Johnson v. United States
| Decision Date | 19 December 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. 12-40404,12-40404 |
| Parties | BENJIE F. JOHNSON; DERWIN O. JOHNSON, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, Defendants-Appellees |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Summary Calendar
Before KING, CLEMENT, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges.
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In 2010, Benjie and Derwin Johnson filed a lawsuit against multiple defendants for allegedly unlawful acts committed against them in connection with attempts to evict them from a government-subsidized housing complex. Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), the United States and the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department ofHousing and Urban Development—along with other governmental entities also named as defendants—moved to dismiss the claims advanced against them. The district court granted the motion and the Johnsons now appeal. For the reasons discussed below, we AFFIRM.
In August 2007, Benjie and Derwin Johnson ("Appellants" or "the Johnsons") applied for federally-assisted housing at Pineview Apartments ("Pineview") in Jasper, Texas. Benjie Johnson completed and signed Pineview's "Application for Rental" and listed himself as "Head of Household."1 The only income disclosed on the application was "SSI," supplemental security income. In response to the question "[h]ave any criminal charges or complaints ever been filed against you for actions against people or property," Benjie Johnson marked "no" on the application.
As a privately owned and for-profit housing project, Pineview received payments from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") for providing housing to eligible low-income tenants. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(a). In May 2008, Pineview initiated eviction proceedings against Appellants by reporting to HUD that Appellants had not complied with Pineview and HUD requirements for obtaining subsidized housing. HUD referred the matter to its Office of Inspector General ("HUD-OIG"), which assigned the case to special agent Louis Chang. During the course of its investigation, HUD-OIG determined that Benjie Johnson failed to disclose on his rental application two prior felony convictions, as well as an additional source of income beyond SSI. Accordingly, HUD-OIG recommended to Pineview that it consider terminating Appellants' housing assistance.
The results of the HUD-OIG investigation also were provided to the local district attorney's office. On the basis of HUD-OIG's report, Benjie Johnson subsequently was arrested pursuant to a warrant issued by the Texas Department of Corrections Parole Division, which asserted that Benjie had violated the terms, rules, or conditions of his parole by securing the execution of his rental application by deception. Although a grand jury returned an indictment against Benjie Johnson, the case later was dismissed at the district attorney's behest.
On July 6, 2010, Appellants filed a lawsuit against multiple defendants, which, for the sake of convenience, may be grouped into two categories: the first included the United States, HUD's Secretary, HUD-OIG, and Louis Chang (collectively, the "Governmental Defendants"); the second included persons and entities associated with Pineview (collectively, the "Pineview Defendants").2 Generally, Appellants' claims centered on allegations that the defendants engaged in practices that violated HUD policies, which led to the unlawful denial of Appellants' housing subsidy, and the wrongful arrest, imprisonment, and indictment of Benjie Johnson. After extensive motion practice, the Governmental Defendants moved for dismissal of all claims against them pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). The district court granted the motion on August 11, 2011.
The Johnsons now appeal, alleging only that the district court erred in dismissing the United States and HUD-OIG from the lawsuit.3 Accordingly, our review is limited to claims dismissed against those two defendants.
We review de novo a district court's dismissal of a complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1). Boudreau v. United States, 53 F.3d 81, 82 (5th Cir. 1995). "A court may base its disposition of a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on (1) the complaint alone; (2) the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts; or (3) the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts plus the court's resolution of disputed facts." Robinson v. TCI/US W. Commc'ns Inc., 117 F.3d 900, 904 (5th Cir. 1997). "The burden of proof for a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss is on the party asserting jurisdiction." Ramming v. United States, 281 F.3d 158, 161 (5th Cir. 2001) (per curiam).
We also "review de novo a district court's dismissal of a complaint under Rule 12(b)(6)." Frame v. City of Arlington, 657 F.3d 215, 222 (5th Cir. 2011) (en banc). "To survive a motion to dismiss, 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 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). "All well-pleaded facts in the complaint are accepted as true and viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant." Bass v. Stryker Corp., 669 F.3d 501, 506 (5th Cir. 2012).
In their third amended complaint, Appellants asserted the following causes of action: (1) violation of 12 U.S.C. § 1715z-1b(b)(2) ("claim one"); (2) attempted wrongful eviction ("claim two"); (3) slander ("claim three"); (4) breach of contract ("claim four"); (5) defamation and disparagement ("claim five"); (6) civil conspiracy ("claim six"); (7) violation of the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") ("claim seven"); (8) claims pursuant to the Declaratory Judgment Act("claim eight"); (9) a Bivens claim against Louis Chang ("claim nine");4 (10) violation of due process ("claim ten"); (11) violation of the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment ("claim eleven"); and (12) false imprisonment under Texas law ("claim twelve"). In addressing the Governmental Defendants' motion to dismiss, the district court noted that, although Appellants' complaint was "not a model of clarity," the complaint and Appellants' subsequent pleadings evidenced that Appellants advanced: (1) claims two through six against the Pineview Defendants; (2) claims one, seven, and eight against certain of the Governmental Defendants, including HUD-OIG, but excluding Louis Chang; and (3) claims nine through twelve against Louis Chang.5 The district court also emphasized, however, that it previously had granted the Governmental Defendants' motion to substitute the United States for Louis Chang as to claim twelve.
Accordingly, because Appellants only appeal the district court's judgment as it pertains to the United States and HUD-OIG, our review is limited to the district court's dismissal of claims one, seven, and eight—as those claims were brought expressly against HUD-OIG—and claim twelve, which was advanced against the United States by virtue of its substitution for Louis Chang.
These claims may briefly be summarized as follows. In claim one, Appellants allege that HUD-OIG acted in concert with the Pineview Defendants "to wrongfully evict, imprison, and withhold rent subsidies properly due under [their] Section 8 housing agreement" and actually "assisted in the removal and withholding of [Appellants'] subsidies." The complaint states that these actions violated 12 U.S.C. § 1715z-1b(b)(2), which provides that the Secretary of HUD "shall assure that . . . project owners not interfere with the efforts of tenants to obtain rent subsidies or other public assistance." In claim seven, Appellants assert that HUD-OIG violated the APA by "engag[ing] in acts or omissions which were arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law." Appellants' eighth claim maintains that HUD-OIG wrongfully prohibited Appellants "from receiving rent subsidies they are rightfully entitled to collect." Appellants therefore seek relief under the Declaratory Judgment Act that would require HUD-OIG to approve and pay future rent subsidies on Appellants' behalf and prevent their future eviction. Finally, claim twelve alleges that Chang's actions caused Benjie Johnson's false imprisonment.
The district court granted the Governmental Defendants' motion for dismissal of these claims. The court's order expressly stated that claims one and seven were dismissed "on sovereign immunity grounds," claim eight was "dismissed for lack of jurisdiction," and claim twelve was dismissed because Appellants specifically stated they did not allege the claim against the United States, but only against Louis Chang, who already had been dismissed from the claim by virtue of the United States' substitution.
On appeal, the Johnsons assign several errors to the district court. First, they assert that the court erred in dismissing claim one on sovereign immunity grounds because, they contend, they established a waiver of immunity for claims brought pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1715z-1b(b)(2). Second, Appellants maintain that the court improperly dismissed claim seven, advanced under the APA,because they pleaded non-monetary relief and established a waiver of sovereign immunity. Third, they allege that the district court erred in dismissing claim eight, pursued under the Declaratory Judgment Act, because they established jurisdiction for their claim. Fourth, Appellants suggest that claim twelve should not have been dismissed because, contrary to the lower court's conclusion, the United States was a named defendant in connection with that claim. Finally, they maintain that the...
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