United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
Mona
K. Majzoub Judge
OPINION AND ORDER ADOPTING IN PART REPORT AND
RECOMMENDATION [38], GRANTING IN PART TROTT LAW’S
MOTION TO DISMISS [15], GRANTING IN PART DAVID TROTT’S
MOTION TO DISMISS [16], AND SUSTAINING IN PART
PLAINTIFF’S OBJECTIONS [39]
LAURIE
J. MICHELSON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff
Alireza Parsad filed this pro se lawsuit against Defendants
Trott Law P.C. (Trott Law) and David A. Trott for violations
of Michigan law in connection with the 2009 foreclosure of a
home he bought for his parents in Kentwood, Michigan. (ECF
No. 1.) The case was referred to Magistrate Judge Mona K.
Majzoub for all pretrial matters. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 636(b)(1). She issued a Report and Recommendation to
grant Trott Law and David Trott’s motions to dismiss
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to
state a claim upon which relief can be granted (ECF No. 38)
and to dismiss the matter in its entirety. Parsad makes ten
objections to the Report & Recommendation. (ECF No. 39).
While
the Court appreciates the Magistrate Judge’s thorough
consideration of the issues presented in the motions and
agrees with most of the analysis, the Court respectfully
disagrees with one aspect of the recommended disposition. So
the Court will adopt in part the recommendation of the
Magistrate Judge, grant Trott Law’s motion to dismiss
on Counts I, II, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, and XI, grant David
Trott’s motion to dismiss on Count I, and sustain
Parsad’s objections as to Count III for the reasons
stated below.
I.
The
claims asserted by Parsad in his complaint relate to the 2009
foreclosure of a home he bought for his parents in Kentwood,
Michigan, after he stopped making mortgage payments to his
mortgage holder, Bank of America. (ECF No. 1, PageID.2.) On
September 14, 2009, Trott Law sent two letters to Parsad
advising him that his mortgage had been referred for
foreclosure and that the debt would be assumed valid unless
he disputed its validity within thirty days. (ECF No. 1,
PageID.4.) On September 30, 2009, Trott Law published in the
Grand Rapids Legal News a notice pursuant to
Michigan Compiled Laws § 600.3205 stating that Parsad
had the right to request a meeting with his mortgage holder,
which would delay foreclosure proceedings. (ECF No. 1,
PageID.66.) On December 23, 2009, the deed to the home was
conveyed to BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P. (BAC) through a
sheriff’s sale. (ECF No. 1, PageID.44.) In January
2010, the locks to the house were changed. (ECF No.1, Page
ID.48.) In March 2011, Parsad communicated to Trott Law that
he had several causes of action against its client, Bank of
America. (ECF No. 1, PageID.58.) Mirela Albu, an attorney at
Trott Law, wrote to Parsad in April 2011 that BAC had deeded
its interest in the home to Fannie Mae. (ECF No. 1,
PageID.63–64.) Parsad responded, threatening to file
suit soon “against any party whom I reasonably believe
has done me harm.” (ECF No. 1, PageID.64.) It appears
that Parsad did not file any suit until he learned of a class
action against Trott Law seven years later. (ECF No. 1,
PageID.11.) Parsad opted out of the proposed class settlement
on August 28, 2018 and filed this action on September 13,
2018. (ECF No. 1, PageID.71.)
Parsad
filed this complaint against Defendants Trott Law and David
Trott, the owner and President of Trott Law. (ECF No. 1,
PageID.1.) On October 11, 2018, Trott Law and David Trott
each filed motions to dismiss. (ECF No.15; ECF No. 16.) In
November 2018, Parsad stipulated to dismiss Count IV against
both parties and Counts II, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, and XI
against David Trott. (ECF No. 17; ECF No. 22.) Magistrate
Judge Majzoub addressed the remaining counts against each
party in her Report and Recommendation, recommending
dismissal of all counts. (ECF No.38.)
II.
This
Court performs a de novo review of those portions of
the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation to
which Parsad has objected. See 28 U.S.C. §
636(b); United States v. Curtis, 237 F.3d 598, 603
(6th Cir. 2001). The Court need not and does not perform a
de novo review of the report’s unobjected-to
findings. Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 150 (1985);
Garrison v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, No. 10-13990,
2012 WL 1278044, at *8 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 16, 2012).
In
deciding a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Procedure
12(b)(6), the Court “construes the complaint in the
light most favorable to the plaintiff, accepts the
plaintiff’s factual allegations as true, and determines
whether the complaint ‘contain[s] sufficient factual
matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is
plausible on its face.’” Heinrich v. Waiting
Angels Adoption Servs., Inc., 668 F.3d 393, 403 (6th
Cir. 2012) (alteration in original) (quoting Ashcroft v.
Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)). A facially plausible
claim to relief means “the plaintiff pleads factual
content that allows the court to draw the reasonable
inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct
alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (citing
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556
(2007)). The plausibility standard “asks for more than
a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted
unlawfully” but is not akin to a probability
requirement. Id. Finally, “[t]he plausibility
of an inference depends on a host of considerations,
including common sense and the strength of competing
explanations for the defendant’s conduct.”
16630 Southfield Ltd., P'Ship v. Flagstar Bank,
F.S.B., 727 F.3d 502, 503 (6th Cir. 2013).
III.
The
Court first addresses Defendants’ statue-of-limitations
arguments, then turns to the issue of diversity jurisdiction.
A.
Parsad
filed suit in 2018 over events that occurred in 2009 through
2011. So in their motions to dismiss, Trott Law and David
Trott argue that all claims other than Count III are barred
by statutes of limitations. (ECF No. 15, PageID.107.) Parsad
counters that the statutes of limitations for these counts
had been tolled by the filing of a class action against Trott
Law, or, in the alternative, under Michigan’s
fraudulent concealment statute. (ECF No. 20, PageID.293.) ...