Wood v. U.S. Bank Home Mortgage

CourtDistrict Court, D. New Hampshire
DecidedJune 7, 2023
Docket1:22-cv-00235
StatusUnknown

This text of Wood v. U.S. Bank Home Mortgage (Wood v. U.S. Bank Home Mortgage) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wood v. U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, (D.N.H. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Shirley Wood

v. Civil No. 1:22-cv-00235-JL Opinion No. 2023 DNH 070 U.S. Bank, et al.

MEMORANDUM ORDER

Borrower and pro se plaintiff Shirley Wood has filed suit against defendants U.S. Bank and U.S. Bank Home Mortgage1 (collectively, “U.S. Bank”) arising from actions they took, or refused to take, following Wood’s failure to pay assessments to her condominium association. After briefing and oral argument on U.S. Bank’s motion to dismiss, the court issued an order granting the motion in part and denying it in part. The court dismissed Wood’s negligence claims and truth in lending regulatory claims but allowed her the opportunity to amend her claim under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”). Following the court’s order, Wood filed a “motion to alter or amend judgment” (doc. no. 22) and an Amended Complaint (doc. no. 23).2 U.S. Bank objects to the motion to alter and moves to dismiss the amended complaint. The court has jurisdiction over this matter under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 (federal question) because Wood’s remaining claim arises from a federal statute. After

1 “U.S. Bank Home Mortgage” is a trade name and not a separate legal entity. 2 Wood’s amended complaint appeared to name U.S. Bank’s attorney Daron Janis as a defendant. See doc. no. 23 at 1. Wood has since clarified, however, that she did not intend to name Mr. Janis as a defendant or state a claim against him. See doc. no. 27. considering the parties’ submissions and hearing oral argument, the court denies the motion to alter and grants the motion to dismiss. Wood raises improper arguments for reconsideration of the court’s prior order, but even if the court could consider them, the

arguments do not persuade the court that reconsideration is warranted. As for U.S. Bank’s motion to dismiss the RESPA claim, although Wood initially opposed U.S. Bank’s motion, she has since agreed to withdraw that claim.3 The motion is granted as a result of Wood’s withdrawal and because she has failed to sufficiently allege that U.S. Bank’s alleged violation of RESPA caused her any actual damages.

Applicable legal standards “A motion to alter or amend a judgment must be filed no later than 28 days after the entry of judgment.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e). Where, as here, judgment has not entered,

a motion to alter or amend a judgment is premature. The court nevertheless construes Wood’s motion as a motion for reconsideration of its order on U.S. Bank’s first motion to dismiss. Reconsideration is an “extraordinary remedy which should be used sparingly.” Palmer v. Champion Mortg., 465 F.3d 24, 30 (1st Cir. 2006). “To obtain relief, the movant must demonstrate either that newly discovered evidence (not previously

available) has come to light or that the rendering court committed a manifest error of law” or fact. Id.; see also Deka Int’l S.A. v. Genzyme Corp. (In re Genzyme Corp. Sec. Litig.), 754 F.3d 31, 46 (1st Cir. 2014) (noting that the court may grant a Rule 59(e) motion based on an intervening change in the law, a manifest error of law or fact

3 See doc. no. 30. underlying the judgment, or newly discovered evidence that could not have been produced before judgment was entered). A motion for reconsideration is not, however, “a vehicle for a party to . . . advance arguments that could and should have been

presented to the district court prior to” its underlying order, United States v. Allen, 573 F.3d 42, 53 (1st Cir. 2009), or “reargu[e] theories previously advanced and rejected.” Palmer, 465 F.3d at 30. To defeat a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, Wood must plead “factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct

alleged.” Martinez v. Petrenko, 792 F.3d 173, 179 (1st Cir. 2015). This standard “demands that a party do more than suggest in conclusory terms the existence of questions of fact about the elements of a claim.” A.G. ex rel. Maddox v. Elsevier, Inc., 732 F.3d 77, 81 (1st Cir. 2013). In ruling on such a motion, the court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts set forth in Wood’s amended complaint and draws all reasonable

inferences in her favor. See Martino v. Forward Air, Inc., 609 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir. 2010). The court may consider judicially noticed documents, matters of public record (like recorded mortgages and related documents), and documents introduced by Wood in her objection to the motion to dismiss or concessions in that objection, without converting the 12(b)(6) motion into a motion for summary judgment. See Breiding v. Eversource

Energy, 939 F.3d 47, 49 (1st Cir. 2019); Greene v. Rhode Island, 398 F.3d 45, 49 (1st Cir. 2005). It may also “consider the relevant entirety of a document integral to or explicitly relied upon in the complaint, even though not attached to the complaint, without converting the motion.” Clorox Co. P.R. v. Proctor & Gamble Commercial Co., 228 F.3d 24, 32 (1st Cir. 2000).4 Because Wood is proceeding pro se, the court construes her amended complaint

liberally. See Erikson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam) (internal citations omitted) (“a pro se complaint, however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers”). Pro se status, however, “does not insulate a party from complying with procedural and substantive law. Even under a liberal construction, the complaint must adequately allege the elements of a claim with

the requisite supporting facts.” Chiras v. Associated Credit Servs., Inc., No. 12-10871- TSH, 2012 WL 3025093, at *1 n.1 (D. Mass. July 23, 2012) (quoting Ahmed v. Rosenblatt, 118 F.3d 886, 890 (1st Cir. 1997) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted)).

Background The court recited the relevant factual background in its order on U.S. Bank’s first motion to dismiss and incorporates that background here by reference. See Wood v. U.S. Bank, No. 1:22-CV-00235-JL, 2023 WL 1097733, at *2 (D.N.H. Jan. 26, 2023). In that

order, the court granted Wood leave to amend only Count 3 for violations of RESPA, 12 U.S.C. § 2605(e)(3). Id. at *6. In its order allowing amendment, and following a lengthy

4 When “a written instrument contradicts allegations in the complaint” which refers to it, however, the written instrument trumps the allegations. Clorox Co. P.R., 228 F.3d at 32. discussion with Wood at oral argument about the proposed amendment, the court instructed Wood that: The amended claim shall focus on the letters Wood purportedly sent to U.S. Bank in March, April, and May 2022.

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Shirley Wood v. U.S. Bank, et al.
2023 DNH 070 (D. New Hampshire, 2023)

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Wood v. U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wood-v-us-bank-home-mortgage-nhd-2023.