RAJA et al v. FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION et al

Filing 103

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER adopting 97 Report & Recommendation and dismissing action as to Defendants IMB Holdco LLC and Indy Mac Ventures LLC for failure to serve. See attached document for details. Signed by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on 10/02/2019. (lckbj3,)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
M. NAWAZ RAJA, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE
CORPORATION, et al.,
Defendants.

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No. 16-cv-0511 (KBJ)

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
ADOPTING THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
REGARDING SERVICE
On February 12, 2018, this Court issued an order that required Plaintiffs to
“serve all Defendants . . . and file with the Court proof that they have effectuated
service of process on all Defendants by April 13, 2018.” (Mem. Op. and Ord. Partially
Adopting the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation Regarding Service
(“Mem. Op.”), ECF No. 56, at 14.) Before this Court at present is Magistrate Judge
Deborah Robinson’s Report and Recommendation (“R & R”) dated September 4, 2019,
finding that Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate proper service of process on Defendants
IMB Holdco LLC and Indy Mac Venture LLC by April 13, 2018, and recommending
that these Defendants be dismissed from the action without prejudice. (See R & R, ECF
No. 97, at 1.) Plaintiffs timely filed an objection contesting the R & R’s findings. (See
Pls.’ Obj. to R & R (“Pls.’ Obj.”), ECF No. 101.)

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This Court previously found that Plaintiffs’ efforts to serve Defendants were
improper. (See Mem. Op. at 6–11 (noting that Plaintiffs had not served designated
agents of the Defendants under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(h)(1)(B), (i)(2), (e)(2), and had not
filed the required servers’ affidavits to prove that Defendants were properly served
under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(l)(1))). Therefore, this Court required Plaintiffs to “serve all
Defendants” and stated that if Plaintiffs “fail[ed] to file proper proof of service by April
13, 2018, this Court [would] dismiss this case without prejudice.” (Id. at 14–15.)
Plaintiffs’ objection demonstrates that Plaintiffs have not taken any new actions
to serve these two Defendants properly, nor have they filed proper proof of service in
the form of the servers’ affidavits, as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(l) requires.
(See Pls.’ Obj. at 2–4 (relying on June 15, 2017 services that this Court has already
deemed improper and lacking in proof of service); see also R & R at 1 (finding that
Defendants were not served and no proof of service for either Defendant “appears
among the ECF entries in this civil action”).) Because Plaintiffs have not taken any
actions to comply with this Court’s order to serve these two Defendants properly and to
prove such service by April 13, 2018, this Court finds that Plaintiffs have not met their
burden of service of process under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4.
For the reasons stated above, it is hereby
ORDERED that the findings and recommendation of the [97] Report and
Recommendation are ADOPTED (over Plaintiffs’ objections).
Accordingly, it is
FURTHER ORDERED that this action is dismissed without prejudice as to
Defendant IMB Holdco LLC and Indy Mac Ventures LLC for Plaintiffs’ failure to

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effect service upon them in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 and this
Court’s [56] Memorandum Opinion and Order.

Ketanji Brown Jackson

DATE: October 2, 2019

KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
United States District Judge

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