United States District Court, D. Colorado
ORDER AFFIRMING THE DECEMBER 12, 2018 RECOMMENDATION
OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE AND GRANTING MOTIONS TO
DISMISS
CHRISTINE M. ARGUELLO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
The
matter is before the Court upon the December 12, 2018
Recommendation by United States Magistrate Judge N. Reid
Neureiter that this Court grant Defendants' Motions to
Dismiss (Doc. ## 23, 31). (Doc. # 67.) The Court finds
Plaintiff Reed K. McDonald's Objection to the
Recommendation (Doc. # 77) to be unpersuasive for the reasons
described herein and overrules it. The Court affirms and
adopts Magistrate Judge Neureiter's Recommendation and
grants Defendants Eagle County's and Bellco Credit
Union's (“Defendant Bellco”) Motions to
Dismiss.
I.
BACKGROUND
This
action arises out of two unrelated state court cases. (Doc. #
67 at 2.)
A.
CLAIMS RELATED TO THE LITIGATION IN EAGLE COUNTY
First,
in September 2009, Plaintiff brought suit in the District
Court for Eagle County, Colorado, against third party Zions
First National Bank (“Zions Bank”) for issues
related to a loan Zions Bank previously made to Plaintiff
(the “Litigation in Eagle County”). (Doc. #
31-3.) Plaintiff claimed that Zions Bank “breached the
contract-a loan agreement-by failing to advance requested
draws” and that it “breached the duty of good
faith and fair dealing in the same manner.”
See (Doc. # 31-1 at 4.) Zions Bank asserted a
counterclaim for a deficiency judgment against Plaintiff.
See (id.) The Eagle County District Court
dismissed Plaintiff's claims against Zions Bank on
summary judgment on March 3, 2011 (id. at 5), and
Zions Bank voluntary dismissed its counterclaim against
Plaintiff on March 18, 2011, see (Doc. # 31-3 at 13;
Doc. # 1-1 at 1). The Eagle County District Court awarded
Zions Bank attorneys' fees and costs in the amount of
$102, 267.75 on April 7, 2011.[1] (Doc. # 31-3 at 12; Doc. # 31-2
at 2).
Plaintiff
subsequently appealed the Eagle County District Court's
decision to summarily dismiss his claims and terminate the
case to the Colorado Court of Appeals. On or about November
2, 2011, the Court of Appeals rejected the appeal on the
ground that because the Eagle County District Court dismissed
Zions Bank's counterclaim without prejudice, “an
appealable order [had] not been entered” by the Eagle
County District Court. (Doc. # 1-1 at 3-4.) The Court of
Appeals noted as an aside that “it [did] not appear
that the pro se plaintiff [Plaintiff] was ever
properly served with the Orders of the district court . . .
If this Court had found that a final and appealable order had
been entered, it would have found that the time for filing an
appeal had not started to run because there is no evidence
that Plaintiff was served with a copy of the district
court's orders.” (Id.) Approximately a
year later, the Eagle County District Court issued a writ of
garnishment on Plaintiff's account with Defendant Bellco.
See (Doc. # 31-3 at 7.)
In the
action presently before this Court, Plaintiff asserts that
the Colorado Court of Appeals ordered Defendant Eagle County
in its November 2, 2011 Order “to restore ‘due
process' and ‘equal protection of the law' in
its proceedings” but that Defendant Eagle County
“knowingly refused to obey” the Court of
Appeal's order. (Doc. # 14 at 1- 2.) Plaintiff raises the
following claims against Defendant Eagle County, all of which
arise out of the outcome of the Litigation in Eagle County:
(1) a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating his
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by “fail[ing] its
obligation to obey the Court of Appeals Order [to provide]
due process and equal protection” and by
“refusing to conclude the [Litigation in Eagle
County];” (2) a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for
violating his Fourth Amendment rights by “knowingly
fil[ing] and issu[ing] [a] writ allowing [Zions Bank] to
seize Plaintiff's bank accounts to financially prevent
[him] from pursuing his civil case;” (3) a claim under
42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating “the United States
Constitution” by “knowingly and improperly
refus[ing] under color of state law to allow Plaintiff to
present his case against [Zions Bank];” and (4) a claim
under 42 U.S.C. § 1985 for conspiring with the Clerk of
the Court for the District Court of Eagle County and with
Zions Bank to violate his civil rights. (Id. at
17-22.)
B.
CLAIMS RELATED TO LITIGATION IN ARAPAHOE COUNTY
Second,
in a completely unrelated proceeding, Defendant Bellco
initiated a collection action on December 14, 2016, against
Plaintiff in the District Court for the County of Arapahoe,
Colorado, for failure to make payments on a car loan (the
“Litigation in Arapahoe County”). (Doc. # 67 at
3; Doc. # 31 at 3.) Plaintiff asserted several counterclaims
against Defendant Bellco, including claims under the federal
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692,
et seq. (the “federal FDCPA”) and the
Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Colo. Rev. Stat.
§ 15-16-101, et seq. (the “Colorado
FDCPA”). (Doc. # 31-4 at 21-30.) Plaintiff also
attempted to join Defendant Eagle County as a third-party
defendant in the Litigation in Arapahoe County, alleging that
the Litigation in Arapahoe County was related to the prior
Litigation in Eagle County because of the garnishments
entered in the latter. (Id.) The Arapahoe County
District Court dismissed all of Plaintiff's counterclaims
against Defendant Bellco and Defendant Eagle County on
September 7, 2017, leaving only Defendant Bellco's
original collections claim. (Doc. # 31-5.)
Defendant
Bellco moved for summary judgment in the Litigation in
Arapahoe County on December 27, 2017. (Doc. # 31 at 4.)
On
January 12, 2018, Plaintiff filed this action against
Defendant Eagle County alone. (Doc. # 1.) On January 24,
2018, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Removal with this Court to
remove the Litigation in Arapahoe County, asserting that the
Litigation in Arapahoe County was “intertwined”
with his case against Defendant Eagle County before this
Court. (Doc. # 6.)
In the
Litigation in Arapahoe County, Plaintiff then contended that
the Arapahoe County District Court no longer had
jurisdiction. (Doc. # 31-6 at 1.)
On
March 8, 2018, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint in this
action, adding Defendant Bellco as a defendant. (Doc. # 14.)
Plaintiff argues that “Bellco's case is intertwined
with Eagle Counties [sic] misconduct.” (Id. at
2.) He asserts four causes of action against Defendant
Bellco: (1) violation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights by
refusing to dismiss its civil action and by
“conspir[ing] with state court to prosecute a civil
action out-of-time in violation of Colorado's statute of
limitations;” (2) violation of the federal FDCPA; (3)
violation of the Colorado FDCPA; and (4) violation of his
First Amendment rights to privacy “by trespassing his
gated property to illegally search and seize Plaintiff's
personal property.” (Id. at 22-27.)
On
March 14, 2018, the Arapahoe County District Court granted
summary judgment in favor of Defendant Bellco and entered
judgment in its favor in the amount of $14, 664.09 in the
Litigation in Arapahoe County. (Doc. # 31-7.) Plaintiff is
appealing the judgment of the Arapahoe County District Court
in the Litigation in Arapahoe County. (Doc. # 31-8; Doc. # 31
at 4.)
C.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
As the
Court just described, Plaintiff alleges four causes of action
against Defendant Eagle County and four separate causes of
action against Defendant Bellco. See (Doc. # 14.)
Defendant
Eagle County moved to dismiss all claims against it on April
13, 2018, arguing that Plaintiff's claims are barred by
the Rooker-Feldman doctrine and name the wrong
defendant. (Doc. # 23.) Plaintiff filed his Response on May
4, 2018 (Doc. # 33), to which Defendant Eagle County replied
on May 18, 2018 (Doc. # 35).
Defendant
Bellco filed its Motion to Dismiss on April 25, 2018, on the
grounds that the Court lacks jurisdiction under the
Younger abstention doctrine, that Plaintiff's
federal and Colorado FDCPA claims are barred by claim
preclusion and issue preclusion, and that Plaintiff fails to
state a claim for relief in his other claims. (Doc. # 31.)
Plaintiff responded to the Motion to Dismiss on May 22, 2018.
(Doc. # 38.) Defendant Bellco replied in support of its
motion on June 5, 2018. (Doc. # 42.)
Magistrate
Judge Neureiter issued his Recommendation on both Motions to
Dismiss on December 12, 2018, advising that this Court should
grant both Motions to Dismiss. (Doc. # 67.) Plaintiff filed
his Objection to the Recommendation on January 28, 2019 (Doc.
# 77), to which Defendant Bellco responded on February 7,
2019 (Doc. # 78), and Defendant Eagle County responded on
February 8, 2019 (Doc. # 79). Plaintiff replied in support of
his Objection on February 19, 2019. (Doc. # 80.)
Plaintiff
has also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on all of his
claims against Defendant Bellco on June 26, 2018 (Doc. # 47),
and a Motion to Exceed Page Limits in his summary judgment
motion (Doc. # 49). Magistrate Judge has recommended that in
light of his Recommendation that the Court grant
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