WILLIAM H. STEELE, Chief District Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on Deutsche Bank National Trust Company and Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC's Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 42), Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 44), and plaintiff Derek Quinn's Motion for Leave to Amend the Pleadings (doc. 61). All three motions are now ripe for disposition.
On February 28, 2007, plaintiff, Derek Quinn, and his wife (nonparty Theresa Quinn) refinanced a mortgage loan for their primary residence, a home on Shannon Lane in Semmes, Alabama. (Anderson Decl. (doc. 45), ¶ 7; Quinn Dep. (doc. 43-1), at 15.) Loan documents reflect that Quinn borrowed $114,750.00 from Novastar Mortgage, Inc., and executed an adjustable rate, 30-year note at an initial interest rate of 10.35%. (Anderson Decl., ¶ 7 & Exhs. A-B.) On October 26, 2007, defendant Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc. ("Saxon") acquired mortgage servicing rights to the loan. (Id., ¶ 8.) On that date, Saxon notified Quinn that it had acquired the servicing of his loan, and that all payments on or after November 1, 2007 should be sent to Saxon at the address provided. (Id., ¶ 8 & Exh. C.) The October 26 letter specified that "the assignment, sale or transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loan does not affect any term or condition of the mortgage instruments other than terms directly related to the servicing of your loan." (Id., Exh. C at 2.)
Less than a year after Saxon became servicer of his loan, Quinn fell behind on required payments. (Anderson Decl., ¶ 9.) From October 2008 through January 2009, Saxon mailed written notices of default and demands for payment to Quinn on a monthly basis. (Id., ¶¶ 9-10 & Exhs. D-E.) On April 15, 2009, Quinn entered into an agreement with Saxon styled "Formal Repayment Plan" (the "Repayment Plan"). (Id., ¶ 11 & Exh. F.) In this agreement, Quinn expressly "acknowledge[d] that the Note is in default as of this date and Mortgagor is unable to pay the defaulted amount of $7,479.51 . . . to bring the note current." (Id., Exh. F.) In consideration for the lender's forbearance from exercising foreclosure and other contractual remedies, Quinn promised to make a $4,000 lump sum payment to Saxon by April 30, 2009, followed by eight monthly payments of $1,251.41 due by the end of each month, to get the loan current, before resuming regularly scheduled monthly payments in January 2010. (Id.)
At first, Quinn honored his obligations under the Repayment Plan. Indeed, he made the $4,000 downpayment in April 2009, as well as the required repayment installments for the months of May, June, July and August 2009 (albeit the last one was not received by Saxon until September 2, 2009). (Anderson Decl., ¶¶ 15-19.) But Quinn failed to make the $1,251 installment repayment due by September 30, 2009. (Id., ¶ 20.)
During the next several weeks, Quinn had multiple telephonic communications with Saxon representatives. In those calls, Saxon repeatedly advised Quinn that the Repayment Plan had been canceled because of his breach and Quinn repeatedly promised to send specific sums of money to Saxon by specific dates, then failed to follow through. (Anderson Decl., ¶¶ 25-32.) Despite his promises to the contrary, Quinn's only transfer to Saxon between October 15, 2009 and November 29, 2009 was a $575 payment (applied to the amount due for August 2009 under the original loan documents) on October 19. (Id.) On November 30, 2009, Quinn made a payment of $1,188.40 to Saxon to cover the amount originally due for September 2009. (Id., ¶ 33.) That was the last payment Saxon ever received from Quinn. (Id., ¶ 34.) Despite Quinn's noncompliance with the Repayment Plan and the defaulted status of his loan (as evidenced by the October 15 letter), Saxon applied all payments that Quinn did make to the loan, and transmitted to Quinn a written payment history in May 2010 at his request to document same. (Id., ¶¶ 35, 37 & Exh. J.)
On November 16, 2009, Saxon sent a letter to Quinn at his residence address in Semmes, Alabama to advise him that, "[e]ffective on December 1, 2009, the servicing of your mortgage loan will be transferred from Saxon to OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, LLC." (Id., ¶ 30 & Exh. I.) The November 16 letter instructed Quinn that Saxon would no longer accept payments on his loan after November 30, 2009, and that all payments due on or after December 1, 2009 should be sent to Ocwen at the address provided. (Id.)
By the time Ocwen became the servicer of Quinn's loan on December 1, 2009, his payments were already delinquent and his loan was already in default, as described supra. (Ortwerth Aff. (doc. 43-3), ¶ 6.) In telephonic contacts with Ocwen in early 2010, Quinn insisted that payment on his loan was current and blamed Saxon for the loan documentation and records showing otherwise. (Doc. 43-3, at 43-44.) Be that as it may, Ocwen received no funds from Quinn until February 11, 2010, when he submitted two payments, one in the amount of $1,088.00 and the other in the amount of $1,088.01. (Ortwrth Aff., ¶ 7; doc. 43-3, at 43.) Even after crediting those funds, Ocwen's records showed that Quinn's account had a past-due amount of $6,320.82, plus a currently due amount of $1,117.23, for a total amount owed of $7,438.05. (Doc. 43-3, at 43.) In the following weeks, Quinn made no further payments on the loan, and multiple certified mailings from Ocwen to Quinn were returned as "unclaimed." Ultimately, Ocwen initiated foreclosure on March 21, 2010. (Id. at 41-43.) On April 12, 2010, Quinn attempted to make a monthly installment payment to Ocwen in the amount of $1,160.00; however, Ocwen refused to accept it because the loan was in default and the proffered funds were insufficient to bring Quinn's account current. (Ortwerth Aff., ¶ 7 & Exh. A; doc. 43-3, at 41.) Quinn never became current on his loan payments to Ocwen. (Ortwerth Aff., ¶ 8.)
After more than two years of failed negotiations and communications between Quinn and Ocwen, the parties proved unwilling or unable to resolve their dispute. When Ocwen announced plans to proceed with a foreclosure sale on Quinn's home on August 30, 2012, Quinn commenced this lawsuit in an effort to halt the foreclosure sale and obtain damages. The foreclosure sale was averted, at least temporarily; however, the underlying dispute remains ongoing.
On or about August 28, 2012, Quinn (by and through retained counsel of his choosing) filed a Complaint against Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Novastar Mortgage Funding Trust, Series 2007-2, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, and Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc. in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama. The Complaint interposed the following state-law causes of action: (i) a claim for declaratory relief (requesting a declaration that Quinn "was never in default on his mortgage payments to Defendants, or, in the alternative, that any default by Plaintiff was caused by Defendants' error") (Count One); (ii) a claim for injunctive relief (seeking to enjoin Deutsche Bank from selling the property on August 30, 2012) (Count Two); (iii) a claim for accounting (requesting that defendants provide a detailed accounting of Quinn's mortgage loan from the outset of their involvement in the mortgage) (Count Three); (iv) a claim for negligence (alleging that defendants breached "a duty to accept and apply Plaintiff's mortgage payments toward principal and interest on Plaintiff's loan") (Count Four); and (v) a claim for wantonness (alleging that defendants' negligent failure to accept and apply Quinn's mortgage payments was "carried out consciously and knowingly by the Defendants with reckless disregard for the consequences"). No other causes of action were asserted in the Complaint.
On March 8, 2013, defendant Saxon (with consent of the other defendants) filed a Notice of Removal (doc. 1) removing Quinn's suit to this District Court. Federal subject matter jurisdiction was predicated on, inter alia, diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, insofar as Quinn is a citizen of Alabama, each named defendant is a citizen of a state or states other than Alabama for diversity purposes, and the amount in controversy exceeds the $75,000 jurisdictional limit because the appraised market value of Quinn's property (foreclosure of which is at issue in the suit) was $91,900. Plaintiff did not seek remand of this action to state court, and this case has been pending in this District Court for approximately one year. On April 29, 2013, Magistrate Judge Cassady entered a Rule 16(b) Scheduling Order
(doc. 10), providing, in relevant part, that "[m]otions for leave to amend the pleadings and to join other parties must be filed not later than
On January 10, 2014, defendants Deutsche Bank and Ocwen jointly filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, and defendant Saxon filed a separate Motion for Summary Judgment.
The threshold defect in plaintiff's Motion to Amend the Pleadings is that it was filed more than seven months after the deadline fixed in the Rule 16(b) Scheduling Order for such motions. The scheduling order deadline is neither aspirational nor advisory. In that regard, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide that scheduling order deadlines "may be modified only for good cause and with the judge's consent." Rule 16(b)(4), Fed.R.Civ.P.
In an attempt to meet his burden under Rule 16(b)(4), Quinn places the blame squarely on his former attorney, who filed a motion to withdraw on January 6, 2014 (see doc. 40) that Judge Cassady granted at a hearing conducted on January 16, 2014. Specifically, Quinn maintains that he "was not in charge of his case when the original complaint was filed," that his attorney "refused to address all issues" that Quinn wanted in the Complaint, that "Quinn disagreed" with his lawyer, but that Quinn "was not allowed to perform any legal work on this case" until after his attorney withdrew from the representation in January 2014. (Doc. 61, ¶¶ 1-2.) Quinn further claims that his attorney "left [him] in the dark until late November 2013," and lambastes his former counsel's "mistakes and laziness." (Doc. 64, ¶¶ 3, 5.)
Such a showing falls well short of the requisite "good cause." As a general proposition, it is a cornerstone of our representative system of advocacy that a litigant is bound by all acts and omissions of his freely selected agent. See, e.g., Link v. Wabash R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 633-34, 82 S.Ct. 1386, 8 L.Ed.2d 734 (1962) ("Petitioner voluntarily chose this attorney as his representative in the action, and he cannot now avoid the consequences of the acts or omissions of this freely selected agent.").
On this record, the Court readily concludes that Quinn has not established "good cause" under Rule 16(b)(4) to reopen the long-expired deadline for seeking leave to amend the pleadings. Plaintiff's pro se status does not excuse his noncompliance with the rule. See Local Rule 83.9(b) ("All litigants proceeding pro se shall be bound by and comply with all local rules of this Court, and the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, unless otherwise excused from operation of the rules by court order."); Loren v. Sasser, 309 F.3d 1296, 1304 (11
Summary judgment should be granted only "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." Rule 56(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. The party seeking summary judgment bears "the initial burden to show the district court, by reference to materials on file, that there are no genuine issues of material fact that should be decided at trial." Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 608 (11
As mentioned, Quinn did not file a response to defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment. Applicable law is clear that "[s]ummary judgment is not automatically granted by virtue of a non-movant's silence." Williams v. Aircraft Workers Worldwide, Inc., 832 F.Supp.2d 1347, 1352 (S.D. Ala. 2011).
In Counts Four and Five of the Complaint, Quinn alleges state-law claims of negligence and wantonness against all defendants. As articulated in the Complaint, Quinn's theory is that defendants were negligent in that they "had a duty to accept and apply Plaintiff's mortgage payments toward principal and interest on Plaintiff's loan," yet they breached that duty. (Complaint, ¶¶ 22-23.) Quinn's wantonness claim is similar, inasmuch as he alleges that these purported "negligent acts . . . were carried out consciously and knowingly by the Defendants with reckless disregard for the consequences." (Id., ¶ 25.)
Under any reasonable reading of Counts Four and Five, Quinn seeks to hold defendants liable for negligently and/or wantonly servicing his mortgage loan. On summary judgment, Saxon, Ocwen and Deutsche Bank correctly argue that these claims suffer from an insuperable legal defect. Specifically, numerous recent authorities have held that Alabama law does not recognize a cause of action for negligent or wanton servicing of a mortgage that results in economic damages. See Wallace v. SunTrust Mortg., Inc., ___ F. Supp.2d ___, 2013 WL 5422799, *9 (S.D. Ala. Sept. 26, 2013) ("Recent federal precedent interpreting Alabama law has uniformly found that no cause of action for negligent or wanton servicing of a mortgage account exists under Alabama law, at least in the absence of personal injury or property damage. . . ."); Selman v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 2013 WL 838193, *5 (S.D. Ala. Mar. 5, 2013) (same); Webb v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 2012 WL 5906729, *7 (S.D. Ala. Nov. 26, 2012) ("under Alabama law a cause of action for negligent servicing of a mortgage against Ocwen cannot be maintained where the damages are economic"); Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas v. Garst, 2013 WL 4851493, *9 (N.D. Ala. Sept. 11, 2013) (recognizing and joining "emerging consensus that Alabama law does not recognize a cause of action for negligent or wanton mortgage servicing," because claims related to performance under a mortgage agreement must be brought under contract law, damages for mortgage servicing are typically economic, and there is a "plethora of alternative avenues for relief in `negligent mortgage servicing' cases") (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); Costine v. BAC Home Loans, 946 F.Supp.2d 1224, 1234 (N.D. Ala. 2013) ("The Court agrees with the Middle District of Alabama's recent assessment that Alabama law does not recognize a cause of action for negligent or wanton mortgage servicing.") (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); Buckentin v. SunTrust Mortg. Corp., 928 F.Supp.2d 1273, 1290 (N.D. Ala. 2013) ("Any obligations Defendant owed to Plaintiffs arose from the mortgage agreement, not from the duty of reasonable care generally owed to members of the public. . . . Plaintiffs' negligence and wantonness claims are not actionable under Alabama law."); Blake v. Bank of America, N.A., 845 F.Supp.2d 1206, 1210-11 (M.D. Ala. 2012) ("Alabama law does not recognize a cause of action for negligent or wanton mortgage servicing"). "These decisions soundly reject the availability of negligence or wantonness claims under Alabama law in circumstances similar to those before this Court, and emphasize that mortgage servicing obligations are a creature of contract, not of tort, and stem from the underlying mortgage and promissory note executed by the parties, rather than a duty of reasonable care generally owed to the public." Wallace, 2013 WL 5422799 at *9.
In short, Quinn's claims that defendants negligently or wantonly serviced his mortgage loan (resulting in payments not being accepted or properly applied to his account) are not viable under Alabama law. Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on these causes of action, and Counts Four and Five are
Defendants also move for summary judgment on the other causes of action asserted in Quinn's Complaint, including his claim for declaratory relief (Count One), his claim for injunctive relief (Count Two), and his demand for an accounting (Count Three). The Court will consider each of these claims in turn.
With respect to Count One, Quinn asks for a declaratory judgment "that Plaintiff was never in default on his mortgage payments to Defendants, or, in the alternative, that any default by Plaintiff was caused by Defendants' error and that Plaintiff is not financially liable to Defendants for any costs, penalties, or late fees resulting from said default." (Complaint, at 3.) Considerable summary judgment evidence supports defendants' position that no such declaratory judgment should be entered. As discussed in detail supra, defendants' record evidence shows that Quinn fell behind on his mortgage payments in 2008 and 2009, that Saxon offered and he accepted the Repayment Plan in April 2009 to get his loan account back on track, that Quinn admitted to a default of nearly $7,500 in April 2009, that Quinn failed to satisfy his obligations under the Repayment Plan, that Saxon canceled the Repayment Plan for that reason, that Quinn promised Saxon representatives that he would make additional payments by specific dates but failed to follow through, that Saxon declared the loan to be in default in October 2009, that servicing of the loan was transferred to Ocwen in December 2009, and that Quinn did not cure the default in his subsequent dealings with Ocwen. These facts (on which defendants rely, which are supported by the record, and which the Court deems admitted for summary judgment purposes pursuant to Rule 56(e)(2), Fed.R.Civ.P., because plaintiff failed properly to address them) directly undermine Quinn's position that he "was never in default on his mortgage payments" or "that any default by Plaintiff was caused by Defendants' error." Accordingly, Quinn is not entitled to a declaratory judgment from this Court declaring that he was never in default or that any default was defendants' fault. Pursuant to Rule 56(e)(3), defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment are
In Count Two, the Complaint alleges that Deutsche Bank "intends to sell, and unless restrained will sell the Property on August 30, 2012," and that "[t]he proposed sale of the Property is wrongful and should be enjoined." (Complaint, ¶¶ 16-17.) No other injunctive relief is referenced or demanded in Count Two. Of course, August 30, 2012 came and went more than a year and a half ago; therefore, plaintiff's request to enjoin any foreclosure sale from occurring on that date is
Finally, defendants have moved for summary judgment on Count Three, which is a state-law claim styled "Demand for an Accounting." In that cause of action, Quinn demands that defendants "provide a detailed accounting of Plaintiff's mortgage loan" and also "provide an accounting showing what the current status of the loan would be if the Defendants had accepted all payments tendered by Plaintiff." (Complaint, at 4.) Under Alabama law, the remedy of an accounting is equitable, committed to the discretion of the court, and typically available only in narrow circumstances, none of which are present here. See McDuffie v. Holland, 690 So.2d 386, 390 (Ala.Civ.App. 1996) ("When the equitable jurisdiction of the trial court is invoked, the trial court has much discretion in determining whether to order an accounting."); Farr v. Southern Supply Co., 44 So.2d 247, 248 (Ala. 1950) ("A party is entitled to an equitable accounting . . . where . . . there are circumstances of great complication, or difficulties in the way of adequate relief at law.") (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); Dewberry v. Bank of Standing Rock, 150 So. 463, 466 (Ala. 1933) ("The essentials of a bill for accounting may be generally stated, as that where the remedy at law is inadequate, the account is mutual and complicated; or the defendant is guilty of fraud or wrongdoing; or where discovery is needed; or where such accounting is incidental to some other relief.").
Through the benefit of discovery in this litigation (and, in Saxon's case, detailed payment information that Saxon sent to Quinn back in May 2010), Quinn has already received detailed accountings from defendants about his loan, including what payments were received and how defendants credited them. It would thus serve no equitable purpose to order defendants to provide "a detailed accounting of Plaintiff's mortgage loan" to Quinn at this time. Moreover, because Quinn was in default of the loan and his April 2010 payment was properly rejected by Ocwen as inadequate to cure the default, it would be a waste of everyone's time and resources to compel Ocwen to "provide an accounting showing what the current status of the loan would be" if Ocwen had accepted that payment. The Court will not indulge hypotheticals and counterfactual scenarios in doling out equitable relief. Quinn defaulted on his loan and has already received the information he seeks from defendants as to the accounting of his payments and loan balances. On these facts (which are deemed undisputed for summary judgment purposes pursuant to Rule 56(e)(2)), the Court will not exercise its discretion in equity to order a redundant and/or meaningless accounting. Accordingly, the Motions for Summary Judgment are
For all of the foregoing reasons, it is
DONE and ORDERED.