Scott v. White

126 F. Supp. 3d 665, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184676, 2014 WL 10321131
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedDecember 23, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 2:08cv97
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 126 F. Supp. 3d 665 (Scott v. White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scott v. White, 126 F. Supp. 3d 665, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184676, 2014 WL 10321131 (E.D. Va. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

RAYMOND A. JACKSON, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Relief from Judgment Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 58 & 60. Mot. for Relief from J. Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 58 & 60. ECF No. 27. In bringing the motion, Plaintiffs challenge the validity of two of this Court’s orders: the June 5.2009 Order denying their Motion for Relief from Judgment Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59, and the March 14, 2008 Order dismissing their Complaint. Plaintiffs seek one of two remedies from this Court:

1. Enter a written order dismissing the action and a written order disposing of the Rule 59 Motion; or
2. Vacate the Order and Judgment dismissing the Complaint and enter an order remanding the case to the Circuit Court of the City of Virginia Beach.

Plaintiff Michael Scott has brought nearly 30 duplicative and baseless actions in this Court, many of which focus on the foreclosure of two properties in Virginia Beach. He has brought suits against nearly everyone that did anything even remotely connected to these foreclosures. None of his efforts have succeeded, Plaintiffs have also sued at least two judges, who in presiding over Plaintiffs’ myriad of baseless cases, found it necessary to impose pre filing injunctions against Scott in an effort to alleviate the strain he exerts upon the court system. To date, five pre-filing injunctions have been entered against Scott.1

[668]*668For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ motion is GRANTED IN PART.

I. PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL HISTORY

Plaintiffs have filed a series of civil actions in this Court and the courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia related to the foreclosure of two properties Plaintiffs formerly owned on Zephyr Court (“Zephyr property” or “Mortgage 1”) and Longmont Road (“Longmont property” or “Mortgage 2”) in Virginia Beach. To put the instant matter in proper context, the Court briefly reviews the details of just two of those suits: Scott v. Wells Fargo & Co., et al., 326 F.Supp.2d 709 (E.D.Va.2003) (hereinafter “Suit 789” or “No. 2:02cv789”) and Scott v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc., et al., No. 2:03ev786 (hereinafter “Suit 786” or “No. 2:03cv786”).

A. Suit 789

Plaintiffs filed suit on October 4, 2002, alleging federal claims and state claims regarding the foreclosures of the Zephyr property (“Mortgage 1”) and Longmont property (“Mortgage 2”). Specifically, Plaintiffs raised federal claims under the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), The Sherman Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), and the Bankruptcy Code. Plaintiffs raised state and common law claims under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (“VCPA”), breach of contract, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duty and trust, trover, conversion, actual and/or constructive fraud, deceit and misrepresentation, and usury.

On January 14, 2003 this Court granted summary judgment for the defendants and stated that Plaintiffs’ TILA claim was without merit to both mortgages (for the Longmont and the Zephyr properties), Scott, 326 F.Supp.2d at 716. Similarly, the Court stated summary judgment was proper on both properties as to the FDCPA claim. Id. at 718. After concluding that Plaintiffs failed to establish federal question jurisdiction and having granted summary judgment against Plaintiffs “on several of Plaintiffs’ federal claims,” the Court found that Plaintiffs’ remaining claims “were supported by alternative state law theories of recovery.” Id. at 720. Accordingly, the Court found that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to entertain the suit and “decline[d] to exercise supplemental jurisdiction on those same grounds.” Id.

This Court concluded that opinion with the warning:

“Plaintiff is CAUTIONED that the Court’s dismissal of this action. with prejudice is a final decision on the merits, for the doctrine of res judicata bars any further prosecution of this action or any new case arising out of the same transaction or occurrence, or common nucleus of operative facts as those asserted herein.”

Id. (emphasis added). The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (“Fourth Circuit”) affirmed the Court’s ruling. Scott v. Wells Fargo & Co., et al., [669]*66967 Fed.Appx. 238 (4th Cir.2003) (per curiam).

B. Suit 786

Plaintiffs filed suit on November 6, 2003, alleging many of the same federal and state claims regarding the foreclosure of the Zephyr property and the seizure of the property. Specifically, Plaintiffs raised federal claims under FDCPA, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”), National Housing Act (“NHA”), the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the 4th, 13th and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution. They raised state and common law claims of economic duress, abuse of process, tortious interference with contractual relations, trespass, libel and slander, rescission of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and trust, unjust enrichment, actual and/or constructive fraud, deceit and misrepresentation, unauthorized use of name, insulting words, and violations of the VCPA, the Virginia Fraudulent Conveyance Law, Virginia Unlawful Detainer Law, and Article I of the Virginia Constitution.

On December 15, 2004, the Court granted summary judgment for the defendants on the federal claims. In its decision, this Court noted that Plaintiffs, impeded by a pre-filing injunction to bring their action in state court, included federal claims in their complaint in an effort to create jurisdiction before the Court. The Court also reminded Plaintiffs that res judicata was a bar to their claims. It stated:

To the extent that Plaintiff’s continue to attack the validity of any previous notes or deeds of trust, despite repeated rulings by the Court that the validity of those transactions have been long since settled under res judicata, the Court admonishes Plaintiffs that such claims are frivolous and will not be further tolerated by the Court.

No. 2:03cv786, 9, ECF No. 102 (emphasis added). Finding that it did not have original jurisdiction over the remaining claims, the Court dismissed the state claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and stated that they should be raised by Plaintiffs in the courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Id. at 19.

Underscoring the seriousness of Plaintiff Michael Scott’s conduct, the Court issued a prefiling injunction. On July 29, 2005, finding this Court failed to give Plaintiffs notice of its intent to issue the pre-filing injunction and an opportunity to respond as required by Cromer v. Kraft Foods N. Am., Inc.,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Zeng v. Chell
S.D. New York, 2025

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
126 F. Supp. 3d 665, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184676, 2014 WL 10321131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scott-v-white-vaed-2014.