SCALERCIO-ISENBERG v. CREDIT SUISSE GROUP

District Court, D. New Jersey·Decided October 22, 2024·No. 2:22-cv-02705·Unknown

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

SHERRY SCALERCIO-ISENBERG,

Plaintiff, Case No. 2:22-cv-02705 (BRM) (AME)

v.

SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC., et

al., OPINION Defendants. MARTINOTTI, DISTRICT JUDGE Before the Court are Defendants Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. (“SPS”), Brett L. Messinger (“Messinger”), and Kassia Fialkoff’s (“Fialkoff”) (together, the “Duane Morris Defendants”) Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 81), as well as Defendants Mitchell Scott Kurtz (“Kurtz”) and Robert D. Bailey’s (“Bailey”) (together, the “Parker Ibrahim Defendants”) Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 82) pro se Plaintiff Sherry Scalercio-Isenberg’s (“Plaintiff”) Second Amended Complaint (ECF No. 78) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Plaintiff filed an opposition on April 1, 2024. (ECF No. 83.) On April 8, 2024, the Parker Ibrahim Defendants filed a reply. (ECF No. 84.) Having reviewed the submissions filed in connection with the Motion and having declined to hold oral argument pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 78(b), for the reasons set forth below and for good cause having been shown, the Duane Morris Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 81) is GRANTED and the Parker Ibrahim Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 82) is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint (ECF No. 78) is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background For the purpose of these Motions to Dismiss, the Court accepts the factual allegations in the Complaint as true and draws all inferences in the light most favorable to Plaintiff. See Phillips v. Cnty. of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 228 (3d Cir. 2008). The Court also considers any “document

integral to or explicitly relied upon in the complaint.” In re Burlington Coat Factory Sec. Litig., 114 F.3d 1410, 1426 (3d Cir. 1997) (quoting Shaw v. Digit. Equip. Corp., 82 F.3d 1194, 1220 (1st Cir. 1996)). This action arises from a home foreclosure due to an unpaid mortgage. Plaintiff attempted to make mortgage payments to SPS, but these payments were placed in an SPS account titled “Unapplied.” (ECF No. 78 at 7.) As a result, the money was never applied to the outstanding mortgage balance, meaning the account balance increased and the non-payment was reported to credit agencies, resulting in negative assessments against Plaintiff’s credit rating. (Id.) In June 2022, Plaintiff received a debt collection notice from Duane Morris, LLP (“Duane

Morris”) and immediately attempted to contact Duane Morris to indicate she disputed the outstanding amounts listed in the notice. (Id. at 6, 8.) Plaintiff spoke with Fialkoff, who noted her dispute and, in response to a question from Plaintiff, stated she had not filed a notice of appearance on behalf of the Goldman Sachs entity Legacy Mortgage Asset Trust (“LMAT”) in any court. (Id. at 8.) Plaintiff filed her initial complaint for this action in the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) on April 19, 2022. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff then sent a letter dated June 17, 2022, containing details of this civil action to the Philadelphia office of Duane Morris. (ECF No. 78 at 9.) Plaintiff states that various lawyers engaged in a coordinated campaign of harassment in response to her disputing the outstanding mortgage debt. (Id. at 7.) On July 29, 2022, a Foreclosure Action was filed against the property subject to the mortgage. (Id. at 11, 39.) Messinger, in completing the New Jersey Chancery Division Foreclosure Case Information Statement (“FCIS”), did not include the federal lawsuits filed by Plaintiff disputing the debt. (Id. at 39.) On or about December 20, 2022, Plaintiff and her husband, Marcus Isenberg (“Isenberg”),

made a payment of $100,000 to SPS via their lawyer, Mr. William Askin (“Askin”). (ECF No. 40 ¶ 42.)1 Askin issued a check for the total amount demanded in the mortgage loan pay-off statement. (Id.) Plaintiff and Isenberg then proceeded to sell the home subject to the mortgage. (Id. ¶ 43.) B. Procedural History Plaintiff filed her initial Complaint in the SDNY on April 19, 2022. (ECF No. 1.) On May 2, 2022, Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the case transferred from the SDNY to the District of New Jersey (“DNJ”) on the basis that the events detailed in the Complaint, including the debt collection against Plaintiff and alleged harassment of Plaintiff, occurred in New Jersey. (ECF No. 5 at 3–5.)

On June 28, 2022, Plaintiff moved for default judgment against SPS. (ECF No. 18.) On July 6, 2022, the Parker Ibrahim Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint against them pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. (ECF Nos. 21, 21-1.) On August 1, 2022, Plaintiff moved for default judgment against Defendant Credit Suisse Group (“Credit Suisse”). (ECF No. 25.) On August 19, 2022, SPS filed a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint for failure to effect service pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m). (ECF

1 In the Second Amended Complaint, Plaintiff states she incurred over $160,000 of damages “directly related to the Loan payoff amount.” (ECF No. 78 at 42.) Nos. 27, 27-1.) The Court issued an opinion on February 28, 2023, denying Plaintiff’s Motions for Default Judgment against SPS and Credit Suisse, denying SPS’s Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m), and granting the Parker Ibrahim Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). (ECF No. 35.) The Court dismissed Plaintiff’s claims against the Parker Ibrahim Defendants without prejudice for

failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Id.) Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on March 8, 2023. (ECF No. 40.) The Amended Complaint2 alleged the following causes of action: (1) violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (“RICO”) statute by all Defendants (Count I); (2) violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 18 U.S.C. § 1692, by Messinger (Count II); (3) Conspiracy to Commit Mortgage Fraud and Mortgage Servicing Fraud by all Defendants (Count III); (4) violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681, 1683, by all Defendants (Count IV); (5) violation of the FDCPA, 18 U.S.C. § 1692(g), by all Defendants (Count V); (6) Mortgage Fraud by all Defendants (Count VI); and (7) Home Foreclosure Fraud and Perjury by

Messinger (Count VII).

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SCALERCIO-ISENBERG v. CREDIT SUISSE GROUP, (D.N.J. 2024).

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