United States District Court, D. Connecticut
JOANNE M. WILLIAMS, individually and as trustee for the ESTATE OF FREDERICK B. WILLIAMS, SR., Plaintiff,
v.
COUNTRYWIDE BANK, et al., Defendants.
RULING AND ORDER ON MOTION TO AMEND
VICTOR
A. BOLDEN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
On
December 9, 2018, Joanne Williams, individually and as
trustee for the estate of her late father, Frederick B.
Williams, Sr. (“Plaintiffs”), filed suit against:
(1) Countrywide Bank, FSB and Countrywide Bank, N.A. (d/b/a
Bank of America, N.A.) and Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.
(d/b/a Bank of America Home Loans; together with Countrywide
Bank, FSB and Countrywide Bank, N.A., “Countrywide
Defendants”); (2) BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P. FKA
Countrywide Home Loans Servicing, L.P., BAC Home Loans
Servicing, L.P. (d/b/a Bank of America Home Loans), Bank of
America, N.A. (aka Countrywide Bank, N.A.) and Bank of
America Corporation (together with BAC Home Loans Servicing,
L.P. FKA Countrywide Home Loans Servicing, L.P., BAC Home
Loans Servicing, L.P., and Bank of America, N.A., “Bank
of America Defendants”); (3) Nationstar Mortgage, LLC;
(4) Caliber Home Loans, Inc. (d/b/a Caliber Home Loans and
Caliber Home Loans Servicing, “Caliber”); and (5)
U.S. Bank Trust, N.A., as Trustee for LSF9 Master
Participation Trust. Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶¶ 3-11.
Plaintiffs
allege that Countrywide Defendants and Bank of America
Defendants committed fraud and violated the Connecticut
Unfair Trade Practices Act (“CUTPA”), Conn. Gen.
Stat. § 42-110a et seq. Compl., Counts I and
VII. Plaintiffs allege, separately, that Nationstar Mortgage,
LLC and Caliber committed fraud and violated CUTPA. Compl.,
Counts II and VIII. Plaintiffs sue all Defendants for
conversion, common law and statutory replevin, Conn. Gen.
Stat. § 52-575, unjust enrichment, violation of the Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692 et
seq., and violation of the Connecticut Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 36a-646
et seq. Compl., Counts III, IV, V, VI, IX, and X.
On
March 14, 2018, Plaintiffs moved to amend the Complaint. Mot.
to Leave to Amend Compl. (to Alleged Specific Date in Para.
26) (“Mot. Amend.”), ECF No. 34.
On
April 2, 2019, Caliber objected to Plaintiffs' motion to
amend. Def. Caliber Home Loans, Inc.'s Obj. to Pls.'
Mot. to Amend the Compl. (“Caliber Obj.”), ECF
No. 37.
For the
reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS
Plaintiffs' motion to amend, ECF No. 34.
As a
result, the Court DENIES without prejudice
to renewal all pending motions to dismiss, ECF Nos. 28, 29,
and 30, and GRANTS Plaintiffs' motions
for extension of time to respond or reply, ECF Nos. 35 and
36. The Court sets a response deadline of 21 days after the
filing of any renewed motion to dismiss. D. Conn. L. Civ. R.
7(a)(2).
I.
RELEVANT FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A.
Factual Background[1]
On or
about November 5, 2004, Ms. Williams' father (“Mr.
Williams”) allegedly died in a house fire at their
residence in Plainville, Connecticut. Compl. at ¶ 2. As
a result of the fire, almost all of Mr. Williams'
documents and records were allegedly burned or lost.
Id. at ¶ 3.
Mr.
Williams' house was allegedly secured by a non-assumable
mortgage of $137, 400.00. Id. at ¶ 4.
Mr.
Williams' estate allegedly filed a claim with AIG
Colonial Penn. Id. at ¶ 5. In June of 2005, AIG
Colonial Penn allegedly issued a check to the estate in the
amount of $130, 797.59. Id. at ¶ 5. In June of
2006, AIG allegedly issued a check to the contractors
rebuilding the Williams' house in the amount of $66,
783.00. Id. at ¶¶ 5-6.
During
the reconstruction of the house, Countrywide Home Loans
allegedly called Ms. Williams and told her: “If you
don't assume your father's mortgage, reconstruction
would STOP.” Id. at ¶ 7. At that time,
Countrywide Home Loans allegedly knew that the statement was
false. Id. at ¶ 8. Ms. Williams allegedly
relied on the statement and paid $100.00 as consideration to
assume her father's mortgage. Id. at ¶ 9.
Defendants allegedly knew but did not tell Ms. Williams that
the mortgage was paid off. Id. at ¶ 9.
Ms.
Williams allegedly made mortgage payments for more than a
year. Id. at ¶ 10. She then allegedly went to
Webster Bank to refinance the home in the amount of $237,
000.00. Id. at ¶ 10. Bank of America, N.A. (aka
Countrywide Bank, FSB) allegedly confirmed receipt of the
payoff via confirmation letter stating “PAID IN
FULL.” Id. at ¶ 11.
On
October 30, 2006, Ms. Williams was allegedly told that her
new loan was transferred from Webster Bank to ...