Quasebarth v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC

90 F. Supp. 3d 1373, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25684, 2015 WL 918822
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 3, 2015
DocketCase No. 4:14-CV-223 (CDL)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 90 F. Supp. 3d 1373 (Quasebarth v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Quasebarth v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, 90 F. Supp. 3d 1373, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25684, 2015 WL 918822 (M.D. Ga. 2015).

Opinion

[1376]*1376 ORDER

CLAY D. LAND, Chief Judge.

This action involves an all-too-familiar consequence of the so-called “Great Recession” — the turning' of the “American Dream” into a terrible nightmare. A family purchases a home with borrowed money. They encounter difficulty repaying the loan; miscommunication occurs between the borrowers and the lender. And then the once-proud homeowners end up losing their home. Litigation ensues, and the question becomes who, if anyone, is legally responsible for the dashed dream.

In this dispute, Plaintiffs Jim and Robyn Quasebarth sue their mortgage servicer, Defendant Green Tree Servicing, LLC, (“Green Tree”) for violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act, O.C.G.A. § 16-4-4. The Quasebarths also assert claims for breach of contract, interference with property rights, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence per se. Presently pending before the Court are Green Tree’s motions to transfer venue and to dismiss for failure to state a claim. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies the motion to transfer venue (ECF No. 7), and grants in part and denies in part the motion to dismiss (ECF No. 8).

APPLICABLE STANDARDS

“For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district 'or division where it might have been brought ....” 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). “The decision to transfer a case to another district is left to the sound discretion of the trial court.” Brown v. Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co., 934 F.2d 1193, 1197 (11th Cir.1991). Federal courts traditionally give substantial deference to the plaintiffs choice of forum, and therefore the movant bears the burden of persuading the Court that its proposed forum is more convenient than the current forum. See In re Ricoh Corp., 870 F.2d 570, 573 (11th Cir.1989) (per curiam) (explaining the traditional burden for § 1404(a) transfer).

“To survive a motion to dismiss” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to 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) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). The complaint must include sufficient factual allegations “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. In other words, the factual allegations must “raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence of’ the plaintiffs claims. Id. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “Rule 12(b)(6) does not permit dismissal of a well-pleaded complaint simply because ‘it strikes a savvy judge that actual proof of those facts is improbable.’ ” Watts v. Fla. Int’l Univ., 495 F.3d 1289, 1295 (11th Cir.2007) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Mr. and Mrs. Quasebarth allege the following facts in support of their claims. The Court must accept these allegations as true for purposes of the pending motion to dismiss.

The Quasebarths bought a home in Ac-worth, Georgia in February 2007. Defendant Green Tree was the primary servicer of their mortgage. Over five years later, in the summer of 2012, the Quasebarths fell on hard times and became unable to make their monthly mortgage payment. This dispute arises from the events following their missed payments.

[1377]*1377In an attempt to cure the default on their mortgage, the Quasebarths applied for a loan modification with Green Tree. Green Tree promised to let the Quase-barths know if it approved their application. But while their application was still pending, Green Tree informed the Quase-barths that it planned to sell their home at a foreclosure sale on December 4, 2012.

Green Tree proceeded to make a series of misrepresentations to the Quasebarths. The Quasebarths allege that these misrepresentations were intended to defraud them and prevent them from curing the default on their loan. The first misrepresentation came when the Quasebarths asked Green Tree why it was foreclosing on their home given that it was still considering the Quasebarths’ application for a loan modification. During this conversation, Green Tree promised to determine the Quasebarths’ eligibility for a modification before the date of the scheduled foreclosure, December 4, if the Quasebarths submitted a new application. The Quase-barths agreed. In fact, they allege that a few days later Green Tree again confirmed that it would “definitely notify [the Quase-barths] before December 4, 2012” whether their application was approved. Compl. ¶ 36, ECF No. 1.

A few days later, Green Tree made another misrepresentation: If the Quase-barths submitted an additional application, Green Tree promised to notify them of their eligibility for a modification within thirty days after they submitted the application. Most importantly, Green Tree promised to postpone the foreclosure sale if the Quasebarths had not received word about their eligibility for a modification by the date of the foreclosure sale, December 4, 2012. Relying on this promise, the Quasebarths submitted a second application on November 8, 2012. They believed that they would hear back from Green Tree within thirty days, by December 8, or that Green Tree would postpone the December 4 foreclosure sale. But Green Tree never followed through, and December 4 and 8 came and went without any word from Green Tree. The Quasebarths now allege that Green Tree never intended to notify them of their eligibility for a loan modification, and made these statements only to prevent the Quasebarths from curing their default.

Because Green Tree had not notified the Quasebarths about their eligibility for a loan modification, the Quasebarths believed that Green Tree had postponed the foreclosure sale. To their surprise, on December 6, a Green Tree representative informed the Quasebarths that it had sold their home at a foreclosure sale two days earlier. The Quasebarths then reached out to Green Tree and its legal counsel for clarification, and each time Green Tree made yet another misrepresentation and told the Quasebarths that the December 4 foreclosure sale was final. In fact, Green Tree went so far as to file an ejection proceeding against the Quasebarths. The Quasebarths now allege that Green Tree knew, at the time it made these representations, that the foreclosure sale had not occurred and that the Quasebarths still owned the home.

Relying on Green Tree’s misrepresentations, and believing that they no longer owned the home, the Quasebarths executed a contract releasing all their claims against Green Tree related to the home.

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90 F. Supp. 3d 1373, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25684, 2015 WL 918822, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quasebarth-v-green-tree-servicing-llc-gamd-2015.