Filed: Feb. 29, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-2113 RONALD A. DAVIS, Plaintiff – Appellant, v. BSI FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.; MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, (MERS), Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. J. Frederick Motz, Senior District Judge. (1:15-cv-01155-JFM) Submitted: February 25, 2016 Decided: February 29, 2016 Before SHEDD and HARRIS, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit J
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-2113 RONALD A. DAVIS, Plaintiff – Appellant, v. BSI FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.; MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, (MERS), Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. J. Frederick Motz, Senior District Judge. (1:15-cv-01155-JFM) Submitted: February 25, 2016 Decided: February 29, 2016 Before SHEDD and HARRIS, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Ju..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-2113
RONALD A. DAVIS,
Plaintiff – Appellant,
v.
BSI FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.; MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC
REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, (MERS),
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore. J. Frederick Motz, Senior District
Judge. (1:15-cv-01155-JFM)
Submitted: February 25, 2016 Decided: February 29, 2016
Before SHEDD and HARRIS, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Ronald A. Davis, Appellant Pro Se. Bizhan Beiramee, BEIRAMEE LAW
GROUP, P.C., Bethesda, Maryland; Mary Seminara Diemer, NELSON
MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH, LLP, Washington, D.C., for
Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Ronald A. Davis appeals the district court’s order
dismissing, for failure to state a claim, his complaint
asserting claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,
15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 to 1692p (2012), and several other theories of
recovery. Davis sought to enjoin BSI Financial Services, Inc.,
(“BSI”) from foreclosing on his real property; claimed that BSI
engaged in intentional misrepresentation, negligence, fraud, and
unjust enrichment; and sought to quiet title and cancel all
financial instruments between the parties. He also alleged
fraud and sought a declaratory judgment against Mortgage
Electronic Registration Systems (“MERS”). On appeal, Davis
challenges the district court’s dismissal of his complaint on
several grounds.
“We review de novo the grant of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to
dismiss for failure to state a claim.” Epps v. JP Morgan Chase
Bank, N.A.,
675 F.3d 315, 320 (4th Cir. 2012). “To survive a
motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual
matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is
plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
556 U.S. 662, 678
(2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly,
550 U.S. 544, 570
(2007)).
We first consider Davis’ contention that, under Maryland
law, BSI cannot enforce the note against Davis because the note
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had been separated from the deed of trust for the property in
question. But as the Court of Appeals of Maryland has
explained, a “deed of trust cannot be transferred like a
mortgage; rather, the corresponding note may be transferred, and
carries with it the security provided by the deed of trust.”
Anderson v. Burson,
35 A.3d 452, 460 (Md. 2011) (emphasis
added). Thus, the district court rightly rejected Davis’
contention.
Davis also seeks to invalidate the assignment of the note
to BSI because, he claimed, it had been mechanically signed, or
robo-signed. Regardless of the truth of this assertion, Davis
was not a party to the assignment and fails to demonstrate
either that he has standing to challenge the assignment or that
robo-signing renders the assignment void.
Next, Davis challenges the district court’s failure to
address or “provide standards to cure” many of the legal
theories alleged in his complaint. But our review of the record
reveals that Davis did not support any of these theories with
factual allegations sufficient to “state a claim to relief that
is plausible on its face.”
Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570.
Consequently, the district court did not err in dismissing them.
Finally, we review the denial of Davis’ motion for leave to
amend for abuse of discretion. Tatum v. RJR Pension Inv. Comm.,
761 F.3d 346, 370 (4th Cir. 2014). “Leave to amend need not be
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given when amendment would be futile.” In re PEC Solutions,
Inc. Sec. Litig.,
418 F.3d 379, 391 (4th Cir. 2005). And after
reviewing the record, we conclude that amendment would indeed
have been futile. Davis provides no basis for believing that,
with the benefit of more particularized allegations, his
complaint could survive a motion to dismiss.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order
dismissing Davis’ complaint. We dispense with oral argument
because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented
in the materials before this court and argument would not aid
the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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