Ocampo v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedMarch 31, 2020
Docket3:19-cv-00436
StatusUnknown

This text of Ocampo v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (Ocampo v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ocampo v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., (D. Conn. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

JUAN OCAMPO, Plaintiff, No. 3:19-cv-00436 (SRU) v.

COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC., et al., Defendants.

RULING ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO DISMISS Juan Ocampo (“Ocampo”), proceeding pro se, brought this action against Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC, Bank of New York Mellon, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., American Home Mortgage, Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, U.S. Bank National Association, “John Does 1 through 100,” and “Jane Roes 1 through 100” (collectively, “Defendants”). Defendants Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., Nationstar Mortgage, U.S. Bank National Association, Bayview Loan Servicing LLC, and Bank of New York Mellon (collectively, “the Moving Defendants”) have moved to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). For the reasons set forth below, the motions to dismiss (doc. nos. 9, 23, 25) are GRANTED. I. Background As alleged in the complaint, Ocampo entered into two mortgage loans on two separate properties (“the Properties”). On September 30, 2005, Ocampo executed a note and mortgage with Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., which were secured by the property located at 100 Old Kings Highway, North, Darien, CT 06820 (the “Old Kings Highway Property”). See Compl., Doc. 1, at ¶ 2. On May 31, 2007, Ocampo executed a note and mortgage, which were secured by the property located at 2 Geneva Road, Norwalk, CT 06850 (the “Geneva Property”). Id. at ¶ 3. Ocampo principally alleges that Defendants “fraudulently misrepresented the Value of the subject property(s) and misrepresented the Loan to Fair Market Value Ratio based upon a false and inflated appraisal overstating the property value . . . .” See id. at ¶ 5. Ocampo asserts violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act

(“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(a) and 1964(c), on the basis of “mortgage fraud,” as well as “fraud in the factum.” See id. at ¶¶ 116–21. Along with compensation for damages and attorneys’ fees, Ocampo requests “vacatur of final foreclosure judgments, discharge of lis pendens, Satisfaction of Mortgage,” and cancellation of the promissory notes. Id. at 49. He further requests a “permanent injunction against all Defendant(s), Successors, Assigns and Agents who try to enforce a claim or judgment that has been fraudulently procured.” Id. Although not alleged in the complaint, I will take judicial notice of the following court proceedings, which are established by publicly-available court records.1 On October 3, 2016, the Superior Court for the Judicial District of Stamford entered a Judgment of Strict Foreclosure on the Geneva Property. Nationstar Mortg. LLC v. Ocampo, 2016 Conn. Super. LEXIS 4946, at *1

(Super. Ct. Oct. 3, 2016). On June 4, 2018, the Superior Court for the Judicial District of Stamford entered a Judgment of Strict Foreclosure on the Old Kings Highway Property. See Bank of New York Mellon f/k/a Bank of New York as Tr. v. Ocampo, et al., No. FSTCV146021995-S (Super. Ct. June 4, 2018). II. Standard of Review a) Rule 12(b)(1) “A case is properly dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1)

1 “At the pleading stage, courts may take judicial notice of matters of public record such as pleadings and orders in another action.” See Bailey v. Interbay Funding, LLC, 2018 WL 1660553, at *2 n.2 (D. Conn. Apr. 4, 2018) (internal citations omitted). when the district court lacks the statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate it.” Makarova v. United States, 201 F.3d 110, 113 (2d Cir. 2000). A party that moves to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction “may refer to evidence outside the pleadings.” Id. (quoting Kamen v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 791 F.2d 1006, 1011 (2d Cir. 1986)).

b) Rule 12(b)(6) A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6) is designed “merely to assess the legal feasibility of a complaint, not to assay the weight of evidence which might be offered in support thereof.” Ryder Energy Distribution Corp. v. Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc., 748 F.2d 774, 779 (2d Cir. 1984) (quoting Geisler v. Petrocelli, 616 F.2d 636, 639 (2d Cir. 1980)). When deciding a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), the court must accept the material facts alleged in the complaint as true, draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiffs, and decide whether it is plausible that plaintiffs have a valid claim for relief. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678–79 (2009); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555–56 (2007);

Leeds v. Meltz, 85 F.3d 51, 53 (2d Cir. 1996). Under Twombly, “[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level,” and assert a cause of action with enough heft to show entitlement to relief and “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” 550 U.S. at 555, 570; see also Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679 (“While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations.”). The plausibility standard set forth in Twombly and Iqbal obligates the plaintiff to “provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief” through more than “labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (internal quotation marks omitted). Plausibility at the pleading stage is nonetheless distinct from probability, and “a well-pleaded complaint may proceed even if it strikes a savvy judge that actual proof of [the claims] is improbable, and . . . recovery is very remote and unlikely.” Id. at 556 (internal quotation marks omitted). III. Discussion a) Rooker-Feldman Doctrine Under the Rooker–Feldman doctrine, federal district courts “lack jurisdiction over cases

that essentially amount to appeals of state court judgments.” Vossbrinck v. Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., 773 F.3d 423, 426 (2d Cir. 2014) (internal citations omitted). The prohibitions on federal district court review of state court judgments under the Rooker–Feldman doctrine extend to issues that are “inextricably intertwined” with such earlier state court determinations. Rooker– Feldman challenges may be brought by either party or sua sponte by the court. Moccio v. New York State Office of Court Admin., 95 F.3d 195, 198 (2d Cir. 1996) (internal citations omitted).

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Ocampo v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ocampo-v-countrywide-home-loans-inc-ctd-2020.