Nasseri v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

147 F. Supp. 3d 937, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158193, 2015 WL 7429447
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 23, 2015
DocketNo. C 15-04001 WHA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 147 F. Supp. 3d 937 (Nasseri v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nasseri v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 147 F. Supp. 3d 937, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158193, 2015 WL 7429447 (N.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS AND DENYING MOTION FOR A MORE DEFINITE STATEMENT

William Alsup, United States District Judge

INTRODUCTION

In this foreclosure dispute, defendant moves to dismiss the complaint for failure [940]*940to state a claim and, in' the alternative, moves for a more definite statement. To the extent stated herein, the motion to dismiss is Denied. Defendant’s motion for a more definite statement is Denied. Defendant’s requests for judicial notice are Granted.

STATEMENT

The following well-pled facts are assumed to be true for the purposes of the present motion. In September 2002, plaintiff Fariba Nasseri purchased property in Danville, California. In 2007, plaintiff refinanced her property, executing a deed of trust and promissory note with defendant Wells Fargo. Between September 2007 and December 2012, plaintiff made timely mortgage payments each month (Compl. ¶¶ 9-10).

Around December 2012, plaintiffs husband lost his job. Although plaintiff alleges she. could have continued making her approximately $4,500.00 monthly payments, she hoped to obtain a more comfortable mortgage payment while her husband remained unemployed. Plaintiff contacted Wells Fargo regarding a forbearance plan (Compl. ¶ 12).

In December 2012, Wells Fargo approved plaintiffs forbearance plan. Pursuant to that plan, between January 2013 and December 2013, plaintiff would make a reduced monthly mortgage payment of $1,050.00. Wells Fargo would keep track of the total amount, of unpaid principal and interest that accrued during the plan. That amount would then be due and plaintiffs responsibility to pay after plan completion or when plaintiffs husband became fully employed. Plaintiff could then apply for payment assistance through a loan modification (Compl. ¶¶ 13-14).

The language in the forbearance plan confused plaintiff. She contacted Thomas Clarkson, who served as Wells Fargo’s single point of contact assigned to plaintiff and the home preservation specialist indicated in plaintiffs plan. Plaintiff asked Clarksori whether the accrued principal and interest would be immediately due and payable at the end of the forbearance plan. Clarkson informed plaintiff that the accrued balance would not be due and payable immediately upon completion of the forbearance plan, but rather would be added to the loan' balance arid due at the end of the loan term (Compl. ¶¶ 15-16).

On the basis of that information, plaintiff accepted the forbearance plan. Clarkson set “[pjlaintiffs account” so that she could make her plan payment via automatic withdrawal, despite the plan indicating payment by check or phone. From December 2012 to June 2013 Wells Fargo withdrew payments from “[pjlaintiffs account” with no problems (Compl. ¶¶ 17-19).

For the July 2013 payment, however, no automatic withdrawal occurred. In August 2013, plaintiff contacted Wells Fargo to inquire about why the previous payment had not been withdrawn. During this call, plaintiff offered to make two plan payments simultaneously — one for July 2013 and one for August 2013 — but Wells Fargo rejected plaintiffs offer. Furthermore, Wells Fargo told plaintiff that the forbearance plan had been canceled because of the failure to make the July payment. Plaintiff requested to resume making her regular mortgage payments — as Clarkson had allegedly informed her she could do; Wells Fargo stated that she could not resume making her regular monthly payments without reinstating her loan. This shocked plaintiff because she had been told that the accrued principal and interest would be added to the end of her loan, not immediately due . and payable. Plaintiff alleges that had Wells Fargo told her that the balance would be due and payable immediately upon the end of the plan, she never would have accepted the forbearance plan [941]*941and would have pursued another alternative (Compl. ¶¶ 20-28).

In August 2013, plaintiff received a reinstatement calculation. Soon thereafter Clarkson informed plaintiff that Wells Fargo could no longer help and that the normal collection process wbuld begin (Compl. ¶¶ 25-26).

Plaintiff then attempted to reinstate her loan pursuant to covenant 19 of the deed of trust. Wells Fargo rejected her reinstatement and told her to apply for a modification. Wells Fargo, however, rejected plaintiffs modification application without ever affording plaintiff an opportunity for review (Compl. ¶¶ 27-28).

In September 2015, plaintiff filed a complaint alleging: (1) breach of contract; (2) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (3) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (4) violation of California Civil Code Section 2923.7; (5) violation of California Civil Code Section 2923.7; (6) negligent misrepresentation; and (7) fraud.

Wells Fargo now moves to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim and also moves for a more definite statement (Dkt. No. 9), This order follows full briefing and oral argument.

ANALYSIS

1. Failure to State a Claim.

To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). A claim is facially plausible when there are sufficient factual allegations to draw a reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the conduct alleged.- While a court “must take all of the factual allegations in the complaint as true,” it is “not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.” Id. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)).

A. Breach of Contract.

Plaintiff alleges that Wells Fargo breached its obligations under the forbearance plan by failing to withdraw plaintiffs July payment, refusing plaintiffs offer to make the payment via another method, and canceling the forbearance plan.

A claim for breach of contract exists when there is: “(1) the contract, (2) plaintiffs performance or excuse for nonperformance, (3) defendant’s breach, and (4) damage to plaintiff therefrom.” Wall Street Network, Ltd. v. New York Times Company, 164 Cal.App.4th 1171, 1178, 80 Cal.Rptr.3d 6 (2008).

First, under California law, “[wjhere a party relies upon a contract in writing, and it affirmatively appears that all the terms of the contract are not set forth in haec verba, nor stated in their legal effect, but that a portion which may be material has been omitted, the complaint is insufficient.” Gilmore v. Lycoming Fire Ins. Co., 55 Cal. 123, 124 (1880). Here, plaintiff has alleged:

Pursuant to the [forbearance [p]lan, [pjlaintiff was required to make reduced monthly mortgage payments totaling $1,050.00 between January 2013 and December 2013. Plaintiff could elect to make her payments by check or by phone through Wells Fargo’s [ejasy [p]ay service for direct transfer from [plaintiffs bank account.

(Compl. ¶ 101). Plaintiff states the specific plan allegedly breached and the requirements under that plan.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
147 F. Supp. 3d 937, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158193, 2015 WL 7429447, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nasseri-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-cand-2015.