PETER J. MESSITTE, District Judge.
Troy Bullock brought this suit, ostensibly pro se
According to the Amended Complaint,
Further, per the Kearse Affidavit, on or about May 12, 2006, Bullock's mortgage loan was securitized in a pool of loans, wherein Deutsche Bank was designated as trustee of a securitized trust denominated "Soundview 2006-OPT2." Kearse Aff. ¶ 8. The Pooling and Servicing Agreement
Homeward Residential was the loan servicer for a period beginning at least as early as 2012. See Amend. Compl. ¶¶ 9-13, ECF No. 16. On March 1, 2013, Homeward transferred servicing to Ocwen. Id. ¶ 15.
On January 15, 2014, Sand Canyon Corporation f/k/a Option One Mortgage Corporation executed an assignment of the Deed of Trust to Deutsche Bank. Defs.' Mot. Dismiss, Ex. C, Assignment of Deed of Tr. Md., ECF No. 11-4. The assignment was recorded in the Land Records of Prince George's County, Maryland at Liber 35549, folio 344 et seq. (the "Assignment"). Id.
Ocwen's counsel filed a foreclosure action on the subject property on February 14, 2014 and a foreclosure sale was held on July 1, 2014. Amend. Compl. ¶ 20; Defs.' Mot. Dismiss, Ex. 3, Report of Sale, ECF No. 17-3. The foreclosure sale was ratified on April 8, 2015. Approximately one month following completion of the foreclosure sale, the trustees of the Deed of Trust conveyed the Property to Deutsche Bank, pursuant to a Trustee's Deed dated April 10, 2015 and recorded among the Land Records of Prince George's County, Maryland on April 27, 2015 at Liber 36917, folio 411 et seq. Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. at 4, ECF No. 40-1.
Prior to that time, on October 20, 2014 Bullock had filed the present suit in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act, Md. Code Ann., Com. Law § 14-201 et seq., the Maryland Consumer Protection Act, Md. Code Ann., Com. Law § 13-101 et seq., the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., and common law breach of contract and conversion. Defendants removed the suit to this Court on December 9, 2014 and moved to dismiss Bullock's then operative Amended Complaint. By Memorandum Opinion and Order dated August 20, 2015, the Court dismissed with prejudice all but one of Bullock's claims. ECF Nos. 33, 34. The Court denied Defendants' Motion without prejudice as to a single claim under the Truth-in-Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1641 et seq. ("TILA") and gave Deutsche Bank leave to file a further Motion to Dismiss or a Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF Nos. 33, 34. The Court denied Bullock leave to file a Second Amended Complaint without prejudice, stating that he would need to file a new suit to add the proposed claims. Id. Bullock then filed a Rule 59(e) Motion to Alter or Amend the Court's Dismissal of his claims for breach of contract, conversion, and violations of RESPA, which the Court has already denied.
In its present Motion for Summary Judgment on the TILA claim, ECF No. 40, Deutsche Bank affirms that the undisputed material facts show that Bullock's loan was among a number of loans securitized and transferred to it pursuant to the Pooling and Servicing Agreement that closed on May 12, 2006. Kearse Aff. ¶ 11. Because the applicable TILA section did not come into effect until 2009, over three years later, Deutsche Bank argues that the TILA claim fails as a matter of law.
Bullock has not responded to Deutsche Bank's Motion for Summary Judgment.
The Court agrees with Deutsche Bank.
"The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 56(a). A genuine dispute is one where the evidence is such that "a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Dulaney v. Packaging Corp. of Am., 673 F.3d 323, 330 (4th Cir. 2012). A material fact is one "that might affect the outcome of the suit under governing law." Erwin v. United States, 591 F.3d 313, 320 (4th Cir. 2010) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986)). When assessing a motion for summary judgment, the court views the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draws all reasonable inferences in his or her favor. Dulaney, 673 F.3d at 330. A nonmoving party may not, however, defeat summary judgment by making assertions lacking sufficient factual support or by relying on a mere "scintilla of evidence." Am. Arms Int'l v. Herbert, 563 F.3d 78, 82 (4th Cir. 2009). A party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment bears the burden of establishing a genuine issue of material fact on each essential element of its case. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248-49; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). The party opposing summary judgment "`may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of [his] pleadings,' but rather must `set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.' Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens Football Club, Inc., 346 F.3d 514, 525 (4th Cir. 2003).
Under TILA, 15 U.S.C. § 1641(g), third parties who assume a mortgage loan, and thereby become a new creditor, must disclose the assignment to the borrower in writing by a certain date. However, this requirement applies only to loans transferred on or after May 20, 2009. See Ward v. Branch Banking & Trust, No. 13-1968, 2015 WL 4661851, at *5 (D. Md. Aug. 4, 2015) ("Judges in other federal district courts have consistently held that the provision does not apply retroactively — that is, it applies only to transfers that occurred after the effective date of the amendment, May 20, 2009.") (citing Bradford v. HSBC Morg. Corp., 829 F.Supp.2d 340, 353 (E.D. Va. 2011)); accord Angelini v. Bank of Am., No. 11-3011, 2011 WL 2433485, at*5 (D. Or. Apr. 27, 2011); Diunugala v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 12-2106, 2015 WL 3966119, at *4 (S.D. Cal. June 30, 2015); Craig v. Bank of New York Mellon Corp., No. 10-4438, 2014 WL 1347225, at *10 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2014).
In his TILA claim, Bullock alleges that the underlying loan was contemporaneously assigned with the Deed of Trust — in other words, that the debt was assigned to Deutsche Bank in December 2013. Amend. Compl. ¶ 18. Based on this assertion, Bullock argues that Deutsche Bank violated TILA by not notifying him that the ownership of the loan had been transferred to it in 2013. Id. ¶ 37. Deutsche Bank counters that the assignment of the debt actually occurred in 2006, when the Note was transferred to it. Because the transfer of the Note pre-dates the relevant amendment, says Deutsche Bank, TILA is inapplicable in this case.
Bullock is incorrect as a matter of law that underlying debt necessarily transferred with the assignment of the Deed of Trust.
Deutsche Bank has provided evidence that it was not a new creditor in 2013 because the assignment of the Note actually occurred in 2006. According to the Pooling and Servicing Agreement, Deutsche Bank became the "Trustee" of a pool of loans on or before May 12, 2006. Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 2, Kearse Aff. ¶ 8, ECF No. 40-2. While the Pooling and Servicing Agreement is not explicit that Bullock's note was among the hundreds of loans included in that securitization, Deutsche Bank has established this fact by means of the affidavit of Crystal Kearse, the Senior Loan Analyst for Ocwen Financial Corporation, whose indirect subsidiary, Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, is the current servicer for Bullock's mortgage loan. Defs.' Mot. Sum. Judg., Ex. 2, Kearse Aff. ¶ 1, ECF No. 40-2. Kearse's affidavit states that Bullock's Note was in fact included among the pool of loans acquired by Deutsche Bank on or before May 12, 2006. Id. ¶ 11. While Deutsche Bank is designated as the "Trustee for Soundview Home Loan Trust 2006-OPT3," Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ("Wells Fargo"), was indicated as the "Custodian" of the Agreement. See Pooling and Servicing Agreement; Kearse Aff. ¶ 9. Thus, Wells Fargo retained the collateral file of the securitized loans, which included Bullock's and shows that his original Note was obtained on March 24, 2006. Kearse Aff. ¶ 10. Furthermore, the 2013 Assignment of the Deed of Trust from Option One to Deutsche Bank indicates that Deutsche Bank was receiving the Deed of Trust "as the trustee for Soundview Home Loan Trust 2006-OPT3, Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2006-OPT3," Defs.' Mot. Dismiss, Ex. C, Assignment of Deed of Tr. Md., ECF No. 11-4. This would be consistent with Deutsche Bank's representation that Bullock's note was among those transferred to Deutsche Bank in 2006.
Bullock, as noted, has failed to respond to the Deutsche Bank's Motion for Summary Judgment or provide any evidence to the contrary.
Accordingly, the Court finds that there is no genuine dispute of material fact that the transfer of the Note to Deutsche Bank occurred in 2006, prior to the effective date of TILA, 15 U.S.C. § 1641(g). Since this provision of TILA is inapplicable, Deutsche Bank is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.
Accordingly, the Court
A separate Order will