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Givens v. Homecomings

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
May 20, 2008
278 F. App'x 607 (6th Cir. 2008)

Summary

holding that a plaintiff suit "fits squarely" within Rooker-Feldman where the "point of th[e] suit [was] to obtain federal reversal of a state court decision" granting possession of property to defendants

Summary of this case from Rahman v. Bayview Loan Servicing

Opinion

No. 07-2359.

May 20, 2008.

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Before: ROGERS, COOK, and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges.


Jason Givens appeals the dismissal of his Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") action under the doctrines of Rooker-Feldman and res judicata. Givens's mortgagee obtained a state court order granting it possession of Givens's residence after he defaulted on his home mortgage. Givens then filed the immediate action in district court, seeking an injunction barring the enforcement of the order of possession. Because Givens's suit is essentially an appeal from a state court decision, we affirm. The federal district courts do not hear appeals from state courts.

In December 2004, Givens executed a mortgage on his home. He defaulted on the loan shortly thereafter, and the mortgagee, JP Morgan Chase bank, foreclosed. After a sheriff's sale was held, JP Morgan Chase brought an eviction action in Michigan's 36th District Court. That court issued an order granting possession to JP Morgan Chase and requiring Givens to vacate the premises. Givens appealed that judgment to the Wayne County Circuit Court, but the appeal was dismissed due to his failure to file a transcript of the lower court proceedings.

In December 2006, Givens brought the instant action in federal district court against Homecomings Financial, who was JP Morgan Chase's loan servicer, as well as against the attorneys who assisted JP Morgan Chase in the state proceedings. Givens alleged that defendants violated the FDCPA by failing to provide him with sufficient verification of his debt. He also brought related claims for conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of RICO. Foremost among the remedies requested, Givens asked that the district court issue a preliminary injunction enjoining defendants from entering the property at issue and "dispos[ing] of the order of possession. After defendants moved for summary judgment, the district court dismissed Givens's complaint. The district court concluded that, under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the suit because Givens was asking it to reverse the state court judgment. In the alternative, it held that Givens's suit was barred by the doctrine of res judicata, as his claims were either litigated, or could have been, during the state proceeding.

The district court was correct. Because Givens is effectively attempting to appeal from the state order granting possession to JP Morgan Chase, his suit was properly dismissed under Rooker-Feldman. Pursuant to that doctrine, lower federal courts lack subject matter jurisdiction to review the decisions of state courts. D.C. Ct. of App. v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 476, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983); Rooker v. Fid. Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 416, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923). As the Supreme Court has recently clarified, however, the application of Rooker-Feldman is confined to "cases brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by state-court judgments rendered before the district court proceedings commenced and inviting district court review and rejection of those judgments." Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284, 125 S.Ct. 1517, 161 L.Ed.2d 454 (2005). Thus, Rooker-Feldman deprives a lower court of jurisdiction only when the cause of the plaintiff's complaints is the state judgment itself. McCorrnick v. Braverman, 451 F.3d 382, 393 (6th Cir. 2006).

Givens's suit fits squarely within this narrow range of cases over which jurisdiction does not exist. It is clear from his complaint that the source of Givens's injuries is the state possession order. Revealingly, the primary relief that Givens requests in his complaint is a temporary injunction that would "enjoin Defendants from physically entering onto plaintiff[']s property" and that would "dispos[e] . . . of any other civil or procedural action regarding the subject property." Because the point of this suit is to obtain a federal reversal of a state court decision, dismissal on the grounds of Rooker-Feldman was appropriate. See Kafele v. Lerner, Sampson Rothfuss, L.P.A., 161 Fed.Appx. 487, 489-90 (6th Cir. 2005) ( Rooker-Feldman barred FDCPA action filed after entry of state foreclosure decree and order of sale).

Even assuming that Givens's claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress could be construed as independent claims for relief, he has not made any arguments that even remotely assert this on appeal. This court consequently declines to address that issue. See Overslreel v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Gov't, 305 F.3d 566, 578 (6th Cir. 2002).

For similar reasons, Givens's suit is also barred by the doctrine of res judicata. As discussed, Givens's arguments all come down to one premise: that JP Morgan Chase was not entitled to possession of the property in question. That issue, however, has already been litigated in the Michigan courts. Under Michigan law, a party may not bring a second, subsequent action when "(1) the prior action was decided on the merits, (2) both actions involve the same parties or their privies, and (3) the matter in the second case was, or could have been, resolved in the first." Adair v. State, 470 Mich. 105, 680 N.W.2d 386, 396 (2004). Because all of those criteria are satisfied here, dismissal was proper.


Summaries of

Givens v. Homecomings

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
May 20, 2008
278 F. App'x 607 (6th Cir. 2008)

holding that a plaintiff suit "fits squarely" within Rooker-Feldman where the "point of th[e] suit [was] to obtain federal reversal of a state court decision" granting possession of property to defendants

Summary of this case from Rahman v. Bayview Loan Servicing

holding that a plaintiff's suit "fits squarely" within the Rooker-Feldman doctrine because the "point of th[e] suit [was] to obtain a federal reversal of a state court decision" granting possession of property to defendants

Summary of this case from McGowan v. Ditech Fin.

holding Rooker-Feldman barred plaintiff's FDCPA claim that defendants failed to provide him with sufficient verification of his debt and seeking only an injunction to keep defendants from entering the property at issue

Summary of this case from Riddle v. Wells Fargo Bank Nat'l Ass'n

holding that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine applied when the source of the plaintiff's injuries was a state court's order of eviction

Summary of this case from Sinta v. Fed. Nat'l Mortg. Ass'n (In re Sinta)

holding that a mortgagor's federal suit was barred as res judicata as well as by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine where the mortgagor challenged a foreclosure and the mortgagee's right to possess the property after a state court had already entered a judgment in the mortgagee's favor

Summary of this case from Malone v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n

finding that a district court's dismissal under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine was proper because the plaintiff was "effectively attempting to appeal from the state order granting possession to JP Morgan Chase"

Summary of this case from Bell v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.

upholding district court's dismissal of plaintiff's complaint which sought to effectively appeal the state court order granting possession to JP Morgan, finding plaintiff's claims barred by the doctrine of res judicata because they could have been resolved in the state court proceeding

Summary of this case from Sesi v. Fed. Home Loan Mortg. Corp.

upholding district court's dismissal of plaintiff's complaint which sought to effectively appeal the state court order granting possession to JP Morgan, finding plaintiff's claims barred by the doctrine of res judicata because they could have been resolved in the state court proceeding

Summary of this case from Anderson v. County of Wayne

affirming dismissal under Rooker-Fedlman where the primary relief that [Givens] requests in his complaint is a temporary injunction that would "enjoin Defendants from physically entering onto plaintiff[']s property" and that would "dispos[e] ... of any other civil or procedural action regarding the subject property."

Summary of this case from Pertuset v. Mid-America

affirming dismissal under Rooker-Fedlman where the primary relief that [Givens] requests in his complaint is a temporary injunction that would "enjoin Defendants from physically entering onto plaintiff[']s property" and that would "dispos[e] ... of any other civil or procedural action regarding the subject property."

Summary of this case from Wells v. DLJ Mortg. Capitol Inc.

referring to the "narrow range of cases" implicated by Rooker-Feldman

Summary of this case from Robinson v. Purkey

referring to the "narrow range of cases" implicated by Rooker–Feldman

Summary of this case from Thomas v. Haslam

referring to the "narrow range of cases" implicated by Rooker–Feldman

Summary of this case from Thomas v. Haslam

noting that the Sixth Circuit has tightened the scope of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine in the wake of Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, and now construes it to deprive a district court of jurisdiction only "when the cause of the plaintiff's complaint is the state judgment itself" (citing McCormick, 451 F.3d at 393)

Summary of this case from Davis v. Wells Fargo, NA
Case details for

Givens v. Homecomings

Case Details

Full title:Jason GIVENS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HOMECOMINGS FINANCIAL…

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Date published: May 20, 2008

Citations

278 F. App'x 607 (6th Cir. 2008)

Citing Cases

Sesi v. Fed. Home Loan Mortg. Corp.

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Riddle v. Wells Fargo Bank Nat'l Ass'n

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