Stern v. Bank of America Corp.

112 F. Supp. 3d 1297, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84804, 2015 WL 3991058
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJune 30, 2015
DocketCase No. 2:15-cv-153-FtM-29CM
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 112 F. Supp. 3d 1297 (Stern v. Bank of America Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stern v. Bank of America Corp., 112 F. Supp. 3d 1297, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84804, 2015 WL 3991058 (M.D. Fla. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN E. STEELE, Senior District Judge.

This matter comes before the Qourt on review of Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Amended Complaint (Doc. # 11) filed on March 30, 2015. Plaintiff filed a Response (Doc. #17) on April 8, 2015. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is granted.

I.

Plaintiff David Stern (Stern), acting as personal representative of the Khaki Realty Trust (the Trust) has filed an Amended Complaint (Doc. # 9) against Defendant Bank of America Corporation (BOA) seeking a declaratory judgment concerning a parcel of real property owned by the Trust. The underlying facts, as set forth in the Amended Complaint, are as follows:

Stern, via the Trust, owns a parcel of real property (the Property) located in Cape Coral, Florida. (Id. at ¶ 3.) The Property was originally purchased by Ana [1299]*1299and Marvin Fuller (the Fullers)'in 2005 and the Fullers executed a mortgage. (the Mortgage) at the time of purchase. (Id. at ¶¶ 8-9.) Sometime thereafter, the Mortgage was assigned to Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (Countrywide). (Id. at ¶¶ 10.) As a result of the Fullers’ failure to make required mortgage payments, Countrywide accelerated the mortgage and filed a mortgage foreclosure action. (Id. at ¶¶ 10, 25.) In April 2008,. the Fullers filed for bankruptcy and, ultimately, received a discharge of their debts including their mortgage obligation. (Id. at ¶¶ 11-12.) In 2011, the mortgage foreclosure action against the Fullers was dismissed without prejudice. (Id. at ¶ 13.) The Mortgage was assigned to BOA in 2014. (Id. at ¶ 14.) In April 2014, Marvin Fuller died. Subsequently, Ana Fuller executed a quitclaim deed transferring to Stern her right, title, and interest in the Property. (Id. at ¶¶ 16-17.) BOA is currently in possession of the Property and has taken actions to prevent Stern from accessing and occupying it. (Id. at ¶ 15.)

Based on these allegations, Stern seeks a declaratory judgment (1) that the statute of limitations bars BOA from foreclosing upon the Property; (2) that BOA is not entitled to possession of the property; and (3) that BOA must yield possession of the property to the Trust. BOA now moves to dismiss, arguing that the Amended Complaint fails to state a elairp upon which relief can be granted.

II.

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a Complaint must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader - is entitled to relief.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). This obligation “requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (citation omitted). To survive dismissal, the factual allegations must be “plausible” and “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. See also Edwards v. Prime Inc., 602 F.3d 1276, 1291 (11th Cir.2010). This requires “more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unláwfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citations omitted).

In deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court must aceept all factual allegations in a complaint as true and take them in the light most favorable to plaintiff, Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007), but “[Ilegal conclusions without adequate factual support are entitled to no assumption of truth,” Mamani v. Berzaín, 654 F.3d 1148, 1153 (11th Cir.2011) (citations omitted). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. “Factual allegations that are merely consistent with a defendant’s liability fall short of being facially plausible.” Chaparro v. Carnival Corp., 693 F.3d 1333, 1337 (11th Cir.2012) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Thus, the Court engages in a two-step approach; “When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise .to an entitlement to relief.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

III.

As set forth in the Amended Complaint, the Fullers’ lender accelerated the Mortgage based-upon the Fullers’ failure to make a required mortgage payment and, after the Fullers failed to pay the accelerated mortgage debt, the lender commenced a foreclosure action. (Id. at [1300]*1300¶¶ 10-15, 25.) The foreclosure action against the Fullers was subsequently dismissed without prejudice. (Id.) According to Stern, the dismissal without prejudice did not unwind the acceleration. Actions to foreclose a mortgage are subject to a five-year statute of limitations. Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(c). Stern argues that the limitations period here began to run as-to the full amount owed on the Mortgage on the date of acceleration. Because the limitations period has since expired, Stern contends that BOA (who now owns the Mortgage) is barred from foreclosing upon'the Property in the future, and he seeks a declaratory judgment to that effect. BOA argues that Stern is not entitled to such a declaration because BOA continues to possess rights under the Mortgage, including the right to foreclose upon the Property on the basis of future non-payment defaults. Therefore, BOA contends that the Amended Complaint must be dismissed.

In response to BOA’s motion, Stern relies on the Florida Third District Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Deutsche Bank Trust Co., Americas v. Beauvais, No. 3D14-575, - So.3d -, 2014 WL 7156961 (Fla. 3d DCA, Dec. 17, 2014). In Beauvais, following the borrower’s default on a mortgage, the mortgagee accelerated the debt and commenced foreclosure. (Id. at -, at *1.) Subsequently, the foreclosure action was dismissed without prejudice. (Id.) Nearly six years later, the mortgagee brought a new foreclosure action, which the borrower argued was barred by the statute of limitations. (Id. at *2.) The court agreed, holding that the statute of limitations ran from the date of acceleration and did not restart when the initial foreclosure action was dismissed without prejudice. (Id. at -, at *10.)

However, Beauvais

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Bluebook (online)
112 F. Supp. 3d 1297, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84804, 2015 WL 3991058, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stern-v-bank-of-america-corp-flmd-2015.