Brooks v. Sauceda
| Decision Date | 05 January 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ.A. 99-2396-KHV.,Civ.A. 99-2396-KHV. |
| Citation | 85 F.Supp.2d 1115 |
| Parties | James L. BROOKS, Plaintiff, v. Melinda SAUCEDA, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
James L. Brooks, Kansas City, KS, pro se.
Henry E. Couchman, Jr., City of Kansas City, Kansas Legal Dept., Kansas City, KS, for Defendants.
This matter comes before the Court on the Motion To Dismiss (Doc. # 8) filed October 7, 1999 by Melinda Sauceda, Delia M. York, and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas ("Unified Government").1 Defendants argue that plaintiff's complaint fails to state a claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). For reasons stated below, defendants' motion is sustained.
Motions To Dismiss Under Rule 12(b)(6)
In ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) the Court must assume as true all well pleaded facts in plaintiff's complaint and view them in a light most favorable to plaintiff. Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113, 118, 110 S.Ct. 975, 108 L.Ed.2d 100 (1990); see also Swanson v. Bixler, 750 F.2d 810, 813 (10th Cir.1984). The Court must make all reasonable inferences in favor of plaintiff. Zinermon, 494 U.S. at 118, 110 S.Ct. 975; see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a); Lafoy v. HMO Colorado, 988 F.2d 97, 98 (10th Cir.1993). The Court, however, need not accept as true those allegations that are conclusory in nature, i.e., which state legal conclusions rather than factual assertions. See Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir.1991). The issue in reviewing the sufficiency of plaintiff's complaint is not whether he will prevail, but whether he is entitled to offer evidence to support his claims. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). The Court may not dismiss a cause of action for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond a doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his theory of recovery that would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); see also Jacobs, Visconsi & Jacobs, Co. v. City of Lawrence, 927 F.2d 1111, 1115 (10th Cir.1991). Although plaintiff need not precisely state each element of his claims, he must plead minimal factual allegations on those material elements that must be proved. Hall, 935 F.2d at 1110.
The Unified Government has adopted a set of ordinances which govern rental properties. The first of these ordinances, Section 19-491, states
The purpose of this article is to protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the people of the City of Kansas City, Kansas in occupied dwellings by recognizing that the offering for rental of dwelling units is a business and classifying and regulating such rentals, as a rental housing business and further including as beneficial purposes:
(1) To protect the character and stability of residential areas;
(2) To correct and prevent housing conditions that adversely affect or are likely to adversely affect the life, safety, general welfare and health, including the physical, mental and social well-being of persons occupying dwellings;
(3) To enforce minimum standards for heating and sanitary equipment necessary for health and safety;
(4) To enforce minimum standards for light and ventilation, necessary for health and safety;
(5) To prevent the overcrowding of dwellings by enforcing minimum space standards per occupant for each dwelling unit;
(6) To enforce minimum standards for the maintenance of existing residential buildings, and to thus prevent slums and blight;
(7) To preserve the value of land and buildings throughout the city. [sic]
(8) To protect the public from increased criminal activity which tends to occur in residential areas which are unstable due to dwellings which are blighted or are substandard.
It is not the intention of the council to intrude upon contractual relationships between tenant and landlord....
Section 19-492 of the rental ordinances provides that
[n]o person shall allow to be occupied, or rent to another for occupancy, any rental dwelling unit unless the owner has first obtained a license or provisional license under the terms of this article.
Under Section 19-493, the rental ordinances "apply to all rental dwellings and dwelling units, including rented single-family dwellings and rented dwelling units in owner-occupied dwellings." Section 19-509 provides that the operation of a rental dwelling without a license, in violation of Section 19-492, is a misdemeanor.
Plaintiff owns properties at 1943 North 15th Street and 1309 North 28th Street in Kansas City, Kansas. From 1996 through 1999, Don Jamison, on behalf of plaintiff, paid a fee to the Unified Government and obtained a rental license for 1309 North 28th Street.
On May 26, 1999, the Unified Government sent plaintiff a letter which informed him that he needed a rental license for the property at 1943 North 15th Street. No renters or tenants live at the property, and the Unified Government had no factual basis for believing that it was a rental property. On June 3, 1999, plaintiff responded to the letter by asserting that the city ordinances were unconstitutional and that the Unified Government's records were wrong.2
On July 7, 1999, Melinda Sauceda, a building code inspector for the Unified Government, placed a green placard on a window at 1943 North 15th Street. The placard stated in relevant part:
NOTICE TO TENANTS OF RENTAL LICENSE NON-COMPLIANCE OR LICENSE DENIAL, NON-RENEWAL, REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION ... This Is to Notify You That the Above Property Fails to Meet One or More of the Rental Licensing Requirements Below.... THE TENANT/OCCUPANT WILL HAVE TO MOVE IF THE VIOLATION(S) ARE NOT CORRECTED OR AN APPEAL HAS NOT BEEN FILED WITHIN FIFTEEN (15) DAYS OF THIS POSTED NOTICE.
Sauceda marked the following boxes on the form: "Required License Fee Not Paid" and "Rental Dwelling Unit(s) Which Are In A Substandard Condition." Complaint (Doc. # 1), Ex. B.
Plaintiff did not appeal. Instead, on July 13, 1999, he returned the placard to Sauceda with a second letter. In the letter, plaintiff again stated that the rental ordinances were unlawful. Plaintiff did not assert that the property was not rental property or that it was not covered by the rental ordinances.
Ten days later, on July 23, 1999, Sauceda returned to 1943 North 15th Street and placed a bright orange placard on an outside window. The placard was addressed to the occupants of the property and stated:
FINAL DECISION
NO LICENSE
THE CITY OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS HAS DENIED, REVOKED OR SUSPENDED THE RENTAL LICENSE FOR THIS PROPERTY. YOU ARE ORDERED TO MOVE BY August 26, 1999. YOUR LANDLORD HAS FAILED TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE KANSAS CITY, KANSAS RENTAL LICENSING ORDINANCE #66057 AND # 66101.
Complaint (Doc. # 8), Ex. C.3
On July 28, 1999, Delia M. York, an attorney for the Unified Government, sent plaintiff a letter which responded to his two letters. York stated that the Unified Government believed that the ordinances were valid, relying on an unpublished case from the Kansas Court of Appeals. York also stated that defendants had reason to believe that 1943 North 15th Street was a rental property.
On August 7, 1999, plaintiff sent a letter to Sauceda and Carol Marinovich, mayor of the Unified Government. Plaintiff again challenged the legality of the defendants' actions but did not assert that his property was not a residential rental dwelling. Plaintiff stated that he would file a civil rights lawsuit against defendants if they did not remove the orange placard within 10 days of receipt of his letter. Defendants did not remove the placard, and in fact they are still attempting to influence the occupants of 1943 North 15th Street to force plaintiff to get a rental license.
Plaintiff brings various federal claims against defendants. Plaintiff alleges (1) that rental ordinances 19-491 and 19-492 violate his property rights under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1985 and constitute bills of attainder;4 (2) that Sauceda violated his Fourth Amendment rights by attempting to seize his property and deprive him of it without a warrant; (3) that Sauceda and York deprived him of due process by seizing or attempting to seize his property without a court action or judgment; (4) that the Unified Government was aware of a conspiracy to commit fraud, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1986; (5) that Jane Roe violated his rights by working with the government defendants in order to gain control of his property; and (6) that defendants violated 42 U.S.C. § 1982 each year that plaintiff obtained a rental license from the Unified Government for his property at 1309 North 28th Street.5
Plaintiff further brings state law claims under the Kansas home rule provision, Article 12, § 5 of the Kansas Constitution, and many sections of the Kansas Bill of Rights, including Section 1 (equal protection), Section 6 (prohibition of slavery), Section 12 (), Section 15 (), Section 17 () and Section 20 (). Plaintiff also brings claims under Kansas criminal statutes, including K.S.A. §§ 21-3205 (), 21-3206 (criminal responsibility of corporations), 21-3207 (individual liability for corporate crime), 21-3301 (attempt), 21-3302 (conspiracy) and 21-3705 (criminal deprivation of property).
Defendants first argue that plaintiff fails to state claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, 1985 and 1986 because he does not allege discrimination. Plaintiff agrees that he is white and that he does not allege that defendants discriminated against him. See Reply To Defendants' Motion To Dismiss (Doc. # 21) at 5. Plaintiff contends...
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