United States District Court, W.D. Arkansas, Fort Smith Division
GLICENIA C. LOGAN PLAINTIFF
v.
SGT. CHRIS WATERS Arkansas State Police; SHELLPOINT/CONTRYWIDE/BANK OF AMERICA Trustee/Home Loan Serv/Banking and Loans; SENIOR CORPORAL MICHAEL SPRINGER Supervisor/Investigating Officer; JOYCE BRADLEY BABIN/NATASHA GRAF Standing/Case Worker Trustee; CHIEF JUDGE BEN T. BARRY United States Bankruptcy Court; JOHN MICHAEL RAINWATER/BRIAN LIGHT Lawyers/Attorney; ALLISON HOUSTON State Prosecutor's Office/Fort Smith Prosecutor's Office; JUDGE FITZHUGH Judge District Court of Greenwood; NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE; MR. COOPER MORTHAGE Mr. Cooper Mortgage Company; DANA BYRUM District IV manager for Stat[e of Arkansas; NISSAN MOTOR ACCEPTANCE CORP.; FARM CREDIT SERVICES OF WESTERN ARKANSAS Andrea Leding Regional Vice President and LATISHA MEADOWS DHS Administrative Review Officer DEFENDANTS
OPINION AND ORDER
P. K.
HOLMES, III U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE.
Plaintiff
proceeds in this matter pro se. Currently before the
Court is a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim by
Defendants Joyce Bradley Babin and Natasha Graf
(“Trustee Defendants”). (ECF No's 10, 11).
I.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff
filed her Complaint on September 1, 2019. (ECF No. 1). Her
sparse allegations appear to reference the condemnation of an
unidentified parcel of real property. (Id. at 5-6).
The entirety of her claim is as follows:
“I Purchase the property in 2003 with my spouse, in
2004 I Started a Daycare to able to profit and make a
Different, 2005-2006 Started Working on the building on the
road to the daycare, got my daycare Address Register at 4513
Park Road next to my house, I send $500 to Bank of America in
2008 also I Survey the one Acre for the daycare Started my
Garden and Rabbits farm to allowed the kids to eat healthy
and allowed to to learn about the animal, they health, etc I
pay about $75, 000 within 10 years with all my work and
Investment I have spend roughtlyabout $98, 000
Due to lack of accountability of Shellpoint, attorney
Countrywide, Bank of America, Brian Light, the judge and
Court not listening to me know Fema Condemn the house till I
fix it up know I have more than a sick spouse to think about
his health but to put a roof over his head[.]”
(Id. at 5) (errors in original). Plaintiff seeks
monetary damages in the amount of $250, 000. (Id. at
6).
The
Trustee Defendants filed their Motion to Dismiss pursuant to
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on October 9, 2019.
(ECF No's 10, 11). In their Motion, they note that
Plaintiff filed a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy case in the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Arkansas
on March 9, 2015. (ECF No. 10 at 1). Defendant Babin served
as the Chapter 13 Trustee for Plaintiff's bankruptcy
case. (ECF No. 10 at 1-2). Defendant Graf served as the
Trustee's Staff Attorney assigned to the Plaintiff's
bankruptcy case. (ECF No. 10 at 2).
Plaintiff
filed her Response on October 28, 2019. (ECF No. 28).
Defendants Babin and Graf filed their Reply on October 25,
2019. (ECF No. 29).
II.
LEGAL STANDARD
Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) requires only that a complaint
present “a short and plain statement of the claim
showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.”
Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). “In order to meet this standard,
and survive a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), ‘a
complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as
true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its
face.'” Braden v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.,
588 F.3d 585, 594 (8th Cir. 2009) (quoting Ashcroft v.
Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotations
omitted)). “A claim has facial plausibility when the
plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to
draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable
for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft, 556
U.S. at 678. A pro se plaintiff's complaint is liberally
construed, but it must still allege sufficient facts to
support the plaintiff's claims. See Stone v.
Harry, 364 F.3d 912, 914 (8th Cir. 2004). Merely listing
a defendant in a case caption is insufficient to support a
claim against the defendant. Krych v. Hass, 83
Fed.Appx. 854, 855 (8th Cir. 2003) (citing Potter v.
Clark, 497 F.2d 1206, 1207 (7th Cir. 1974) (per
curiam) (noting that court properly dismissed pro se
complaint that was silent as to defendant except for his name
appearing in caption)).
III.
ANALYSIS
The
Trustee Defendants argue Plaintiff's allegations fail to
state a claim upon which relief can be granted because
Plaintiff fails to mention them or any alleged wrongdoing by
the Trustee Defendants in her allegations. (ECF No. 10 at 2).
They are correct. Plaintiff has not alleged any facts
concerning the Trustee Defendants in the body of her
Complaint. Instead, she merely listed them as Defendants in
the caption of the case. Because Plaintiff's complaint
does not allege specific facts showing anything the Trustee
Defendants did, or failed to do, that would give Plaintiff
some right to relief against them, her claims against the
Trustee Defendants must be dismissed.[1]
The
Trustee Defendants further argue that Plaintiff's
Response fails to address the issues raised in their Motion
to Dismiss and continues to fail in stating a claim upon
which relief may be granted. Again, they are correct.
Plaintiff's Response is comprised of an apparently random
listing of fragmented legal terminology and phrases such as
“Cause of property loss by unlawful means by
interfering with freedom of a third party, ”
“Tortuous interference with emotional harm . . .,
” and “Frauds, Deceitful Act, Race, Gender Bias,
Ethnicity, Marriage Status, Biasness, Lack of cooperation,
Communication and Prejudice.” (ECF No. 28 at 2). As was
the case with her Complaint, her Response fails to set forth
a single factual allegation describing what either of these
Defendants did, or failed to do, which violated her
constitutional rights. As such, she again fails to state a
cognizable claim for relief, and her claims against the
Trustee Defendants must be dismissed. See ...