Zerjav v. JP Morgan Chase National Corporate Services, Inc.

185 F. Supp. 3d 1149, 89 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 801, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62209, 2016 WL 2733160
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedMay 11, 2016
DocketNo. 4:15-CV-1858 (CEJ)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 185 F. Supp. 3d 1149 (Zerjav v. JP Morgan Chase National Corporate Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zerjav v. JP Morgan Chase National Corporate Services, Inc., 185 F. Supp. 3d 1149, 89 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 801, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62209, 2016 WL 2733160 (E.D. Mo. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CAROL E. JACKSON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on the motion of defendant PNC Bank, National Association to dismiss the claims asserted against it pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Plaintiff has responded in opposition, and the issues are fully briefed.

I. Background

Plaintiff Christine Zerjav brings this action to recover damages resulting from the fraudulent indorsement and negotiation of checks that were issued in payment of an insurance claim. Plaintiff and her then-husband, Frank Zerjav, were both insured under an insurance policy covering a house they owned in St. Louis County, Missouri. In November 2010, the house was damaged in a fire and a claim was submitted to the insurance company. The insurer paid the claim by issuing ten separate checks that were drawn payable jointly to plaintiff and her husband. The checks were mailed to Frank Zerjav’s business address, to which plaintiff had no connection and no access.

Between November 11, 2010 and October 15, 2012, Frank Zerjav presented nine of the checks for deposit in two accounts he held at defendant PNC Bank. Plaintiff [1151]*1151was not an owner of and did not have signatory authority for either of the accounts. According to the complaint, plaintiff did not- indorse the checks, did not authorize anyone to indorse them on her behalf, and did not receive any of the proceeds of the checks. Plaintiff alleges that PNC Bank accepted the checks for deposit without requiring the signatures of all payees, or without verifying that the provided signatures were authentic and authorized.

Plaintiff alleges that she.did not..have actual knowledge or notice of the negotiation of any of the checks, until November 29, 2012. Plaintiff commenced this lawsuit in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri on November 30, 2015. Thereafter, the action was timely removed the to this Court. As to defendant PNC Bank, plaintiff .asserts claims of conversion (Count I), violation of -the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), as codified in Missouri Revised Statutes §§ .400.3-206 and 400.3-420 (Count III), and negligence (Count V).

II. Legal Standard

The purpose of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) . is to test the legal sufficiency of the complaint. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The factual allegations of a complaint are assumed true and construed in favor of the plaintiff, “even if it strikes a savvy judge that actual proof of those facts is improbable.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (citing Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 508 n. 1, 122 S.Ct. 992, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002)); Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989) (“Rule 12(b)(6) does not countenance.. .dismissals based on a judge’s- disbelief of a complaint’s factual allegations.”); Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974) (stating that a well-pleaded complaint may proceed even if it appears “that a recovery is very remote and unlikely”). The issue is not whether the plaintiff will ultimately prevail, but whether the plaintiff is entitled to present evidence in support of his claim. Scheuer, 416 U.S. at 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683. A viable complaint must include “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955; see id. at 563, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (stating that the “no set of facts” language in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957), “has earned its retirement”); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-84, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (holding that the pleading standard set forth in Twombly applies to all civil actions). “Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

III. Discussion

A. Uniform Commercial Code

Defendant PNC Bank contends that plaintiff’s UCC claim is barred by the three-year statute of limitations codified in Mo. Rev. Stat. § 400.3-118(g). Section 400.3-118(g) provides that “an action.. .for conversion of an instrument, for money had and received, or like action based on conversion.. .or.. .to enforce, an obligation, duty, or right arising under this Article... must be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrues.” Thus, the defendant argues, a cause of action accrued, with the deposit of each check and the limitations period began to run when each check was deposited at PNC Bank. Because the latest deposit occurred on October 15, 2012, the deadline for asserting the UCC claim was October 15,2015.

The plaintiff argues that the limitations period did not begin to run until November 29, 2012, when she first learned [1152]*1152of the checks. Under the “discovery rule” endorsed in some jurisdictions, the “statute of limitations for a particular claim does not accrue until that claim is discovered, or could have been discovered with reasonable diligence, by the plaintiff.” Gabelli v. SEC, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1216, 1220, 185 L.Ed.2d 297 (2013) (quoting SEC v. Gabelli, 653 F.3d 49, 59 (2d Cir.2011)). Missouri courts, however, have rejected the discovery rule.

The general limitations provision contained in the Missouri Revised Statutes provides that a cause of action “shall not be deemed to accrue.. .[until] the damage resulting therefrom is sustained and is capable of ascertainment.” See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.100. Missouri courts have held that damage from a legal injury is “sustained and capable of ascertainment” within the meaning of section 516.100 “whenever it is such that it can be discovered or made known.” Chem. Workers Basic Union, Local No. 1744 v. Arnold Sav. Bank, 411 S.W.2d 159, 164 (Mo. banc 1966); Carr v. Anding, 793 S.W.2d 148, 150 (Mo.Ct.App.1990). The Missouri Supreme Court specifically rejected the “discovery rule” for determining the commencement of a statute of limitations for a civil cause of action in Jepson v. Stubbs, 555 S.W.2d 307, 311-12 (Mo. banc 1977). See Lane v. Non-Teacher Sch. Emp. Ret. Sys. of Mo., 174 S.W.3d 626, 638 n. 5 (Mo.Ct.App.2005) (“[T]he ‘discovery rule,’ as a general rule of accrual, has been rejected in Missouri as being contrary to the ‘capable-of-ascertainment’ rule adopted in § 516.100.”); Anderson v. Griffin, Dysart, Taylor, Penner & Lay, P.C.,

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185 F. Supp. 3d 1149, 89 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 801, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62209, 2016 WL 2733160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zerjav-v-jp-morgan-chase-national-corporate-services-inc-moed-2016.