Griffin v. HSBC Mortgage Services Inc. et al

Filing 326

ORDER Dismissing with Prejudice Caliber Home Loans, Inc., Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., and Merscorp Holdings, Inc.; denying as moot 249 Motion To Escrow Funds; granting 322 Motion to Dismiss. Signed by District Judge Debra M. Brown on 12/22/16. (jtm)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
GREENVILLE DIVISION
LAKISHA ROCHELLE GRIFFIN f/k/a
LAKISHA ROCHELLE GRIFFIN SORRELS
V.

PLAINTIFF

NO. 4:14-CV-00132-DMB-JMV

HSBC MORTGAGE SERVICES INC., et al.

DEFENDANTS

ORDER DISMISSING WITH PREJUDICE CALIBER HOME
LOANS, INC., MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION
SYSTEMS, INC., AND MERSCORP HOLDINGS, INC.
On November 30, 2016, Caliber Home Loans, Inc.; Mortgage Electronic Registration
Systems, Inc.; and Merscorp Holdings, Inc. (collectively, “Caliber Defendants”), filed a motion
requesting their dismissal, with prejudice, from “any and all claims … in the above-styled action
… due to a settlement between the Plaintiff and the Caliber Defendants.” Doc. #322. The
Caliber Defendants represent that the plaintiff, Lakisha Rochelle Griffin, signed “a Confidential
Settlement and Release Agreement and a Joint Motion to Dismiss” but that the Caliber
Defendants filed the instant motion to dismiss “out of an abundance of caution” because at the
time Griffin signed such documents, she was pro se.1 Id. at 2‒3. The referenced joint motion to
dismiss, which is signed only by Griffin and which the Caliber Defendants filed only as an
exhibit to the instant motion, states:
the Plaintiff and Caliber Defendants state that … the Plaintiff’s claims against the
Caliber Defendants have been fully compromised and settled, and that the
Plaintiff and the Caliber Defendants by having signed this Motion stipulate that

1

Griffin is no longer pro se; her current counsel entered an appearance on November 28, 2016. Doc. #320. The
Caliber Defendants represent that earlier that day, before Griffin’s current counsel entered an appearance, Griffin
signed and returned to them by e-mail the confidential settlement agreement and joint motion to dismiss. Doc. #322
at 2.

this cause should be dismissed, with prejudice, and that each party should bear its
own costs.
Doc. #322‒1.
Although the joint motion to dismiss is signed only by Griffin, her signature on it clearly
acknowledges that she has settled her claims with the Caliber Defendants and indicates her desire
to dismiss the Caliber Defendants with prejudice. Indeed, that Griffin did not file a response
opposing the Caliber Defendants’ instant motion for dismissal with prejudice, even after securing
counsel,2 confirms as much, particularly because the time within which she may have done so
has expired.

Given this, and because no other party filed any opposition to the Caliber

Defendants’ motion, the Court concludes that the Caliber Defendants should be dismissed with
prejudice.
Accordingly, the Caliber Defendants’ motion to dismiss [322] is GRANTED. Caliber
Home Loans, Inc.; Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.; and Merscorp Holdings, Inc.,
and any and all claims in this action against them, are DISMISSED with prejudice, with each
party to bear its own costs. Caliber Home Loans, Inc.’s pending “Motion to Escrow Funds”
[249] is DENIED as moot.
SO ORDERED, this 22nd day of December, 2016.

/s/ Debra M. Brown
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

2

The Caliber Defendants represent that they contacted Griffin’s current counsel on November 29, 2016, to advise
her of the settlement and that Griffin’s counsel “advised … that she was reviewing the file and had not had a chance
to look at the settlement documents.” Doc. #322 at 3.

2