White v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA

904 F. Supp. 2d 756, 78 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 942, 2012 WL 4958516, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149233
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedOctober 17, 2012
DocketCase No. 1:12 CV 943
StatusPublished

This text of 904 F. Supp. 2d 756 (White v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA, 904 F. Supp. 2d 756, 78 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 942, 2012 WL 4958516, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149233 (N.D. Ohio 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

DAN AARON POLSTER, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (“Motion”) (Doc #: 7). The Court has reviewed the motion, the opposition brief (Doc # : 19), and the reply brief (Doc # : 22). For the following reasons, the Motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I. Background

On October 24, 2008, Plaintiffs Laneeka White and Timothy Reese bought a [759]*759car from Cresmont Chrsyler Jeep in Beachwood, Ohio. To finance the car, they entered into a Retail Installment Sales Contract with Cresmont. Cresmont subsequently assigned the contract to Defendant Wells Fargo. A choice-of-law provision states that Federal law and Ohio law shall apply to the contract. The contract also provides that, in the event of default and repossession,

[Wells Fargo] will sell the vehicle if you do not get it back. If you do not do what 'is required to get the vehicle back, we will sell the vehicle.
[Wells Fargo] will apply the money from the sale, less allowed expenses, to the amount you owe. Alowed expenses are expenses we pay as a direct result of taking the vehicle, holding it, preparing it for sale, and selling it.

(Doc#: 1-2).

In September 2011, Plaintiffs defaulted on the loan, and Defendant repossessed the vehicle. On September 14, 2011, Defendant issued to Plaintiffs a “Notice of Our Plan to Sell Property” (“Notice of Sale”) informing them the vehicle would be sold at public auction. Defendant also sent a “Notice of Intention to Dispose of Motor Vehicle” (“Redemption Notice”) advising Plaintiffs of their right of redemption.

According to the Notice of Sale, the public sale would occur on October 20, 2011; in fact, the sale was not held until November 3, 2011. The Notice of Sale stated the minimum acceptable bid would be $14,850; the actual selling price, however, was $9,600. Defendant applied the sale proceeds to the balance due under the contract, though it was not enough to make up for the deficiency. Defendant therefore sent Plaintiffs a Deficiency Notice, which included, among other charges, “collection fees” in the amount of $1291.21.

In an effort to recover the deficiency and the collection fees, Defendant filed suit against Plaintiffs in state court, asserting its right to retain the vehicle in accordance with Ohio Revised Code (“ORC”) § 1317.02. Defendant later voluntarily dismissed the case without prejudice.1

In this putative class action, Plaintiffs allege Defendant committed multiple violations of the Ohio Retail Installment Sales Act (“RISA”), O.R.C. § 1317.01 et seq., and the Ohio Uniform Commercial Code (“OUCC”), O.R.C. § 1309.101 et seq., by failing to disclose the correct date of the public sale, by failing to disclose the correct minimum bid, by failing to conduct a commercially reasonable sale, and by charging prohibited fees — “collection fees.” Plaintiffs also assert breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims.

Plaintiffs seek class certification, an order declaring Defendant’s acts unlawful, an injunction preventing Defendant from seeking to collect any alleged deficiencies, an order declaring that any alleged deficiencies of the proposed class members are not owed, an order requiring Defendant to remove any adverse credit information previously reported to credit reporting organizations, restitution, compensatory damages, statutory damages, pre- and postjudgment interest, attorney fees, costs, and expenses.

II. Standard of Review

Defendants’ pending 12(b)(6) motion seeks dismissal of all of Plaintiffs’ claims. A 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss tests the sufficiency of a complaint. To survive a motion to dismiss, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on [760]*760its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 550, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id.

III. Statutory Claims

Defendant does not deny it failed to comply with RISA and OUCC. Instead, it argues the statutory claims are preempted by the National Banking Act (“NBA”), 12 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., and the implementing regulations promulgated by the Office of Comptroller Currency (“OCC”). Congress has authorized the OCC to promulgate those regulations. 12 U.S.C. § 93a; Fid. Fed. Savs. & Loan Ass’n v. de la Cuesta, 458 U.S. 141, 152, 102 S.Ct. 3014, 73 L.Ed.2d 664 (1982).

There are three ways federal law may preempt state law: express preemption; field preemption; and obstacle preemption. First, a state law is expressly preempted when federal law explicitly so states. See Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430 U.S. 519, 525, 97 S.Ct. 1305, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977). Second, Congress can so extensively regulate a given industry that, in effect, the federal government “occupies the field” and leaves no room for state regulation. See Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947). Third, a state law will not be effective against federal law if the state law functions “as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress.” Barnett Bank of Marion Cty. v. Nelson, 517 U.S. 25, 31, 116 S.Ct. 1103, 134 L.Ed.2d 237 (quoting Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct. 399, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941)). While the courts have carved out these three categories of preemption, they are often conflated with one another, and, as a result, demand a hybrid analysis that requires pulling from one category to fully analyze another. See, e.g., Epps v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, 675 F.3d 315, 323 (4th Cir.2012) (combining express and conflict analysis).

Defendant argues that the NBA and OCC regulations fall under all three preemption categories. First, Defendant argues that 12 C.F.R. § 7.4008(d) expressly preempts state laws like RISA and the OUCC.

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904 F. Supp. 2d 756, 78 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 942, 2012 WL 4958516, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-ohnd-2012.