Macklin v. Hollingsworth et al
Filing
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MEMORANDUM AND ORDER signed by Chief Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 4/20/2015 DENYING 89 Motion for Relief pursuant to F.R.Cv.P. Rule 60(b) and (d). (Michel, G.)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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JAMES L. MACKLIN,
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No. 2:10-cv-01097-MCE-KJN
Plaintiff,
v.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
MATTHEW HOLLINGSWORTH, et al.,
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Defendants.
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Presently before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief pursuant to Federal Rule
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of Civil Procedure 60(b) and (d) (“Motion for Reconsideration”). ECF No. 89. For the
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reasons set forth below, Plaintiff’s Motion is DENIED.1
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BACKGROUND
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On July 1, 2014, James L. Macklin (“Plaintiff”) filed a Second Amended Complaint
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(“SAC”) (ECF No. 43) with this Court alleging that Defendants Select Portfolio Servicing,
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Inc. (“Select Portfolio”), Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (“Wells Fargo”), Deutsche Bank National
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Trust Co. (“Deutsche Bank”), and Quality Loan Service Corporation (“Quality Loan”)
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Because oral argument would not have been of material assistance, the Court ordered this
matter submitted on the briefs. E.D. Cal. Local Rule 230(g).
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committed breach of contract and violations of several Federal and California statutes
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governing lending and other business practices in connection with the origination,
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underwriting, servicing, and foreclosure of Plaintiff’s residential home loan.
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Three of the named Defendants—Deutsche Bank, Select Portfolio, and Quality
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Loan—filed a Motion to Dismiss before the assigned Magistrate Judge on July 21, 2014.
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Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 45. The Magistrate Judge issued his Findings and
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Recommendations on September 8, 2014, recommending that the Motion be granted
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under the doctrine of claim preclusion, based on the fact that all claims were either
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adjudicated by the Bankruptcy Court during a related adversary proceeding, or could
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have been asserted by Plaintiff during the adversary proceeding. ECF No. 65, 23: 5-7.
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On December 29, 2014, this Court adopted in full the Findings and Recommendations
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as to Deutsche Bank, Select Portfolio, and Quality Loan's Motion to Dismiss. ECF No.
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86. On August 18, 2014, Wells Fargo filed a separate Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 62),
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which was similarly granted by this Court on the basis of claim preclusion.2 ECF No. 87.
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Plaintiff now requests that the Court reconsider the order adopting the Findings
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and Recommendations (ECF No. 86) and the order on Wells Fargo’s motion to dismiss
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(ECF No. 87).
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STANDARD
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Both Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60 and Local Rule 230 govern Plaintiff’s
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Motion for Reconsideration. Generally, a court should not revisit its own decisions
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unless extraordinary circumstances show that its prior decision was wrong.
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Christianson v. Colt Indus. Operating Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 817 (1988). Reconsideration
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may be appropriate in one of three situations: (1) newly discovered evidence is
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presented; (2) the court has committed clear error or issued an initial decision that was
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This Motion was heard in this Court due to the fact that Plaintiff was no longer proceeding pro se.
See ECF No. 74.
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manifestly unjust; or (3) intervening change in controlling law is presented. Turner v.
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Burlington N. Santa Fe R.R. Co., 338 F.3d 1058, 1063 (9th Cir. 2003). Local Rule 230(j)
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similarly requires a party seeking reconsideration to demonstrate “what new or different
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facts or circumstances are claimed to exist which did not exist or were not shown upon
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such prior motion, or what other grounds exist for the motion,” and “why the facts or
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circumstances were not shown at the time of the prior motion.”
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ANALYSIS
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The orders that Plaintiff is requesting this Court reconsider were decided on the
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basis of claim preclusion. The Court found that Plaintiff’s claims were barred because all
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of the allegations had been previously litigated and adjudicated in a Bankruptcy Court
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proceeding. ECF No. 65, 4:19-22. Plaintiff now asserts that reconsideration of this
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Court’s judgment is appropriate based on a recent change in the law. Mot. for Relief,
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ECF No. 89-1, 11:7-15.
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Specifically, Plaintiff argues that two recently decided cases—Jesinoski v.
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Countrywide Home Loans Inc., 135 S. Ct. 790 (2015) and Merrit v. Countrywide,
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759 F.3d 1023 (9th Cir. 2014)—show that Plaintiff effectively rescinded the loan that was
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the basis for the suit prior to the bank’s foreclosure. Plaintiff argues that because he
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rescinded his loan, the Bankruptcy Court somehow lacked subject matter jurisdiction.
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Reply, ECF No. 98, 11:15-20. This argument lacks merit. Even if, as Plaintiff claims, he
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effectively rescinded his loan and the creditor failed to take the appropriate steps, the
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Bankruptcy Court would have subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate the case under the
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Truth in Lending Act, a federal law. Thus, this argument is unfounded and misconstrues
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the meaning of subject matter jurisdiction.
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In essence, Plaintiff argues that under the above-described new case law, the
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Bankruptcy Court came to the wrong conclusion in his case. However, “[u]nder
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controlling precedent from the Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit, the fact that a
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judgment may have been wrong, or have rested on a since-repudiated legal principle,
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does not alter the claim preclusive effect of a final judgment.” Roche Palo Alto LLC v.
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Apotex, Inc., 526 F. Supp. 2d 985, 999 citing Federated Dept. Stores, Inc. v. Moitie,
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452 U.S. 394, 398 (1981); see also Clifton v. Atty. Gen. Of State of Cal., 997 F.2d 660,
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663 (9th Cir. 1993) (“For us to conclude . . . that the district court's order has become an
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‘instrument of wrong’ merely because it rests on a since repudiated rationale would be to
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nullify the doctrine of res judicata.”). In other words, a judgment need not be right to
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preclude further litigation, it need only be final and on the merits. The Court determined
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that the decision of the Bankruptcy Court was final and on the merits when it found that
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claim preclusion applied.
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Plaintiff’s remedy in a case where the judgment was wrong or the law was later
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overturned is an appeal, not a collateral attack. See Wall v. Kholi, 131 S. Ct. 1278, 1283
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(2011) (“A collateral attack is an attack on a judgment in a proceeding other than a direct
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appeal.”). While Plaintiff attempts to allege in his Reply (ECF No. 99, 4: 13-21) that a
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collateral attack on the Bankruptcy Court’s decision is appropriate in this case based on
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the reasoning in United States v. Tittjung, 235 F.3d 330 (7th Cir. 2000), that contention is
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incorrect. The narrow exception to the general rule barring collateral attacks allows a
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plaintiff to attack a previous court’s judgment when such judgment was made in excess
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of its jurisdiction. Id. at 335. As described above, Plaintiff has failed to allege facts to
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indicate that the Bankruptcy Court acted outside of its jurisdictional authority when it
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rendered its decision during the adversary proceeding.
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CONCLUSION
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Because Plaintiff has not established a viable defense to overcome the doctrine
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of claim preclusion, this Court’s previous Orders (ECF Nos. 86, 87) were not made in
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error, and Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)
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and (d) (ECF No. 89) is DENIED.3
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: April 20, 2015
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Because this Motion has been decided on the basis of claim preclusion, this Court need not
address Plaintiff’s Request for Judicial Notice (ECF No. 90).
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