Ward v. Bank of America

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedSeptember 28, 2022
Docket3:22-cv-05252
StatusUnknown

This text of Ward v. Bank of America (Ward v. Bank of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ward v. Bank of America, (W.D. Wash. 2022).

Opinion

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5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 7 JAMES H. WARD, CASE NO. C22-5252 BHS 8 Plaintiff, ORDER 9 v. 10 BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., 11 Defendant. 12

13 This matter comes before the Court on Defendant Bank of America, N.A.’s 14 (“BANA”) Motion to Dismiss, Dkt. 6. The Court has considered the briefing filed in 15 support of and in opposition to the motion and the remainder of the file and grants in part 16 and denies in part the motion for the reasons stated below. 17 I. BACKGROUND 18 This lawsuit stems from BANA’s repeated attempts to foreclose on and clear title 19 to a property previously owned by Plaintiff James Ward located at 1427 1st Street, Port 20 Townsend, Washington (“the Property”). Dkt. 1, ¶ 6. Ward originally borrowed money 21 from Countrywide Bank to purchase the Property. Id. ¶ 7. He executed a note reflecting 22 his promise to repay the loan, and a deed of trust on the Property securing his repayment 1 obligation, on November 21, 2007. Id.; see also id. at 34–35 (Note), 37–49 (Deed of 2 Trust).1 In 2011, the deed of trust was assigned to BANA. See id. at 51.

3 Ward eventually defaulted on the loan. Id. ¶ 8. On August 8, 2014, BANA sued 4 Ward in Jefferson County Superior Court, initiating a judicial foreclosure on the 5 Property. Id. ¶ 9. BANA sought to recover judgment against Ward and the Property, 6 including the principal and interest due, the cost of a title search, certain advances made 7 by BANA, and attorney’s fees. Id. ¶ 10; see also id. at 30. BANA waived its right to any 8 deficiency judgment. Id. at 29. BANA also makes clear in its 2014 complaint that it had

9 already attempted to non-judicially foreclosure on the Property.2 See id. at 29. 10 Despite the pending judicial foreclosure, BANA proceeded to a nonjudicial 11 foreclosure sale on the Property on February 17, 2017. Id. ¶ 11. Following the trustee’s 12 sale, Ward vacated the Property. Id. Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie 13 Mae”) purchased the Property at the trustee’s sale for $225,000. Id. ¶ 12.

14 On October 22, 2018, BANA sought leave to amend its complaint in the 2014 15 Jefferson County case, opining that the trustee’s sale may have been void because the 16 judicial foreclosure action had been pending at the time and thus the nonjudicial 17

1 The Court may consider Ward’s loan documents and records without converting this 18 motion to dismiss into one for summary judgment because they are attached to and referenced in his Complaint, and they form the basis of his claims. United States v. Ritchie, 342 F.3d 903, 908 19 (9th Cir. 2003); see also Hummel v. Nw. Trustee Servs., Inc., 180 F. Supp. 3d 798, 803 n.1 (W.D. Wash. 2016). 20 2 Ward asserts in his complaint that BANA sought $660.29 in attorney’s fees relating to a previous non-judicial foreclosure that could not be completed. Dkt. 1, ¶ 10. BANA sought $2000 21 in attorney’s fees in total in the 2014 lawsuit. Dkt. 1 at 30. It is unclear whether that $2000 included the $660.29 for the nonjudicial foreclosure, but it does establish that the 2014 judicial 22 foreclosure was BANA’s second attempt. 1 foreclosure was not in compliance with RCW 61.24.030(4). Id. ¶ 14; see also id. at 53–57 2 (Motion to Amend). The state court granted BANA’s motion and BANA amended its

3 complaint. Id. ¶ 16; see also id. at 59–66 (Amended Complaint). 4 After objecting to the further foreclosure action in state court, Ward filed a federal 5 lawsuit in this Court, asserting claims for negligence, negligent misrepresentation, 6 violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act (“CPA”), violations of the Fair 7 Debt Collection Practices Act, and abuse of process. Id. ¶¶ 17–18; see also Ward v. Bank 8 of America, N.A., No. 19-0185 RBL, Dkt. 1 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 7, 2019). BANA and

9 Ward settled the state and federal court lawsuits. Dkt. 1, ¶ 19. Ward alleges that BANA 10 never informed him that the Trustee’s Deed from the nonjudicial foreclosure sale was 11 insufficient to vest title in Fannie Mae3 or that any further action was necessary. Id. ¶ 20. 12 Ward further alleges that when he and BANA signed their settlement agreement in 2019, 13 his understanding was that BANA already owned title to the property and that BANA

14 never informed him that he needed to take any further action. Id. ¶¶ 21–22. 15 In July 2021, BANA reached out to Ward’s counsel in the prior actions, informing 16 him that Ward had never signed a deed to BANA, asking for such a deed, and threatening 17 further legal action if he failed to cooperate. Id. ¶¶ 23–24. Ward did nothing. Id. ¶ 24. 18 In December 2021, BANA initiated another lawsuit in Jefferson County Superior

19 Court for “Real Property Title Relief.” Id. ¶ 25; see also id. at 68–72 (Complaint). Ward 20

21 3 While the Court takes this allegation as true for the purposes of this motion, it is worth noting that Ward himself points out that BANA’s Motion to Amend in the Jefferson County 22 lawsuit stated on its face that the trustee’s sale was possibly void. See Dkt. 1, ¶ 14. 1 alleges he was not served for several months. Id. ¶ 25. BANA asserts in that complaint 2 that the settlement was intended to transfer title to BANA; Ward asserts that title transfer

3 was not the purpose of the settlement because he had no title to transfer. Id. ¶ 26. In that 4 suit BANA seeks “judgment vesting title to real property.” Id. at 70. BANA also 5 proposes two alternative remedies to clear title: (1) a judgment “declaring the Trustee’s 6 Deed vested the Property in [BANA] as fee simple and free of any interests of [Ward]; or 7 (2) a judgment “canceling the Trustee’s Deed, reinstating the Deed of Trust as the first 8 position lien against the property, and permitting [BANA] to re-foreclose so as to obtain

9 unclouded title.” Id. at 70–71. BANA also moved the Superior Court to cancel what it 10 deems to be “fraudulent instruments” that Ward recorded in Jefferson County that 11 “impair the Deed of Trust and the debt it secures.” Id. at 71. BANA named the recording 12 numbers of sixteen such instruments but it is unclear what they are. Id. 13 Ward sued BANA in this Court in April 2022 alleging four causes of action: (1)

14 violations of the CPA; (2) negligence; (3) negligent misrepresentation; and (4) outrage. 15 Dkt. 1. He seeks (1) a judgment that he owns the subject property in fee simple absolute 16 and that BANA and others have no title, lien, interest, or right in the property;4 (2) a 17 judgment that BANA’s Deed of Trust is extinguished; (3) reasonable attorneys’ fees and 18 costs; and (4) actual and treble damages under the CPA. Id. at 21. Ward explains in his

19 complaint that he fears that BANA will seek a deficiency judgment or other costs and 20 4 It is unclear why Ward seeks title to the property as a proposed remedy. He concedes he 21 vacated the property years ago and claims to want to gain only reprieve from BANA’s repeated litigation. The issue is not currently before the Court, but it is worth noting that this is not a 22 remedy the Court or a jury could award. 1 fees and that a “re-foreclosure” would negatively affect his credit score. Id. ¶¶ 37–38. He 2 also asserts that he feels it is not his responsibility to fix a clouded title problem created

3 by BANA. Id. ¶ 36. 4 BANA moves to dismiss, arguing that Ward failed to state a claim under all four 5 causes of action. Dkt. 3.

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Ward v. Bank of America, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ward-v-bank-of-america-wawd-2022.