Taylor v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC et al

Filing 26

ORDER ADOPTING 15 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS re 8 MOTION to Remand to State Court filed by Greenberry Bush Taylor, Jr. Plaintiff's 8 Motion to Remand is denied.. Signed by Judge Kristi K. DuBose on 12/17/2013. (cmj)

IN
 THE
 UNITED
 STATES
 DISTRICT
 COURT

FOR
 THE
 SOUTHERN
 DISTRICT
 OF
 ALABAMA

SOUTHERN
 DIVISION

GREENBERRY
 BUSH
 TAYLOR,
 JR.,

)

)

Plaintiff,

)

vs

)
  CIVIL
 ACTION
 13-­‐0344-­‐KD-­‐M

)

OCWEN
 LOAN
 SERVICING,
 LLC,
 and

)

U.S.
 BANK
 NATIONAL
 ASSOCIATION,

)

)

Defendants.

)

ORDER

After
 due
 and
 proper
 consideration
 of
 the
 issues
 raised,
 and
 a
 de
 novo

determination
 of
 those
 portions
 of
 the
 Recommendation
 to
 which
 objection
 is
 made,
 the

Recommendation
 of
 the
 Magistrate
 Judge
 made
 under
 28
 U.S.C.
 §
 636(b)(1)(B)
 is
 adopted

as
 the
 opinion
 of
 this
 Court.

 Accordingly,
 it
 is
 ORDERED
 that
 Plaintiff's
 Motion
 to
 Remand

(Docs.
 8-­‐9)
 be
 DENIED.

Plaintiff
 Greenberry
 Bush
 Taylor,
 Jr.,
 objects
 to
 the
 Court’s
 jurisdiction
 alleging
 that

because
 he
 only
 demanded
 $70,000.00
 in
 Counts
 3,
 4,
 and
 5,
 there
 is
 a
 presumption
 that
 the

amount
 in
 controversy
 for
 federal
 jurisdiction
 is
 lacking.

 However,
 as
 explained
 in
 the

report
 and
 recommendation,
 a
 request
 for
 injunctive
 relief
 also
 has
 value.

Taylor
 also
 takes
 issue
 with
 putting
 any
 value
 on
 his
 request
 for
 injunctive
 relief.

 In

the
 Complaint,
 Taylor
 requests
 that
 the
 Court
 enter
 an
 order
 “prohibiting
 the
 defendants

from
 initiating
 foreclosure
 proceedings
 based
 on
 the
 facts
 alleged
 herein.”

 Taylor
 argues

that
 since
 no
 foreclosure
 was
 attempted,
 this
 request
 has
 no
 value.

 However,
 the
 issue
 is

not
 whether
 a
 foreclosure
 was
 cancelled
 or
 even
 planned,
 but
 rather
 the
 issue
 is
 the
 type
 of

relief
 requested.

 The
 simplistic
 answer
 is
 that
 if
 the
 request
 is
 to
 temporarily
 stop
 an

identified
 foreclosure,
 then
 ordinarily
 the
 value
 of
 the
 house
 or
 mortgage
 is
 not
 the

measuring
 stick
 to
 determine
 the
 value
 of
 the
 relief
 requested.

 However,
 if
 the
 request
 is
 to

permanently
 enjoin
 an
 identified
 or
 even
 a
 future
 foreclosure,
 the
 whole
 of
 the
 mortgage
 or

the
 value
 of
 the
 house
 becomes
 the
 value
 of
 the
 relief
 requested.

 Contrary
 to
 Taylor’s

assertion,
 the
 complaint
 clearly
 requests
 injunctive
 relief
 from
 a
 foreclosure
 and,
 while

fact-­‐specific,
 this
 relief
 is
 not
 asserted
 to
 be
 temporary.

DONE
 this
 the
 17th
 day
 of
 December
 2013.

s/
 Kristi
 K.
 DuBose

KRISTI
 K.
 DuBOSE

UNITED
 STATES
 DISTRICT
 JUDGE

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