Zia v. CitiMortgage, Inc.

210 F. Supp. 3d 1334, 2016 WL 5369316, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131349
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedSeptember 26, 2016
DocketCase No. 15-cv-23026-GAYLES
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 210 F. Supp. 3d 1334 (Zia v. CitiMortgage, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zia v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 210 F. Supp. 3d 1334, 2016 WL 5369316, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131349 (S.D. Fla. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

Darrin P. Gayles, United States District Judge

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court on Defendants CitiMortgage, Inc. (“Citi-Mortgage”), and Citibank, N.A.’s (“Citibank”) Motion Dismiss [ECF No. 49], The [1336]*1336Defendants urge this Court to dismiss this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that, under the recent Supreme Court decision of Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, - U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 1540, 194 L.Ed.2d 635 (2016), Zia cannot establish that he has standing to sue as required by Article III of the U.S. Constitution. The Court has reviewed the Complaint, the briefs and supplemental filings of counsel, and the applicable law and is otherwise fully advised in the premises. For the reasons that follow, the motion to dismiss shall be granted.

I. BACKGROUND

According to the allegations in the Complaint, the Plaintiff, Rizvan Zia, alleges that he obtained a mortgage on his property located at 4 Martine Avenue, White Plains, New York (the “Property”), from CitiMortgage (the “First Mortgage”). Compl. ¶ 12. He subsequently obtained a Home Equity Line of Credit on the same property from Citibank (the “Second Mortgage”). Id. ¶ 13. On July 30, 2013, Zia sold the Property and used the proceeds from the sale to satisfy all principal, interest, and other amounts due to the Defendants on both mortgages. Id. ¶ 14. The satisfaction-of-mortgage documents for the First Mortgage were recorded in the Westchester County, New York, Clerk’s Office on October 3, 2013 (sixty-five days after July 30, 2013). Id. ¶¶ 16-17. The satisfaction-of-mortgage documents for the Second Mortgage were recorded in the Westchester County Clerk’s Office on September 18, 2013 (fifty days after July 30, 2013). Id. ¶¶ 18-19.

Zia filed the instant prospective class action on August 12, 2015, alleging that the Defendants’ failure to timely present certificates of discharge for his mortgages violates two pro-visions of New York statutory law: Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (“RPAPL”) § 1921 and Real Property Law (“RPL”) § 275. Zia seeks statutory damages under those statutes. He also purports to bring suit on behalf of a putative class and “Sub-Class” of similarly situated New York mortgagors whose satisfaction of mortgage documents allegedly were not recorded within 30 days of the date their mortgages were paid off. Compl. ¶¶ 22-23.

On March 22, 2016, this Court stayed this matter pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo, which granted certiorari on the question of “[wjhether Congress may confer Article III standing upon a plaintiff who suffers no concrete harm, and who therefore could not otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of a federal court, by authorizing a private right of action based on a bare violation of a federal statute.” Pet. for Writ of Certiorari, at i, Spokeo, 136 S.Ct. 1540 (No. 13-1339), 2014 WL 1802228, at *i. The Supreme Court issued its decision on May 16, 2016, and the Defendants now move to dismiss the Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that Zia does not have standing to sue.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

“[T]he doctrine of standing serves to identify those disputes which are appropriately resolved through the judicial process.” Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 155, 110 S.Ct. 1717, 109 L.Ed.2d 135 (1990). As the party invoking federal jurisdiction, Zia bears the burden of demonstrating that he has standing to sue. FW/PBS, Inc. v. Dallas, 493 U.S. 215, 231, 110 S.Ct. 596, 107 L.Ed.2d 603 (1990). The “irreducible constitutional minimum of standing” requires an “injury in fact” that is both “concrete and particularized,” and “actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical.” Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). A plaintiff must [1337]*1337also demonstrate “a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of,” and “a likelihood that a court ruling in [the plaintiff’s] favor would remedy [his] injury.” Id. As standing is a threshold determinant, the plaintiff must “clearly.. .allege facts demonstrating” standing. Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 518, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). And given that this case is brought as a putative class action, “[t]hat a suit may be a class action... adds nothing to the question of standing, for even named plaintiffs who represent a class ‘must allege and show that they personally have been injured, not that injury has been suffered by other, unidentified members of the class to which they belong and which they purport to represent.’ ” Simon v. E. Ky. Welfare Rights Org., 426 U.S. 26, 40 n. 20, 96 S.Ct. 1917, 48 L.Ed.2d 450 (1976) (quoting Warth, 422 U.S. at 502, 95 S.Ct. 2197).

III. DISCUSSION

A. The Spokeo Decision

Spokeo involved alleged violations of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act .(“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq. A purpose of the FCRA is to guarantee “fair and accurate credit reporting.” Id. § 1681(a)(1). To that end, the statute imposes several requirements concerning the creation and use of consumer reports, including that consumer reporting agencies must “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information” contained within consumer reports, id. § 1681e(b); notify providers and users of consumer information of their responsibilities under the Act, id. § 1681e(d); limit the circumstances in which those agencies provide consumer reports “for employment purposes,” id. § 1681b(b)(1); and provide free annual reports, id. § 1681j(a). If a consumer reporting agency willfully fails to comply with any of the Act’s requirements, an individual may recover either actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation, attorneys’ fees and costs, and possibly punitive damages. Id. § 1681n(a).

Spokeo itself was alleged to qualify as a “consumer reporting agency” under the FCRA. The Supreme Court described the circumstances giving rise to the plaintiffs complaint:

Spokeo operates a “people search engine.” If an individual visits Spokeo’s Web site and inputs a person’s name, a phone number, or an e-mail address, Spokeo conducts a computerized search in a wide variety of databases and provides information about the subject of the search. Spokeo performed such a search for information about Robins, and some of the information it gathered and then disseminated was incorrect. When Robins learned of these inaccuracies, he filed a complaint on his own behalf and on behalf of a class of similarly situated individuals.

Spokeo, 136 S.Ct. at 1544. In his complaint, Robins alleged that Spokeo willfully failed to comply with the FCRA requirements listed above. Id. at 1546.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
210 F. Supp. 3d 1334, 2016 WL 5369316, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131349, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zia-v-citimortgage-inc-flsd-2016.