Filed: Jul. 22, 2020
Latest Update: Jul. 22, 2020
Summary: NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUL 22 2020 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT DEATRA DEHORNEY, No. 19-55312 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 5:18-cv-02191-RGK-KK v. MEMORANDUM* OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, LLC; et al., Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California R. Gary Klausner, District Judge, Presiding Submitted July 14, 2020** Before: CANBY, FRIEDLAND, and R. NELSON, Circuit Judges. D
Summary: NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUL 22 2020 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT DEATRA DEHORNEY, No. 19-55312 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 5:18-cv-02191-RGK-KK v. MEMORANDUM* OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, LLC; et al., Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California R. Gary Klausner, District Judge, Presiding Submitted July 14, 2020** Before: CANBY, FRIEDLAND, and R. NELSON, Circuit Judges. De..
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUL 22 2020
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
DEATRA DEHORNEY, No. 19-55312
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 5:18-cv-02191-RGK-KK
v.
MEMORANDUM*
OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, LLC; et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
R. Gary Klausner, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted July 14, 2020**
Before: CANBY, FRIEDLAND, and R. NELSON, Circuit Judges.
Deatra Dehorney appeals pro se from the district court’s order dismissing
her action alleging federal and state law claims arising out of the foreclosure of her
home. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a
dismissal on the basis of res judicata, Stewart v. U.S. Bancorp,
297 F.3d 953, 956
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
(9th Cir. 2002), and for an abuse of discretion a dismissal for failure to comply
with a court order, Yourish v. Cal. Amplifier,
191 F.3d 983, 986 (9th Cir. 1999).
We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand.
The district court properly dismissed Dehorney’s claims for conspiracy,
cancellation of instrument, production of the note, quiet title, and a violation of the
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) as barred by res judicata because
those claims were raised or could have been raised in Dehorney’s prior state court
action. See Furnace v. Giurbino,
838 F.3d 1019, 1023 (9th Cir. 2016) (federal
courts must give the same preclusive effect to state court judgments as the
rendering state court would); Brodheim v. Cry,
584 F.3d 1262, 1268 (9th Cir.
2009) (under California’s primary rights theory, a cause of action is precluded for
purposes of res judicata if it “involve[s] the same injury to the plaintiff and the
same wrong by the defendant[] . . . even if in the second suit the plaintiff pleads
different theories of recovery, seeks different forms of relief and/or adds new facts
supporting recovery” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)).
The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Dehorney leave to
amend her conspiracy, cancellation of instrument, production of the note, quiet
title, and FDCPA claims because amendment would have been futile. See
Cervantes v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.,
656 F.3d 1034, 1041 (9th Cir. 2011)
(setting forth standard of review and stating that leave to amend may be denied
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where amendment would be futile).
The district court dismissed Dehorney’s wrongful foreclosure claim as
barred by res judicata. During the pendency of this appeal, this court decided
Perez v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.,
959 F.3d 334, 340 (9th
Cir. 2020), which held that “California law does not permit preemptive actions to
challenge a party’s authority to pursue foreclosure before a foreclosure has taken
place.” Here, Dehorney’s prior state court action was resolved before the
foreclosure occurred. Accordingly, we vacate and remand for the district court to
consider in the first instance the application of Perez to Dehorney’s wrongful
foreclosure claim in the context of California’s primary rights theory.
We also vacate the district court’s dismissal with prejudice of Dehorney’s
Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) claim for failure to comply with a court order
because dismissal with prejudice was not warranted under the circumstances. See
Yourish, 191 F.3d at 990 (setting forth the five factors to be considered prior to
dismissing a case for failure to comply with a court order). Although Dehorney
did not comply with the district court’s order to amend the FCRA claim and file an
amended complaint, the record demonstrates that the district court provided
Dehorney, a pro se litigant who received service by mail, with only seven calendar
days to amend. Accordingly, we vacate and remand for the district court to allow
Dehorney leave to amend the FCRA claim only.
3 19-55312
In sum, we affirm the district court’s dismissal as to Dehorney’s claims for
conspiracy, injunctive relief, cancellation of instrument, production of the note,
quiet title, and violation of the FDCPA, but vacate and remand for further
proceedings as to the claims for wrongful foreclosure and violation of the FCRA.
We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued
in the opening brief, or arguments and allegations raised for the first time on appeal
or in the reply brief. See Padgett v. Wright,
587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).
The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.
AFFIRMED in part, VACATED in part, and REMANDED.
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