Horton v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. et al

Filing 148

ORDER adopting 143 Final Report and Recommendation, granting 92 Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim, granting 94 Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim, granting 98 Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim, granting 116 Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. Signed by Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr on 6/4/13. (dr)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION
JEFFREY HORTON,
Plaintiff,
v.

CIVIL ACTION FILE
NO. 1:11-CV-3210-TWT

HSBC BANK, et al.,
Defendants.

ORDER

This is an action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It is before the
Court on the Report and Recommendation [Doc. 143] of the Magistrate Judge
recommending granting the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss [Doc. 92, 94, 98 & 116].
A complaint should be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) only where it appears that the
facts alleged fail to state a “plausible” claim for relief. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct.
1937, 1949 (2009); Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A complaint may survive a motion to
dismiss for failure to state a claim, however, even if it is “improbable” that a plaintiff
would be able to prove those facts; even if the possibility of recovery is extremely
“remote and unlikely.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556 (2007)
(citations and quotations omitted). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court must
accept factual allegations as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the
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plaintiff. See Quality Foods de Centro America, S.A. v. Latin American Agribusiness
Dev. Corp., S.A., 711 F.2d 989, 994-95 (11th Cir. 1983); see also Sanjuan v.
American Bd. of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc., 40 F.3d 247, 251 (7th Cir. 1994)
(noting that at the pleading stage, the plaintiff “receives the benefit of imagination”).
Generally, notice pleading is all that is required for a valid complaint. See Lombard’s,
Inc. v. Prince Mfg., Inc., 753 F.2d 974, 975 (11th Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S.
1082 (1986). Under notice pleading, the plaintiff need only give the defendant fair
notice of the plaintiff’s claim and the grounds upon which it rests. See Erickson v.
Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). For the reasons
set forth in the thorough and well-reasoned Report and Recommendation, the Plaintiff
fails to set forth a plausible claim for relief against the Defendants he has sued. The
Court approves and adopts the Report and Recommendation as the judgment of the
Court. The Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss [Doc. 92, 94, 98 & 116] are GRANTED.

SO ORDERED, this 4 day of June, 2013.

/s/Thomas W. Thrash
THOMAS W. THRASH, JR.
United States District Judge

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