [n]on-[a]ctionable 19 and [c]ontextual statutes,” and clarify his factual allegations. (Id. at 1–2.) The Court will 20 deny the Motion with prejudice because Plaintiff’s TAC is futile for failing to state a viable 21 claim upon which relief may be granted. 22 I. Factual Background. 23 On April 1, 2025, Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, commenced this action by filing his 24 original Complaint against Defendant TitleMax of Arizona, Inc. (“TitleMax”). See (doc. 25 1.) The following facts are taken from Plaintiff’s TAC.3 26 Plaintiff’s action arises from a settlement agreement between the Parties entered on

27 1 The Parties consented to magistrate judge jurisdiction on July 15, 2025. (Doc. 20). 2 While the Motion states “First Amended Complaint,” the Court notes that, in fact, 28 this is Plaintiff’s Third Amended Complaint. See (docs. 1, 11, 26.) 3 Plaintiff’s clean copy of the TAC is missing page 3. See (doc. 37-1.) 1 July 16, 2024, involving a repossessed 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. 4 (Doc. 37-1 at 3.) Under 2 the settlement agreement, Plaintiff would regain possession of the vehicle and take steps 3 necessary to transfer title to Plaintiff. (Id.) 4 On an undisclosed date, Plaintiff retrieved the vehicle. (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that he 5 found “the vehicle in a materially damaged condition that differed from the condition 6 previously communicated to Plaintiff.” (Id.) The damages alleged are mechanical and 7 physical in nature, “including but not limited to damage affecting its operability and ability 8 to pass emissions testing.” (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant did not disclose the state 9 of the vehicle to Plaintiff before he regained possession of the vehicle. (Id.) Beyond the 10 alleged damage to the vehicle, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant delayed transferring title to 11 the vehicle, which prevented Plaintiff from lawfully registering and driving his vehicle. 12 II. Procedural background. 13 On April 1, 2025, Plaintiff commenced this action in the Maricopa County Superior 14 Court. (Doc.1-1 at 3.) This action was subsequently removed to the U.S. District Court for 15 the District of Arizona by Defendant on May 7, 2025. (Doc. 1 at 6.) On May 21, 2025, 16 Plaintiff filed a First Motion for Leave to Amend. See (doc. 11.) This motion was denied 17 for failure to comply with LRCiv 15.1 and because of the use of hallucinated cases from 18 purported Artificial Intelligence use. See (doc. 25.) Following the Court’s denial, Plaintiff 19 simultaneously filed his Second Motion for Leave to Amend on October 6, 2025. (Doc. 20 26.) The Court denied his Second Motion for Leave to Amend because it was futile and 21 unduly prejudicial to Defendant. See (doc. 35.) The Court permitted Plaintiff to file a 22 renewed motion for leave to amend on or before December 26, 2025. (Id. at 11.) The instant 23 Motion was filed on December 29, 2025. (Doc. 37.) 24 III. Legal Standards. 25 Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governs whether the Court should

26 4 The Court notes that Plaintiff’s proposed Third Amended Complaint omits key facts regarding his case, such as the existence of a title loan agreement between the Parties, the 27 fact that he reserved the right to pursue an action for property damage resulting, and the specific acts Defendant’s counsel allegedly took—e.g., his prior assertion that counsel 28 showed him an aged photograph of the care—that supports his averment of fraud. See (doc. 35 at 1–2.) 1 or should not grant leave to amend. See generally Fed. R. Civ. P. 15. Under Rule 15, a 2 party may amend its pleadings as a matter of course within 21 days of serving it, or 21 days 3 after service of a responsive pleading or Rule 12(b), (e), or (f) motion. Fed. R. Civ. P. 4 15(a)(1). “In all other cases, a party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party’s 5 written consent or the court’s leave.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). 6 Generally, leave to amend is “freely give[n] when justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. 7 P. 15(a)(2). “Rule 15’s policy of favoring amendments to pleadings should be applied with 8 extreme liberality” in normal circumstances. DCD Programs, Ltd. v. Leighton, 833 F.2d 9 183, 186 (9th Cir. 1987) (cleaned up); Chudacoff v. Univ. Med. Ctr. of S. Nevada, 649 F.3d 10 1143, 1152 (9th Cir. 2011) (“Rule 15(a) is designed to facilitate decision on the merits, 11 rather than on the pleadings or technicalities.”) (cleaned up). While Rule 15 is to be applied 12 with extreme liberality, it does not guarantee leave to amend will be granted. Rather, the 13 decision whether to “grant or den[y] . . . an opportunity to amend is within the discretion 14 of the District Court[.]” Komie v. Buehler Corp., 449 F.2d 644, 648 (9th Cir. 1971) (citation 15 omitted). 16 In analyzing whether leave to amend should be granted, the Court applies the 17 following Foman factors: 18 In the absence of any apparent or declared reason—such as undue delay, bad 19 faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the 20 opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of 21 amendment, etc.—the leave sought should, as the rules require, be ‘freely given.’ 22 23 Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). 24 In applying the Foman factors, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has 25 clarified that not every factor is weighed evenly. Eminence Cap., LLC v. Aspeon, Inc., 316 26 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir. 2003). Specifically, “[p]rejudice is the ‘touchstone of the inquiry 27 under rule 15(a).’” Id. (quoting Lone Star Ladies Inv. Club v. Schlotzsky’s Inc., 238 F.3d 28 363, 368 (5th Cir. 2001)). 1 Beyond undue prejudice, “[f]utility of amendment can, by itself, justify the denial 2 of a motion for leave to amend.” Bonin v. Calderon, 59 F.3d 815, 845 (9th Cir. 1995). An 3 amendment is futile where it does not “present a viable claim on the merits for which relief 4 could be granted[,]” Murray v. Schriro, 745 F.3d 984, 1015 (9th Cir. 2014), or “[w]here 5 the legal basis for a cause of action is tenuous[.]” Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Network Sols., 6 Inc., 194 F.3d 980, 986 (9th Cir. 1999). 7 IV. Discussion. 8 Plaintiff seeks leave to amend so that he may: (1) narrow his legal theories; (2) 9 eliminate non-actionable and contextual statutes; and (3) clarify his factual allegations.

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Mykhal Lloyd Polite v. TitleMax of Arizona Incorporated, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mykhal-lloyd-polite-v-titlemax-of-arizona-incorporated-azd-2026.