Randall v. Maxwell & Morgan, P.C.

• Decision Date: 25 July 2018
• Docket Number: No. CV-17-01474-PHX-JAT,CV-17-01474-PHX-JAT
• Citation: 321 F.Supp.3d 978
• Parties: Shannon K. RANDALL, Plaintiff, v. MAXWELL & MORGAN, P.C., an Arizona professional corporation, Rebecca Easton and Ryan Daniel Easton, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Arizona

321 F.Supp.3d 978

Shannon K. RANDALL, Plaintiff,

v.MAXWELL & MORGAN, P.C., an Arizona professional corporation, Rebecca Easton and Ryan Daniel Easton, Defendants.

No. CV-17-01474-PHX-JAT

United States District Court, D. Arizona.

Signed July 25, 2018

Douglas Clark Wigley, Jonathan Adam Dessaules, Dessaules Law Group, Phoenix, AZ, for Plaintiff

Robert Travis Campbell, Simmonds & Narita LLP, San Francisco, CA, for Defendants

ORDER

James A. Teilborg, Senior United States District Judge

Pending before the Court are Defendants Maxwell & Morgan, P.C., Rebecca Easton, and Ryan Daniel Easton's ("Defendants") Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, (Doc. 45), Plaintiff Shannon K. Randall's ("Plaintiff") Motion for Summary Judgment, (Doc. 46), and Defendants' Motion to Strike Portions of the Plaintiff's Reply in Support of the Motion for Summary Judgment, (Doc. 56).

I. Background

Plaintiff is a resident of Pinal County and is employed by the Casa Grande Elementary School District. (Doc. 46 at 2.) Plaintiff owned her primary residence, which was located in Pinal County, until it was foreclosed upon in 2010. (Id. ) As the owner of her primary residence, Plaintiff was obligated to pay homeowners' assessments to her homeowners' association (the "Association"). (Id. ) After Plaintiff failed to pay her homeowners' assessments, an action was filed against her by the Association in the Casa Grande Justice Court of Pinal County. (Doc. 45 at 3–4.) The Association was granted summary judgment in that action against Plaintiff. (Id. at 4.) The judgment awarded, among other things, the unpaid homeowners' assessments and "all reasonable costs and attorneys' fees incurred by [the Association] after entry of this judgment in collecting the amounts awarded therein." (Id. )

On January 31, 2017, Defendants commenced a garnishment action on behalf of the Association (the "Garnishment Action") by filing an Application for Garnishment in the Maricopa County Superior Court against Plaintiff's employer, the Casa Grande Elementary School District. (Doc. 46 at 2.) The Garnishment Action sought payment of the amount adjudged due, "including attorney fees and costs as may be awarded by [the] Court." (Doc. 45 at 4.) Defendants also filed an Application for Amount of Attorney Fees, a China Doll Affidavit in support of the Fee Application, and a statement of costs in the Garnishment Action to seek court approval of the fees and costs identified in the Application for Garnishment. (Id. )

On February 8, 2017, the Maricopa County Superior Court issued a Writ of Garnishment to Plaintiff's employer. (Id. ) Plaintiff's employer submitted an Answer of Garnishee, and on February 21, 2017, the Maricopa County Superior Court approved the application for fees and statement of costs. (Id. )

On March 9, 2017, Plaintiff objected to and moved to quash the Writ of Garnishment and vacate the order approving the application for attorneys' fees and statement of costs on the grounds that they were filed in an improper venue. (Id. at 5.) The Maricopa County Superior Court denied the objection and both motions. (Id. )

On November 22, 2017, Plaintiff filed the First Amended Complaint, (Doc. 37). (Id. ) In it, Plaintiff alleges that, by commencing a garnishment action and requesting post-judgment fees and costs in Maricopa County, Defendants violated § 1692i of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). (Id. ) Plaintiff alleges that under § 1692i, Defendants were required to file the garnishment action and supporting papers in Pinal County. (Id. )

On March 12, 2018, Defendants filed the pending Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings requesting that this Court grant judgment in favor of Defendants on all claims. (Id. at 11.) Plaintiff filed a brief in opposition to the Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, (Doc. 51), as well as a Motion for Summary Judgment. Defendants filed a brief in opposition to the Motion for Summary Judgment, (Doc. 52), as well as a Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiff's Reply in Support of the Motion for Summary Judgment.

II. Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings

A. Legal Standard

A motion for judgment on the pleadings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 12(c) is "functionally identical" to a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. Cafasso, U.S. ex rel. v. Gen. Dynamics C4 Sys., Inc. , 637 F.3d 1047, 1055 n.4 (9th Cir. 2011). Therefore, "the same standard of review applies to motions brought under either rule," id. , and "[a] judgment on the pleadings is properly granted when, taking all the allegations in the pleadings as true, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law," Nelson v. City of Irvine , 143 F.3d 1196, 1200 (9th Cir. 1998) (citing McGann v. Ernst & Young , 102 F.3d 390, 392 (9th Cir. 1996) ).

To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion for failure to state a claim, a complaint must meet the requirements of Rule 8. Rule 8 requires that a pleading contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). To meet this standard, "a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, ‘to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ " Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). To have facial plausibility, a complaint must include "factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Id. This analysis is "context-specific" and is driven by "judicial experience and common sense." Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

In deciding a motion to dismiss, the Court must construe the facts alleged in the complaint "in the light most favorable" to the plaintiff. Schlegel v. Wells Fargo Bank , 720 F.3d 1204, 1207 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting Autotel v. Nev. Bell Tel. Co. , 697 F.3d 846, 850 (9th Cir. 2012) ); see also Cafasso , 637 F.3d at 1053 ("When considering a Rule 12(c) dismissal, we must accept the facts as pled by the nonmovant"). This same presumption, however, is not extended to legal conclusions: "Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice." Ashcroft , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Rule 8"requires a ‘showing,’ rather than a blanket assertion, of entitlement to relief." Twombley , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (citing 5 Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 1202 (3d ed. 2004) ).

B. Discussion

The FDCPA requires that:

Any debt collector who brings any legal action on a debt against any consumer shall...bring such action only in the judicial district or similar legal entity—(A) in which such consumer signed the contract sued upon; or (B) in which such consumer resides at the commencement of the action.

15 U.S.C. § 1692i.¹

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated § 1692i by bringing the Garnishment Action in Maricopa County, where Plaintiff neither signed a contract sued upon nor resided at the commencement of the action. (Doc. 37 at 3–4.) Plaintiff also alleges that Defendants violated § 1692i by seeking post-judgment fees and costs in Maricopa County. (Id. at 4.)

Defendants argue that the Garnishment Action and request for post-judgment fees and costs are actions "against" Plaintiff's employer, and not Plaintiff herself, so § 1692i does not apply to the Garnishment Action or the request for post-judgment fees and costs. (Doc. 45 at 6–11.)

1. The Garnishment Action

The Court must first address whether the Garnishment Action was "against" Plaintiff as the judgment-debtor or "against" Plaintiff's employer as the garnishee. While the Ninth Circuit has not answered this specific question, it has considered if a garnishment action may be subject to § 1692i. See Fox v. Citicorp Credit Servs. Inc. , 15 F.3d 1507, 1511 (9th Cir. 1994).

a. Applicability of Fox

In Fox , the Ninth Circuit addressed the meaning of the term "legal action" within § 1692i. Id. It ultimately held that "[t]he plain meaning of the term ‘legal action’ encompasses all judicial proceedings, including those in enforcement of a previously-adjudicated right." Id. at 1515 (citation omitted). As a garnishment action is an enforcement action, the Ninth Circuit found that a garnishment action is a legal action under § 1692i. Id.

Yet, in Fox the Ninth Circuit did not answer the question of who a garnishment action is "against." See id. Plaintiff argues that " Fox , however, expressly considered the adversarial nature of a garnishment proceeding against the judgment-debtor and consumer," (Doc. 51 at 4), when discussing the burdens consumers face when "having to defend against suits in ‘distant or inconvenient’ courts," Fox , 15 F.3d at 1515 (citing S. Rep No. 95-382, at 5 (1977) ). While Fox did discuss the burdens consumers face when having to defend against a legal action in an inconvenient court, Fox discussed these burdens in the context of determining what a "legal action" was. Id. At no point did the discussion in Fox turn to whom a garnishment action is "against." See id.

Fox , in addition, is distinguishable from the case at bar. In Fox , the judgment-debtor did not have an opportunity to defend against the underlying action on their debt in a convenient venue because the debt collector had not filed the underlying action in the proper venue. Id. at 1510. Thus, in Fox , if the garnishment action had been allowed to proceed in an inconvenient venue, the judgment-debtor would have never had an opportunity to try their case in the proper venue. Here, it is undisputed that Plaintiff had the opportunity to try her underlying case in the proper venue of Pinal County. (See Doc. 51 at 2.) Therefore, Plaintiff was not "denied [her] day in court," and the same concerns held by the court in Fox do not apply to the case at bar. S. Rep. No. 95-382, at 5 (1977).

b. Other Circuits and the Federal Trade Commission

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