CHARLES F. LETTOW, Judge.
Ms. Allen appears before the court pro se, alleging an illegal taking by the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") when it failed to investigate adequately complaints she filed with the agency under the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604. Am. Compl. at 3, ECF No. 11. She claims that HUD's ineffective actions illegally confiscated her rights to address alleged wrongs. Id. Pending before the court are (1) Ms. Allen's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, filed on March 3, 2014, (2) the government's motion to dismiss pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1), (6) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), filed on June 5. 2014, and (3) Ms. Allen's motion for disqualification of all of the judges of this court, filed on June 6, 2014.
Ms. Allen states in her amended complaint that she filed a number of complaints with HUD in 2009 through 2013 regarding alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604. Those complaints included claims of discrimination on the basis of race and sexual harassment. Am. Compl. at 2. Specifically, in January 2009, Ms. Allen had filed an administrative complaint with HUD under the Fair Housing Act for events that allegedly took place at her apartment complex located in Alexandria, Virginia. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 26-30. She alleged that she was harassed by the management staff of the complex in mid-2007, followed by unconsented attempts by the staff to enter her apartment in April 2008 and again in August 2008. Am. Compl. Ex. 2.
It then appears that Ms. Allen filed another complaint with HUD, alleging claims identical to those in her first complaint. Am. Compl. Exs. 3 & 4. Again, HUD referred her complaint to the Virginia Fair Housing Office. See Am. Compl. Ex. 3. On December 9, 2009, the Virginia Fair Housing Office dismissed her new complaint for the same reasons as those stated in rejecting her earlier complaint. Am. Compl. Ex. 4. A week later, Ms. Allen sent an amended complaint to the Region III Director of HUD, providing additional details regarding her allegations of fair housing violations. Am. Compl. ¶ 34 & Ex. 5. Ms. Allen alleges that after receiving her amended complaint, HUD failed to "intake and investigate" her submission as outlined in HUD's Title VIII Complaint Intake, Investigation, and Conciliation Handbook. Am. Compl. ¶ 35; see Am. Compl. Exs. 7-9; see also Department of Housing & Urban Development, Complaint, Intake, Investigation, and Conciliation Handbook (8024.01), Chs. 4, 7 (May 5, 2008), available at www.hud.gov/officesadm/hudclips/handbooks/fheh/80241/(last accessed July 28, 2014).
On March 4, 2014, Ms. Allen filed the complaint in this case, alleging that HUD's failure to intake and investigate her claims resulted in an illegal taking under the Fifth Amendment. Compl. ¶ 47, ECF No. 1. After the government filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, Ms. Allen responded and requested 30 days to amend her complaint. Pl.'s Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss ("Pl.'s Opp'n"), ECF No. 6. The court granted the requested additional time to amend her complaint, and on May 21, 2014, she filed her amended complaint. In her amended complaint, she asks the court to award her money damages for the taking of her administrative claims and to "[i]nvestigate and issue findings" regarding her Fair Housing complaints. Am. Compl. at 14. The government responded by moving to dismiss the amended complaint, Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss the Am. Compl. ("Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss"), ECF No. 12. Additionally, on June 6, 2014, Ms. Allen filed a motion for disqualification of the judges of this court under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a). See Pl.'s Mot. for Disqualification, ECF No. 13.
Ms. Allen seeks recusal of all of the judges of this court under 28 U.S.C. § 455, which, among other things, requires a federal judge to "disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned." 28 U.S.C. § 455(a); see Pl.'s Mot. for Disqualification at' 15-19. Such a motion is determined based on an objective standard — "whether a reasonable person would be convinced the judge is biased." Addams-More v. United States, 79 Fed. Cl. 578, 580 (2007) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted); see also Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb, Inc., 882 F.2d 1556, 1568 (Fed. Cir. 1989). Ms. Allen questions the partiality of the court's judges in her cases because they have not rejected the government's briefs for alleged deficiencies in complying with the court's rules. Pl.'s Mot. for Disqualification at 15-19 (citing RCFC 5.4, 11, 12(b)(1)-(7), and 12(d)). The government has responded that no basis for recusal has been presented. Def.'s Resp. to Pl.'s Mot. for Disqualification, ECF No. 14.
Ms. Allen's motion is unavailing. Her allegations are frivolous, and there is no reasonable basis to question the impartiality of the court's judges in acting on the numerous complaints she has filed in this court over the past several years. See Allen, 2014 WL 3505585, at *2-*3.
Addressing the merits, the government argues that Ms. Allen's claims should be dismissed because (1) her dissatisfaction with HUD's responses to her administrative claims does not constitute a taking and is not redressable by this court, Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss at 4-5, and (2) her administrative claims are not property interests cognizable under the Fifth Amendment, id. at 5-6.
To withstand the government's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under RCFC 12(b)(1) or, alternatively, for failure to state a claim under RCFC 12(b)(6), the plaintiff must establish sufficient facts to show the court's subject matter jurisdiction over the claim and the plausibility of the claim. See Montano Elec. Contractor v. United States, 114 Fed. Cl. 675, 679 (2014) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007), and McAfee, Inc. v, United States, 111 Fed. Cl. 696, 706 (2013)). While the court construes Ms. Allen's pro se pleadings liberally, this leniency does not relive Ms. Allen of her burden to establish jurisdiction. Id.
Ms. Allen seeks to invoke the court's jurisdiction pursuant to the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491.
In the government's view, Ms. Allen labels her Fair Housing Act claims as takings to serve as a device to invoke this court's jurisdiction. Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss at 4-5. The majority of her amended complaint is specific to HUD's actions on to her administrative claims, and she asks the court to investigate and make factual determinations regarding her fair housing claims. See Am. Comp]. at 14. Putting labels aside, see Katz v. Cisneros, 16 F.3d 1204, 1207 (Fed. Cir. 1994) ("Regardless of the characterization of the case ascribed by [plaintiff] in its complaint, we look to the true nature of the action in determining the existence or not of jurisdiction."); see also Pines Residential Treatment Ctr., Inc. v. United States, 444 F.3d 1379, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (affirming the dismissal of a claim of Medicare reimbursement which was pled as a breach of contract), the court lacks jurisdiction over such claims, see Fennie v. United States, No. 12-272C, 2013 WL 151685, at *1 (Fed. Cl. Jan. 4, 2013) ("To the extent that the complaint could be construed to allege a violation of the Fair Housing Act, the Act directs litigants to district court, 42 U.S.C. § 3612(o)(1) . . . not this court."). As for Ms. Allen's allegations regarding HUD's failure to intake and investigate her complaints in accordance with HUD regulations, the averments are akin to those underlying a claim to "compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed" under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706. In contrast to the Takings Clause, which is money-mandating, the Administrative Procedure Act does not permit money damages. See Faison v. United States, 102 Fed. Cl. 637, 641 (2012) ("The A[dministrative ]Pirocedure 1A[ct] does not authorize an award of money damages at all; to the contrary, . . . 5 U.S.C. § 702[] specifically limits the Act to actions `seeking relief other than money damages.'" (citing and quoting Wopsock v. Natchees, 454 F.3d 1237, 1333 (Fed. Cir. 2006))). And, the Administrative Procedure Act "grants jurisdiction over judicial review of final agency decisions to the United States district courts and not the United States Court of Federal Claims." Id. at 641. Consequently, this court cannot exercise jurisdiction over Ms. Allen's claims insofar as they turn on the Fair Housing Act or seek judicial review of HUD's actions.
In the alternative, the government argues that Ms. Allen's claim should be dismissed under RCFC 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss at 5-6. To survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, a takings claim must plausibly allege both a "cognizable Fifth Amendment property interest" and that the property interest was "taken." Hearts Bluff Game Ranch, Inc. v. United States, 669 F.3d 1326, 1328-29 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (holding that a complaint failed to state a claim when no cognizable property interest was pled after the Army Corps of Engineers denied plaintiff's proposal for a mitigation bank on its property). Ms. Allen argues that her administrative claims each constitute a "chose in action," which is recognized as a property interest. Pl.'s Opp'n at 11. In support, Ms. Allen cites Black's Law Dictionary, which defines a "chose in action" as the "right to bring an action to recover a debt, money, or thing," Black's Law Dictionary 234 (7th ed. 1999). She also contends that her right to bring an administrative claim under the Fair Housing Act is a type of physical property. Pl.'s Opp'n at 11. This relabeling effort is not gainful. Ms. Allen's administrative complaints are not cognizable property interests for purposes of the Takings Clause. Additionally, the Fair Housing Act does not create a property right for a person who makes a complaint under that Act.
For the reasons stated, Ms. Allen's motion for disqualification is DENIED, her motion to proceed in forma pauperis is GRANTED,
The Clerk shall enter judgment in accord with this disposition. No costs.
It is so
Ms. Allen also states that the apartment complex filed two suits against her in the Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria and the Alexandria General District Court to require her to provide entry into her apartment. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 47-52, 62; see Am. Compl. Exs. 12-14. She avers that the judicial processes of both suits were invalid and the courts' orders requiring her to provide entry were void. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 50-51.
28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(1).