Jennings et al v. RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation et al

Filing 70

ORDER. Plaintiff's Objection is OVERRULED, and the Court ADOPTS AND APPROVES IN FULL the 66 Report and Recommendations. RoundPoint's 42 Motion for Summary Judgement is GRANTED. Signed by Chief District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith on 11/13/18. (bpet, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

Norfolk Division

STERLING L. JENNINGS, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
V.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:17cv427

ROUNDPOINT MORTGAGE

SERVICING CORPORATION, et al..
Defendants.
ORDER

This matter comes before the court on

Defendant RoundPoint

Mortgage Servicing Corporation's (^"RoundPoint") Motion for Summary
Judgment (""Motion") and Memorandum in Support, filed on August 31,
2018. EOF Nos. 42, 43. Plaintiffs, Sterling L. Jennings and Deirdre

D. Jennings, filed a Memorandum in Opposition on September 12,
2018, EOF No. 55, and RoundPoint filed a Reply on September 18,

2018. EOF No. 58. On September 19, 2018, this court referred the
Motion to United States Magistrate Judge Robert J. Krask, pursuant
to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 72(b), to conduct hearings, including evidentiary

hearings, if necessary, and to submit to the undersigned district
judge

proposed

findings

of

fact,

if

applicable,

and

recommendations for the disposition of the Motion. ECF No. 62.
The

Magistrate

Judge

filed

a

Report

and

Recommendation

(""R&R") on RoundPoint's Motion on October 10, 2018. ECF No. 66.

The parties were advised of their right to file written objections

to the findings and recommendations made by the Magistrate Judge.
R&R at 18. On October 24, 2018, Plaintiffs filed an Objection to

the R&R. EOF No. 68. RoundPoint filed a Response on November 6,
2018. EOF No. 69.

Pursuant

to

Rule

72(b)

of

the

Federal

Rules

of

Civil

Procedure, the court, having reviewed the record in its entirety,

shall make a ^ novo determination of those portions of the R&R to
which the Plaintiffs have specifically objected.

72(b).

Fed. R. Civ. P.

The court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in

part, the recommendation of the magistrate judge, or recommit the
matter to him with instructions. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).

The R&R recommends that RoundPoint's Motion should be granted
because,

as

a

matter

of

law,

RoundPoint

foreclose on Plaintiffs' home. R&R at 2.

did

not

improperly

The R&R concludes that

RoundPoint was not required to conduct a face-to-face meeting with
Plaintiffs prior to foreclosing on their home, id. at 13, and
further concludes that Plaintiffs did not submit a complete loss

mitigation application to RoundPoint in time to trigger legal
protection from foreclosure proceedings, id. at 16.

In

their

Objection

to

the

R&R,

Plaintiffs

contend

that

RoundPoint was required to conduct a face-to-face meeting with
Plaintiffs

because

RoundPoint said that it

would conduct such

a

meeting. Obj. at 3. Plaintiffs further argue that, because they

submitted

documents

to

RoundPoint

to

complete

their

loss

mitigation application on April 18, 2017, their application should

be considered retroactively complete as of February 2, 2017. Id.
at 5.

The court, having examined the Objection to the R&R filed by

the Plaintiffs, and having made ^ novo findings with respect
thereto, agrees with the Magistrate Judge's recommendation that
RoundPoint's Motion for Summary Judgment be granted. Accordingly,

Plaintiffs'

Objection

is

hereby

OVERRULED,

and

the

court

ADOPTS AND APPROVES IN FULL the findings and recommendations set
forth in the R&R of the United States Magistrate Judge, filed on
October 10,

2018.

EOF No.

66.

RoundPoint's

Motion

for

Summary

Judgment is GRANTED.

The Clerk is DIRECTED to send a copy of this Order to counsel
for all parties.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

Isl

Rebecca Beach Smith
Chief Judge
REBECCA BEACH SMITH
CHIEF JUDGE

November

13, 2018