Plascencia et al v. Lending 1st Mortgage et al

Filing 366

ORDER by Judge Claudia Wilken GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS 350 ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL. (ndr, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/20/2012)

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1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 4 5 6 ARMANDO PLASCENCIA; and MELANIA PLASCENCIA, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, 7 8 9 United States District Court For the Northern District of California 10 11 12 v. LENDING 1ST MORTGAGE; LENDING 1ST MORTGAGE, LLC; EMC MORTGAGE CORPORATION; and DOES 1-10, No. C 07-4485 CW ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL (Docket No. 350) Defendants. ________________________________/ On July 2, 2012, Plaintiffs Armando and Melania Plascencia 13 moved to file under seal their unredacted motion for summary 14 judgment and Exhibits A through K to the declaration of Mark R. 15 Cuker in support of their motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs 16 have filed a redacted version of their motion for summary judgment 17 in the public record. See Docket No. 349. In their motion to 18 seal, Plaintiffs state that the materials that they seek to seal 19 have been “designated ‘Confidential’ under the terms of the 20 Stipulated Protective Order and/or contain information from said 21 materials.” Mot. at 2. Plaintiffs represent that they do not 22 believe that the information in Exhibits A through K is sealable. 23 Berns Decl. ¶ 4. 24 On July 9, 2012, Defendant EMC Mortgage LLC, formerly known 25 as EMC Mortgage Corporation, filed a declaration in support of the 26 motion to seal. 27 28 See Overbey Decl., Docket No. 354. EMC withdraws 1 its confidentiality designation for Exhibits B, C, and E through 2 J. Overbey Decl. ¶ 4. 3 are internal EMC documents or documents produced by EMC in this case containing confidential borrower information regarding Plaintiffs, including their loan number, credit scores, loan amount, and details regarding their loan terms, and confidential information regarding the class members, including their names, loan amounts, and details and data regarding their loans, which is [sic] protected by federal law under the GrammLeach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6801(a); 17 C.F.R. § 248.3(t)(1)(i)-(ii) & (u)(2)(i)(C), and by California law. 4 5 6 7 8 9 United States District Court For the Northern District of California 10 EMC states that Exhibits A, D and K Id. at ¶ 5. EMC asks that these exhibits and the portions of Plaintiffs’ motion that refer to them be placed under seal. 11 Id. Plaintiffs’ filings are connected to a dispositive motion. 12 Because Defendants designated the documents at issue as 13 confidential, they must file a declaration establishing that the 14 documents are sealable. 15 Defendants “must overcome a strong presumption of access by 16 showing that ‘compelling reasons supported by specific factual 17 findings . . . outweigh the general history of access and the 18 public policies favoring disclosure.’” 19 Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 679 (9th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted). 20 cannot be established simply by showing that the document is 21 subject to a protective order or by stating in general terms that 22 the material is considered to be confidential, but rather must be 23 supported by a sworn declaration demonstrating with particularity 24 the need to file each document under seal. 25 5(a). 26 Civil Local Rule 79-5(d). To do so, Pintos v. Pac. Creditors This Civil Local Rule 79- Exhibits A and K contain information concerning Plaintiffs’ 27 loan only and not that of absent class members. 28 cited authority prevents Defendants from disclosing this 2 Although the 1 information publicly without Plaintiffs’ consent, EMC cites no 2 authority or compelling reason that would prevent Plaintiffs from 3 publicly disclosing this information themselves. 4 voluntarily offered these exhibits into evidence and do not 5 support filing them under seal. 6 Plaintiffs have EMC has established compelling reasons to support the sealing 7 of Exhibit D and references in the motion thereto. 8 contains personally identifiable financial information of absent 9 class members, including their names and loan amounts. This exhibit The motion United States District Court For the Northern District of California 10 contains descriptions of class members based on this exhibit. 11 17 C.F.R. § 248.3(t)(1)(ii) (defining “nonpublic personal 12 information” to include “any . . . description . . . of consumers 13 . . . that is derived using any personally identifiable financial 14 information that is not publicly available information”). 15 See Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file documents 16 under seal is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part (Docket No. 350). 17 Within four days of the date of this Order, Plaintiffs shall file 18 their unredacted motion and Exhibit D to the Cuker declaration 19 under seal and Exhibits A through C and E through K to the Cuker 20 declaration in the public record. 21 also refile their redacted motion for summary judgment, removing 22 any redactions related to Exhibits A through C and E through K to 23 the Cuker declaration. 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. By that date, Plaintiffs shall 25 26 27 Dated: 7/20/2012 CLAUDIA WILKEN United States District Judge 28 3

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