Pearson v. United States

905 F. Supp. 2d 400, 2012 WL 5921722, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167121
District Court, D. Massachusetts·Decided November 26, 2012·No. Civil Action No. 10-11410-EFH·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HARRINGTON, Senior District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on the parties’ request for clarification as to the scope of the sole surviving Count of the Amended Complaint, as set forth in Pearson v. United States, 831 F.Supp.2d 514 (D.Mass.2011) and on the United States’ Second Motion to Dismiss.

I. Scope of the surviving count.

On December 22, 2011, this Court dismissed all claims in the Amended Complaint with the exception of “the claim for breach of fiduciary duty in Count 1 related to the foreclosure sales process of the Capitol Bank collateral properties.” Pearson, 831 F.Supp.2d at 523. Plaintiff asserts that the “Capitol Bank collateral properties” referenced in the decision include all properties owned by the Plaintiff and his various companies that secured Capitol Bank loans, even those properties that were not specifically set forth in the Amended Complaint. The United States, on the other hand, contends that the referenced “Capitol Bank collateral properties” encompass only those properties that were alleged in the Amended Complaint to have secured Capitol Bank loans and to have undergone foreclosure sales in bad faith. The Court agrees with the United States.

Although complaints are interpreted liberally and pleading requirements are minimal, such “minimal requirements are not tantamount to nonexistent requirements.” Calvi v. Knox Cnty., 470 F.3d 422, 430 (1st Cir.2006) (quoting Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 514 (1st Cir.1988)) (internal quotations omitted). Plaintiff must set forth sufficient factual matter to support the claim. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 668, 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citations omitted) (Rule 8 pleading requirements “do[ ] not unlock the doors of discovery for a plaintiff armed with nothing more than conclusions.”). The Court’s December 22, 2011 decision was based solely on the allegations set forth by the Plaintiff in the Amended Complaint. The only allegations regarding the sole remaining claim relate to the foreclosure sale of condomini[403] urn units and a clubhouse property owned by Hargrave, Inc., one of Plaintiffs businesses. All other allegations of misconduct relating to foreclosure sales of other properties to which the Plaintiff now refers were never alleged in the Amended Complaint and are, accordingly, not part of the claim.

II. Motion to dismiss.

Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the law “of the place where the act or omission occurred” applies. 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)(1). In ruling on the United States’ prior motion to dismiss, this Court, for the purposes of that decision, assumed that Massachusetts law applied pursuant to general allegations in the Amended Complaint stating that the act or omission forming the basis of the claim occurred in Massachusetts. Pearson, 831 F.Supp.2d at 519 n. 1. The United States now contends that Connecticut law applies, attaching to its memorandum foreclosure certificates1 indicating that the Hargrave properties were located in Connecticut and that the foreclosure litigation concerning those properties took place in the Connecticut courts pursuant to Connecticut law.2

The Court takes judicial notice that the Hargrave Properties were located in Connecticut, and that the foreclosures occurred in Connecticut and were governed by Connecticut law.3 Accordingly, it would appear that the act or omission forming the basis for the remaining claim, namely a violation of a fiduciary duty in the foreclosure sales process, would have occurred in Connecticut and that the claim would, thus, be governed by Connecticut law.

Assuming, however, that the act or omission did occur as alleged in Massachusetts, the result would be the same. In applying § 1346(b)(1), federal courts must look to the “provisions of the whole law” including the state’s choice of law rules, even if doing so would lead to another state’s substantive law. Richards v. United States, 369 U.S. 1, 11, 82 S.Ct. 585, 7 L.Ed.2d 492 (1962); Gould Elec. Inc. v. United States, 220 F.3d 169, 179, 191 (3d Cir.2000) (applying Ohio’s contribution rules because choice of law rules of New York, where the negligence occurred, provided for Ohio law to apply). Under Massachusetts choice of law principles, claims arising in connection with foreclosures of real property are, in turn, governed by the law of the state in which the land is located. United Guar. Residential Ins. Co. v. O’Neil, 2 Mass.L.Rptr. 295, 1994 WL 879614, *1 (Mass.Super.Ct.1994) (“The mechanics of foreclosure, including what notice had to be given,” are governed by the law of the situs.); FDIC v. Henry, 818 F.Supp. 452, 454 (D.Mass.1993) (“In general, real property questions, including those concerning real estate foreclosures, are determined by the sovereign within whose territory the land is located (i.e., the law of [404] the situs).”). Accordingly, Connecticut law would be applied to the remaining claim regardless of whether the act or omission occurred in Massachusetts, as alleged.

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Pearson v. United States, 905 F. Supp. 2d 400, 2012 WL 5921722, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167121 (D. Mass. 2012).

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