National Recovery Systems v. Ornstein, Civ. A. No. 80-1755.

• Decision Date: 03 June 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 80-1755.
• Citation: 541 F. Supp. 1131
• Parties: NATIONAL RECOVERY SYSTEMS v. Marvin ORNSTEIN.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

541 F. Supp. 1131

NATIONAL RECOVERY SYSTEMS v. Marvin ORNSTEIN.

Civ. A. No. 80-1755.

United States District Court, E. D. Pennsylvania.

June 3, 1982.

Melvin Rubin, Ardmore, Pa., for plaintiff.

Marvin Ornstein pro se.

MEMORANDUM

RAYMOND J. BRODERICK, District Judge.

Plaintiff National Recovery Systems (NRS), as the assignee of claims of the MGM Grand Hotel (MGM Grand) and Caesar's Palace (Caesar's) commenced this suit against pro se defendant Marvin Ornstein to recover the sum of $15,000 which the defendant borrowed from the MGM Grand and Caesar's. The case was tried before the Court on May 3, 1982. For the reasons set forth below, the Court has determined that the obligation is unenforceable and will enter judgment in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiff.

The basis for federal jurisdiction in this case is diversity. NRS is a New York corporation with its principle place of business in New York. NRS acts as a consultant to gambling casinos, in which capacity it, among other things, sets up procedures for gaming, casino credit and the collection of debts. NRS set up the credit and collection procedures for the MGM Grand and modified the procedures used by Caesar's. NRS acts as a consultant for both the MGM Grand and Caesar's. Mr. Ornstein is a citizen of Pennsylvania residing in Pipersville, Pennsylvania.

In October 1975, Marvin Ornstein, who was then residing in New Jersey, submitted a credit application to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. In January 1976, Mr. Ornstein also submitted a credit application to Caesar's. As a result of these applications, Mr. Ornstein received lines of credit, each in the amount of $10,000, from the MGM Grand and Caesar's. All sums advanced pursuant to the lines of credit were to be repaid within ninety (90) days. On numerous occasions between December 1975 and March 1977, Mr. Ornstein travelled to Nevada on "gambling junkets" and drew upon these lines of credit, using the money for gambling purposes. In each instance, Mr. Ornstein repaid the amount loaned within the 90 day period. However, in April 1977, Mr. Ornstein travelled to Caesar's in Nevada and borrowed from it amounts totalling $8,000.00. The money was advanced in the form of chips which Mr. Ornstein used for the purpose of gambling in Caesar's Casino. In exchange for the money received, Mr. Ornstein executed "counter-checks" or "markers" in the amount of the advance. These counter-checks are blank form checks which the borrower fills in with his name and the name of his bank, as well as the amount of the advance. In May, 1977, Mr. Ornstein repaid $3,000 to Caesar's, leaving an outstanding balance of $5,000. In November, 1977, Caesar's attempted to cash five counter-checks, each in the amount of $1,000 signed by Mr. Ornstein. The checks were returned to Caesar's by Mr. Ornstein's bank because Mr. Ornstein's account did not have sufficient funds to cover the checks. Mr. Ornstein has not repaid the $5,000 balance.

In June, 1977, Mr. Ornstein went to the MGM Grand in Nevada where he borrowed amounts totalling $10,000 over the course of three days. These amounts were also advanced in the form of gaming chips which Mr. Ornstein used to gamble in the MGM Grand's Casino. Mr. Ornstein executed ten counter-checks to the MGM Grand each in the amount of $1,000 and has not repaid any part of the $10,000.

On November 29, 1978, Grand Resorts, Inc. (the corporate name of the MGM Grand) assigned its claim for $10,000 against Mr. Ornstein to NRS. On that same day, Caesar's Palace assigned its claim for $5,000 to NRS. Each assignment provides in part:

NOW, THEREFORE, for valuable consideration receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the Assignor does hereby unconditionally and irrevocably sell, assign, transfer and set over to the Assignee all the right, title and interest of the Assignor in and to the indebtedness owing by the Debtor, together with the benefit of any and all security which the Assignor may be holding with respect to such indebtedness, and together with all interest due and to become due thereon.

When NRS was unsuccessful in its attempts to collect the debts, it instituted this action on May 7, 1980. At trial, Mr. Ornstein did not dispute the fact that he had borrowed and failed to repay the sums of $10,000 and $5,000 from the MGM Grand and Caesar's respectively and identified the signatures on the counter-checks evidencing the loans as his own. However, Mr. Ornstein contended: (1) that the amount of each debt standing alone was insufficient to satisfy the amount in controversy requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 1332 and that the claims were assigned to NRS for the purposes of invoking federal court jurisdiction; and, (2) that the loans were made for gambling purposes and that such loans are not enforceable under the law of the State of Nevada.

It is well settled that a single plaintiff in an action against a single defendant may aggregate all claims which can be joined under Rule 18 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in order to meet the amount in controversy requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 1332. 1 Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 0.97. Aggregation is permissible even where some or all of the claims have come to plaintiff by way of assignment, unless the purpose of the assignment was to invoke the jurisdiction of the federal court. 1 Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 0.771 at 947-50. The assignments in this case took place approximately one and a half years prior to the initiation of this action and the court finds that NRS is the sole owner of the claims and that the MGM Grand and Caesar's have relinquished all rights to the claims. There was no evidence that the purpose of the assignments was to invoke this Court's jurisdiction and, based upon the evidence at trial, the Court finds that the assignments were not made for such a purpose and that the Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

Having determined the existence of this Court's jurisdiction, we turn now to the question of the enforceability of the debt. In a diversity action, the conflict of law rules to be applied are those of the forum state. Melville v. American Home Assurance Company, 584 F.2d 1306 (3rd Cir. 1978). Pennsylvania conflicts law employs a combination of the "interest analysis" and the Restatement Second's grouping of contacts to determine which state's law shall be applied. Id. at 1313. Both parties agree that the law of Nevada governs the question of the enforceability of the debt in this action, and the Court finds no reason to disagree. See Steaks Unlimited, Inc. v. Deanes, 623 F.2d 264, 269-70 (3rd Cir. 1980). Although we will forgo a lengthy review of the laws and policies of the states involved, the facts admitted by the parties show conclusively that Nevada has the most significant relationship both in terms of contacts and policy interests as to the transactions. In particular, we find that Mr. Ornstein's credit application was prepared on forms supplied by the MGM Grand and Caesar's, was mailed by him to the MGM Grand and Caesar's in Nevada, the applications for credit were accepted in...