WILLIAM S. DUFFEY, Jr., District Judge.
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Keith Thomas's ("Plaintiff" or "Thomas") "Motion for the Court to Set Aside Summary Judgment granted in favor of Northstar Mortgage Group, LLC and Request for the Court to Reinstate the Entry of Default Judgment against Northstar pursuant to F.R.C.P. 60" [135], which the Court construes as Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration of the Court's December 30, 2011, Order [63] granting Northstar Mortgage Group, LLC's ("Northstar") Motion to Set Aside Default [33].
On February 8, 2011, Plaintiff filed his Complaint [1] asserting federal and state-law claims arising from the foreclosure sale of Plaintiff's property.
On June 8, 2011, Plaintiff filed an affidavit of service [26] for Northstar, indicating that, on June 7, 2011, a copy of the Complaint and Summons was delivered to "J. Brian Messer, President of Northstar Mortgage Group, LLC" ("Messer"), at 68 Eastbrook Bend, Peachtree City, Georgia.
Northstar did not file an answer or otherwise respond to Plaintiff's Complaint. On June 30, 2011, Plaintiff filed his Motion for Clerks Entry of Default [32], and the Clerk entered default against Northstar the same day.
On July 1, 2011, Northstar filed its Motion to Set Aside Default [33]. Northstar argued that Plaintiff's attempt to perfect service on Northstar was ineffective, and the default must be set aside, because Messer was not authorized to accept service on behalf of Northstar. Northstar asserted that, on January 20, 2011, Northstar dissolved and filed its Certificate of Termination with the Georgia Secretary of State. Because Northstar's last annual registration listed W. Dave Sander ("Sander") as its registered agent, Northstar argued that Plaintiff was required to serve Sander, not Messer, with process on behalf of Northstar. (
On July 18, 2011, Plaintiff filed his Motion for Default Judgment [35].
On December 30, 2011, Magistrate Judge Baverman granted Northstar's Motion to Set Aside Default. (December 30th Order [63]).
Also on December 30, 2011, Magistrate Judge Baverman recommended that Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment be denied as premature because entry of default is a prerequisite to seeking a default judgment. (December 30th R&R [64] at 6);
On January 20, 2012, Sander was personally served with a copy of the Complaint and Summons on behalf of Northstar. (Second Aff. of Service [66]).
On January 31, 2012, the Court adopted the December 30th R&R and denied Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment. ([67] at 7).
On February 17, 2012, Plaintiff filed his Amended Complaint [76], and on February 28, 2012, Northstar timely filed its Answer [78]. In his Amended Complaint, Plaintiff asserted claims against Northstar for fraudulent misrepresentation, fraud, civil conspiracy, wrongful foreclosure and violation of the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act ("GRMA").
On March 22, 2012, Northstar moved to dismiss Plaintiff's claims for civil conspiracy, wrongful foreclosure, and violation of the GRMA, and moved for summary judgment on Plaintiff's fraud-based claims.
On January 10, 2013, Magistrate Judge Baverman issued his Final R&R, recommending, among other things, that Northstar's Motion to Dismiss, construed as a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings,
On February 4, 2013, the Court overruled Plaintiff's objections,
On appeal, Plaintiff challenged, among others, the Court's December 30, 2011, Order granting Northstar's Motion to Set Aide Default. On February 21, 2014, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, holding that the Court did not abuse its discretion in setting aside the clerk's entry of default against Northstar.
On March 10, 2015, Plaintiff filed his Motion for Reconsideration. Although largely incomprehensible, Plaintiff appears to argue that new evidence shows that Messer was authorized to accept service of process on behalf of Northstar, and because service on Messer was proper, the Court must reinstate the Clerk's entry of default against Northstar and enter default judgment for Plaintiff.
Plaintiff seeks relief under Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 60(b) provides limited circumstances under which a Court can relieve a party from a final judgment or order, including: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence that, with reasonable diligence, could not have been discovered in time; (3) fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct by an opposing party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released or discharged, reversed or vacated; or (6) any other reason that justifies relief. Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b);
The Court does not reconsider its orders as a matter of routine practice.
In his Motion for Reconsideration, Plaintiff claims that new evidence shows that Messer and Northstar falsely represented to the Court in this action that Messer was not affiliated with Northstar and lacked authority to act on Northstar's behalf.
Plaintiff's claim that Northstar has taken inconsistent positions conflates the test for determining whether a person is authorized to accept service of process on behalf of a company, and the requirement that discovery responses must be verified by a person who has personal knowledge of the information provided. That Northstar argued Messer lacked authority to accept service of process on its behalf in this action does not affect Messer's ability, based on his personal knowledge, to verify Northstar's discovery responses in the Fulton County Action. A close reading of the record shows that Northstar's representations in the Fulton County Action — that Messer had personal knowledge of the day-to-day operations of Northstar sufficient to verify the information contained in Northstar's discovery responses — is not inconsistent with Northstar's position in this case that Messer was not President of Northstar and was not authorized to accept service of process on Northstar's behalf. Simply put, Plaintiff has not identified any misrepresentation made by Northstar and his Motion for Reconsideration on this basis is denied.
Plaintiff next argues that, because Northstar did not file a Statement of Commencement of Winding Up, and Plaintiff was not aware that Northstar was dissolved, under O.C.G.A. §§ 14-11-604 and 606, service on Messer was proper because Messer is a founding partner of Northstar and is "authorized to act and do business on behalf of Northstar." The Court disagrees.
Section 14-11-606 provides, in pertinent part, that "[u]pon dissolution, a statement of commencement of winding up may be delivered for filing to the Secretary of State by any person authorized to wind up the limited liability company's affairs." O.C.G.A. § 14-11-606.
O.C.G.A. § 14-11-604(b).
Here, Northstar filed its Certificate of Termination with the Georgia Secretary of State on January 20, 2011. (
Even if Northstar was required to file a statement of commencement of winding up, and even if Plaintiff did not know Northstar dissolved, Plaintiff fails to show that, notwithstanding dissolution, Messer would have been authorized to accept service of process for Northstar. Rule 4(h) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that service of process may be made on a corporation, or other unincorporated association subject to suit,
Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(h)(1). Rule 4(e)(1) states that service can be effected "by following state law for serving a summons in an action brought in courts of general jurisdiction in the state where the district is located or where service is made." Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(e)(1). Under Georgia law, a plaintiff serves process on a corporation or limited liability company by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint "to the president or other officer of the corporation, secretary, cashier, managing agent, or other agent thereof." O.C.G.A. § 9-11-4(e)(1);
Here, there is no evidence in the record to support that, when Plaintiff attempted to serve Northstar on June 7, 2011, Messer was authorized to accept service of process for Northstar. Northstar's Articles of Organization, filed with the Georgia Secretary of State, provide that the "name of the initial registered agent of the L.L.C. is W. Dave Sander," and Sander is listed as Northstar's agent in each of its Annual Registrations.
Plaintiff's arguments in his Motion for Reconsideration and the claims and allegations in his Amended Complaint have already been considered and rejected by this Court and the Eleventh Circuit. Plaintiff simply has not demonstrated any basis upon which the Court should reconsider its December 30, 2011, Order, and Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration is denied.
Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons,
The Court also notes that, under O.C.G.A. § 14-11-1108(a), "[i]f a limited liability company has no registered agent or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the limited liability company may be served by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, addressed to the limited liability company at its principal office." Plaintiff does not assert that he attempted to perfect service on Northstar in either of these ways.