Lundahl v. Roberts

• Decision Date: 05 February 2019
• Docket Number: No. A-17-1191.,A-17-1191.
• Parties: LOGAN LUNDAHL AND HOLLI TELFORD, APPELLANTS, v. BURTIS L. ROBERTS ET AL., APPELLEES.
• Court: Nebraska Court of Appeals

LOGAN LUNDAHL AND HOLLI TELFORD, APPELLANTS, v. BURTIS L. ROBERTS ET AL., APPELLEES.

No. A-17-1191.

NEBRASKA COURT OF APPEALS

February 5, 2019

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT ON APPEAL

(Memorandum Web Opinion)

NOTICE: THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PERMANENT PUBLICATION AND MAY NOT BE CITED EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY NEB. CT. R. APP. P. § 2-102(E).

Appeal from the District Court for Dawes County: TRAVIS P. O'GORMAN, Judge. Affirmed as modified.

Logan Lundahl and Holli Telford, appellants pro se.

Joe W. Stecher, of Skavdahl, Edmund & Stecher, for appellees.

MOORE, Chief Judge, and RIEDMANN and WELCH, Judges.

MOORE, Chief Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Logan Lundahl and Holli Telford (collectively the Appellants) filed a complaint in the district court for Dawes County naming Burtis L. Roberts, Teresa Roberts, Burtis and Teresa as trustees of "the Family Trust," and Star Valley Storage, LLC (collectively the storage defendants), as well as Progressive Insurance Corporation and "[Does] Progressive Insurance employees," as defendants. The court granted a motion by the storage defendants and dismissed the case with prejudice. The court subsequently denied the Appellants' motion to alter or amend, and they perfected their appeal to this court. Because we find that the district court properly dismissed the action under the doctrine of forum non conveniens, we affirm the decision, as modified below.

BACKGROUND

COMPLAINT

On July 20, 2017, the Appellants filed a pro se complaint in the district court, alleging violations of several federal acts: the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Electronic Fund Transfers Act (EFTA). They also alleged state claims for replevin and return, wrongful conversion and trespass to chattel, invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and indemnification for personal injury. We discuss only those specific allegations of the Appellants' various claims as necessary to resolution of this appeal in the analysis section below. The complaint includes numerous footnotes and attached exhibits. It also includes a verification section, signed by Telford and Lundahl and notarized by "Marti Telford." We note that "Marti Telford" is a name associated with "Holli Telford" in other litigation. See Lundahl v. Nar Inc., 434 F. Supp. 2d 855, 860 n.2 (D. Idaho 2006) ("[p]laintiff has employed numerous aliases in her past litigation, including but not limited to, H.M. Telford, M.H. Telford, Marti Telford, Holli Lundahl, H. Lundahl, H.T. Lundahl, Marti Lundahl, and Holly Mattie Telford").

In the "PERSONAL JURISDICTION" section of their complaint, the Appellants alleged that "[p]ersonal jurisdiction and venue exists in the state of Nebraska under RICO's nationwide contacts analysis under the 5^th amendment due process clause" and because the storage defendants, alleged to be Wyoming residents, and the Progressive defendants, alleged to be "residents of the state of Nebraska under the doing business clause," "conspired to deprive plaintiff residents of their assets in the state of Nebraska thereby placing the focus of the conspiracy in this state." The Appellants also stated, "Furthermore 18 USC section 1965(a),[ ](b) and (d) provide for jurisdiction in this state."

We summarize the lengthy allegations in the "GENERAL ALLEGATIONS" section of the Appellants' complaint, beginning with the allegation that in October 2013, Telford entered into a contract with the storage defendants for rental of space in a parking lot at a location in Wyoming where she stored a motor home filled with "records and electronic devices." Apparently, the storage space was remote and inaccessible during winter except by foot and the storage defendants would only accept payment via check. The Appellants alleged that the rent checks, due every 6 months, were negotiated successfully until October 2016, at which time "the storage defendants intentionally withheld cashing [a rent check] so they could steal [the Appellants'] personal and legal properties . . . pursuant to a conspiracy with the [P]rogressive . . . defendants to destroy evidence." According to the Appellants' complaint, items stored in the motor home included "recordings of insurance contracts made over the phone" concerning a motorcycle insurance policy held by Lundahl.

With respect to an insurance coverage dispute between Lundahl and Progressive, the Appellants alleged that Lundahl entered into a contract with Progressive for certain insurance coverage, Lundahl recorded those conversations, Lundahl agreed that Progressive could automatically withdraw premium payments from his bank account, Lundahl provided his bank account and routing number to authorize these transfers, and Progressive withdrew monthly premiums from Lundahl's bank account pursuant to this arrangement. The Appellants alleged thatLundahl was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in California in October 2015, Lundahl received $15,000, the "full policy limits" of the "minimal coverage" carried by the other driver involved in the accident, and Progressive resisted providing further coverage. The Appellants alleged that Progressive had "bait switched" Lundahl's insurance policy for one providing lower coverage at the end of January 2015 while "still charging [Lundahl] the same insurance premiums and withdrawing those premiums from [his] bank account."

The Appellants next alleged that Progressive agreed to settle Lundahl's demands for particular coverage if he would meet Progressive's adjuster at the storage facility in Wyoming and allow the adjuster to hear Lundahl's audio recordings of conversations with Progressive concerning "policy terms and authorized withdrawals." The Appellants alleged that Lundahl provided Progressive with the address of the Wyoming storage facility and that since Lundahl was non-ambulatory following his accident, he instructed Progressive to have the adjustor meet Telford there on September 21, 2016, so that Telford could "take the adjuster to the storage space and play the audios for the adjuster's benefit, and after which [Progressive] was to settle within the policy limits as promised." According to the Appellants, the adjuster never met Telford as arranged, and Lundahl subsequently called Progressive to complain about the failure to dispatch an adjuster and "to settle in good faith." The Appellants then set forth various allegations about Lundahl's contacts with Progressive, funds that were transferred from his bank account for the insurance policy that Progressive "fraudulently denied was in place 11 months after the accident took place - due to Progressive's fraudulent bait and switch scheme," and the financial losses allegedly suffered by Lundahl.

Next, the Appellants set forth the details of a rental and property dispute with the storage defendants. They alleged that Telford made payment to the storage defendants for the rent period from October 1, 2016, through April 30, 2017. They also alleged that Telford sent change of address notices to the storage defendants, ultimately indicating a change of address from Wyoming to Nebraska, and that in the process of attempting to locate an operational telephone number for the storage defendants, Telford made contact with Teresa. The Appellants alleged that Teresa "announced that she had repossessed [the] motor home for alleged failure to tender the October 2016 to April 2017 $84 rent payment." The Appellants further alleged that Teresa also informed Telford that she had paid a lock smith to break into the motor home, moved the motor home from the parking lot to "a secured location," conducted "a search and seizure of all of [the] personal records, computers, and electronic devices and removed them from the motor home to an undisclosed location," and had "conducted a repossession" of this property for nonpayment of rent. The Appellants then detailed further contacts between Teresa and Telford with respect to the rental payment/property dispute, including their allegation that during the "repeated arguments" between Telford and Teresa, Telford accused Teresa of conspiring with Progressive "to steal [the Appellants'] recording evidence against [Progressive] to obstruct [Lundahl's] claims against [Progressive] and [Telford's] claims against [Wells Fargo] in a case pending in Nebraska."

Finally, the Appellants set forth allegations, attempting to connect the insurance and rental/property disputes. They alleged that the Progressive adjuster who was supposed to meet Lundahl at the Wyoming storage facility in September 2016, "intentionally did not show up at that storage facility on this date because had had [sic] already conspired with Teresa to steal and spoil[the Appellants'] evidence properties to prevents [sic] its use in [Lundahl's] multi million [dollar] case against [Progressive]." The Appellants also alleged that since "[Wells Fargo] is the storage defendants['] personal and business bank . . . [the Appellants'] properties were also stolen in violation of the H[obbs A]ct 18 USC 1951, remedial under RICO, to obstruct [Telford's] proof of claims against [Wells Fargo] bank pending in the state of Nebraska before the . . . Scottsbluff District Court." The Appellants alleged that Telford learned that the storage defendants reported her delinquent on her storage bill "to justify the wrongful conversion of [the Appellants'] properties," that she made demands to remove the "derogatory user credit report," which the storage defendants failed to do, and that Lundahl learned after he pulled a private credit report, that Progressive had made "numerous hard pull towards [Telford's] credit without consent", making both sets of defendants liable under the FCRA.

In their request for recovery, the Appellants sought (1) compensatory and general damages allowed by law for all of their tort claim; (2) treble damages against Progressive of $3,750,000, treble...