Rapp v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC

302 F.R.D. 505, 2014 WL 3846032, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106957
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedAugust 5, 2014
DocketNo. 12-CV-2496 (PJS/FLN)
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 302 F.R.D. 505 (Rapp v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rapp v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, 302 F.R.D. 505, 2014 WL 3846032, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106957 (mnd 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

PATRICK J. SCHILTZ, District Judge.

Plaintiff Jared Rapp moves for certification of a nationwide class of borrowers who have entered into mortgage contracts with defendant Green Tree Servicing, LLC (“Green Tree”) over the past decade and who have been required to pay for force-placed insurance. Rapp seeks certification of two claims. First, Rapp alleges that Green Tree breached its mortgage contracts with the putative class members by charging them an amount in excess of the actual cost of the force-placed insurance that Green Tree purchased on their behalf. Second, Rapp alleges that defendant Green Tree Insurance Agency, Inc. (“GTIA”) was unjustly enriched as a result of Green Tree’s breach of the mortgage contracts. Because Rapp cannot show that questions of law or fact common to the class predominate over questions affecting only individual class members, his motion for class certification is denied.

I. BACKGROUND

Rapp borrowed money from a predecessor of Green Tree to purchase a condominium in Michigan. That loan was secured by a mortgage on the condominium, and that mortgage was eventually assigned to Green Tree. Under the mortgage, Rapp was required to maintain insurance on his condominium. See Defs. Ex. A § 5 (“Mortgage”) [ECF No. 15-1]. The mortgage provided that if Rapp failed to maintain such insurance, “Lender may obtain insurance coverage, at Lender’s option and Borrower’s expense.” Id. The type of insurance described by § 5 of the mortgage — that is, insurance that a lender purchases on behalf of a borrower — is commonly known as “lender-placed” or “force-placed” insurance. Green Tree (acting through its captive insurance agency, GTIA) purchased force-placed insurance on behalf of Rapp in 2012. GTIA received a commission for its involvement in the transaction.

In his amended complaint, Rapp brought a number of claims against Green Tree, GTIA, and the company that sold Rapp’s force-placed insurance policy. See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 135-95 [ECF No. 28]. Defendants moved to dismiss Rapp’s amended complaint in its entirety. In an order dated August 5, 2013, the Court granted the motions to dismiss in all but two respects. See ECF No. 68. First, the Court denied Green Tree’s motion to dismiss Rapp’s claim that it breached the mortgage contract by charging Rapp an amount in excess of the actual cost of the force-placed insurance. Second, the Court denied the motion of GTIA to dismiss Rapp’s claim that it had been unjustly enriched when it received a commission that (according to Rapp) it had done nothing to earn.

Rapp now asks the Court to certify this case as a class action under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3) on the surviving breaeh-of-contract claim against Green Tree and unjust-enrichment claim against GTIA Specifically, Rapp asks the Court to allow him to represent a class consisting of “[a]ll borrowers who had a lending agreement with Green Tree Servicing, LLC, on property located in the United States, who since November 1, 2004, incurred an obligation for a lender-placed insurance policy and whose lending agreement was a Single-Family, First Lien, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Security Instrument.”1 ECF No. [509]*509126 at 2. Rapp also stipulates that the class should exclude any borrower who has filed for bankruptcy, entered into a short-sale agreement, or entered into a loan-modification agreement, as any such borrower may not have been damaged by the actions of Green Tree or GTIA. Id. at 2-3.

II. CLASS CERTIFICATION

A. Standard of Review

A class may not be certified unless plaintiffs meet all of the criteria of Rule 23(a) and fall within one of the categories of Rule 23(b). Plaintiffs bear the burden of showing that the class should be certified and that the requirements of Rule 23 are met. Coleman v. Watt, 40 F.3d 255, 258 (8th Cir.1994). District courts have wide discretion in determining whether to certify a class. Coley v. Clinton, 635 F.2d 1364, 1378 (8th Cir.1980). But district courts must exercise that discretion within the standards set by Rule 23, which requires a “rigorous analysis” to ensure that class certification is appropriate. Gen. Tel. Co. of Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982).

Rapp seeks to certify a class under Rule 23(b)(3), which provides that a class action may be maintained if

the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy. The matters pertinent to these findings include:
(A) the class members’ interests in individually controlling the prosecution or defense of separate actions;
(B) the extent and nature of any litigation concerning the controversy already begun by or against class members;
(C) the desirability or undesirability of concentrating the litigation of the claims in the particular forum; and
(D) the likely difficulties in managing a class action.

For purposes of this order, the Court will assume that all requirements of Rule 23(a) are met and focus its analysis on whether the proposed class fits the criteria of Rule 23(b)(3).

B. Breach of Contract

Rapp’s mortgage contract is governed by a choice-of-law provision. Under that provision, “[tjhis Security Instrument shall be governed by federal law and the law of the jurisdiction in which the Property is located.” Mortgage § 16. Rapp’s property is located in Michigan, and thus Michigan law applies to Rapp’s breach-of-contract claim against Green Tree. The proposed class is limited to borrowers who signed mortgage contracts that were materially indistinguishable from the contract signed by Rapp. Accordingly, each class member’s breach-of-contract claim against Green Tree is governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which the mortgaged property is located — which means that certification of a nationwide class as to the breaeh-of-con-traet claim would require the application of the laws of all (or almost all) of the 50 states.

“‘Where the applicable law derives from the law of the 50 states, as opposed to a unitary federal cause of action, differences in state law will compound the disparities among class members from the different states.’” Gustafson v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP, 294 F.R.D. 529, 544 (C.D.Cal. 2013) (quoting Zinser v. Accufix Research Inst., Inc., 253 F.3d 1180, 1189 (9th Cir. 2001)). That said, although the need to apply the laws of the 50 states to a breach-of-contract claim makes class certification less likely, it does not — in and of itself — make class certification impossible. Cf. In re Conseco Life Ins. Co. LifeTrend Ins. Sales and Marketing Litig., 270 F.R.D. 521 (N.D.Cal. 2010) (certifying a nationwide class on a breach-of-contract claim under Rule 23(b)(2)). Rapp notes, and the Court agrees, that the elements of breach of contract do not differ much from state to state. See PL Ex. 20 [EOF No. 114-20].

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Bluebook (online)
302 F.R.D. 505, 2014 WL 3846032, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106957, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rapp-v-green-tree-servicing-llc-mnd-2014.