Pagel v. Washington Mutual Bank, Inc.

F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
November 2, 2005
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
Clerk of Court
EARL L. PAGEL,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v. No. 05-4020
(D.C. No. 2:04-CV-684-DS)
WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK, (D. Utah)
INC., and LUNDBERG &
ASSOCIATES,
Defendants-Appellees.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before TYMKOVICH, PORFILIO , and BALDOCK , Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is
therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Plaintiff-appellant Earl L. Pagel, proceeding pro se, appeals the order
entered by the district court dismissing his complaint pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P.
12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Plaintiff is also appealing the district court’s postjudgment
rulings. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.
In his complaint, plaintiff asserted a number of federal and state claims
against defendants, alleging that they and/or their predecessors violated state and
federal law in connection with proceedings that they initiated in state court to
foreclose on real property that he owned in the State of Utah. As summarized by
the district court, in response to motions to dismiss that were filed by defendants,
plaintiff informed the district court “that his claims for fraud, conversion and
violation of Utah’s [Pattern of Unlawful] Activity Act are time-barred and must
be dismissed,” and plaintiff made “it clear that the only claims he [was] pursuing
[were] the federal RICO statute claims and a claim for breach of contract.” R.,
Vol. II, Doc. 22 at 1-2.
Having clarified what claims were before it, the district court then
proceeded to dispose of plaintiff’s claims and his postjudgment motions in three
separate orders. First, in an order entered in November 2004, the court concluded
that plaintiff failed to state a claim under the federal RICO statute, 18 U.S.C.
§ 1962(c), because he did not allege sufficient facts to establish that defendants
were engaged in a “pattern of racketeering activity.” As the court explained:
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To successfully state a federal RICO claim, a plaintiff must
allege four elements: “‘(1) conduct (2) of an enterprise, (3) through a
pattern (4) of racketeering activity.’” Robbins v. Wilkie , 300 F.3d
1208, 1210 (10th Cir. 2002) (quoting Sedima, S.P.R.L. v. Imrex Co.,
Inc. , 473 U.S. 479, 496 (1985)). . . .
....
The “pattern” element “‘requires the showing of a relationship
between the predicate [racketeering acts] . . . and the threat of
continuing activity’–that is, ‘continuity plus relationship.’”
Resolution Trust Corp. v. Stone , 998 F.2d 1534, 1543 (10th Cir.
1993) [(quotation omitted)]. Plaintiff has failed to establish the
pattern element. His complaint alleges only a single transaction, a
single harm and a single victim–himself. Courts have held that when
there is “only one purpose, one result, one set of participants, one
victim and one method of commission,” there is “no continuity and
. . . no pattern of racketeering activity.” Meadow Limited
Partnership v. Heritage Savings and Loan Association , 639 F. Supp.
643[, 650] (E.D. Va. 1986) [(quotation omitted)]. This case is
clearly not a RICO case.
R., Vol. II, Doc. 22 at 2-3.
In its November 2004 order, the district court also concluded that plaintiff
had failed to state a claim against defendant Washington Mutual Bank, Inc. for
breach of contract. The court analyzed the breach of contract claim as follows:
The only remaining claim is Washington Mutual’s alleged
breach of contract in failing to adhere to the 1993 Bankruptcy Court
Order (“Order”). Here again Plaintiff has failed to state a claim for
which relief may be granted. . . . [T]he Order is not a contract; it is a
court ruling. Plaintiff’s remedy, if he believed Defendant failed to
comply with the Order, would have been to move the bankruptcy
court to hold Defendant in contempt and compel Defendant’s
compliance with the Order. Plaintiff has no claim for breach of
contract in this court based on Defendant [Washington Mutual’s]
alleged noncompliance with a bankruptcy court order.
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Id. at 3.
Although the district court’s analysis of the breach of contract claim was
framed in terms of a failure to state a claim, we will treat the court’s dismissal of
the claim as a dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter
jurisdiction, as the court’s ultimate conclusion was that plaintiff was pursuing the
claim in the wrong court. Further, the court specifically stated that it was
granting “Washington Mutual’s Motion to Dismiss under Rules 12(b)(6) For
Failure to State a Claim and 12(b)(1) for Lack of Subject Matter
Jurisdiction . . . .” R., Vol. II, Doc. 22 at 3.
Second, in an order entered in January 2005, the district court denied
plaintiff’s motion for a rehearing. After concluding that it would treat the motion
as a timely motion to alter or amend the judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e), the
court rejected plaintiff’s argument that it committed manifest error by
“inadvertently overlook[ing an] amendment filed just prior to the court’s ruling
[on defendants’ motions to dismiss] that would have cured pleading deficiencies.”
R., Vol. II, Doc. 24. According to the court, plaintiff’s amended allegations still
fell short because he was
attempt[ing] to show a pattern of racketeering activity with broad,
general statements, such as “Without proof [Washington Mutual] has
completely overhauled the former Texas operations, it can only be
presumed [Washington Mutual] continues to disobey court orders and
clients’ instructions as prescribed,” and “[Lundberg & Associates]
maintained a policy of undermining clients’ Chapter 13 filings to
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explicitly foreclose on clients’ real estate, for which Plaintiff will
provide impeccable testimony at trial.” These statements of opinion,
without any specific factual allegations, are insufficient to establish a
RICO pattern.
Id. , Doc. 36 at 3 (quoting id. , Doc. 21 at 9).
Finally, in an order entered in February 2005, the district court denied two
additional postjudgment motions that plaintiff filed. In one of the motions,
plaintiff requested leave, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 15, “to amend ‘Plaintiff’s
Response to Defendant Washington Mutual’s Motion to Dismiss,’ . . . and retract
Plaintiff’s former statement, [that] he will no longer pursue state claims.” Id. ,
Doc. 40 at 1. In support of the motion, plaintiff argued that he had erroneously
concluded at the time he responded to defendants’ motions to dismiss that the
state claims were time-barred under Utah law. Specifically, plaintiff claimed that
he had “just found out Utah Code § 78-12-40 provides for commencement of new
action within one-year upon failure of a suit; for which Plaintiff’s former suit is
still active, thus Plaintiff’s claims are not time barred.” R., Vol. II, Doc. 40 at 1.
The district court rejected plaintiff’s argument, concluding that “[b]ecause the
plaintiff’s former case has been closed for more than a year, and because it failed
on the merits, . . . Utah Code Annotated § 78-12-40 does not apply.” Id. , Doc. 47
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at 2. The court therefore denied plaintiff’s motion to amend his response to
Washington Mutual’s motion to dismiss. 1
Id.
Plaintiff’s second motion was entitled “Motion for a Comprehensive
Review,” id. , Doc. 38, and the district court treated the motion as a second motion
for reconsideration, id. , Doc. 47 at 2. In support of the motion, plaintiff advanced
three arguments. First, plaintiff argued that the district court failed to address his
position that a bankruptcy court order is a quasi-contract. Second, plaintiff
argued that the district court erred by failing to allow him to conduct discovery
with regard to the “pattern” element of his RICO claim. Third, plaintiff argued
that the district court’s ruling on the pattern issue was not in accordance with
other circuit court rulings. The district court rejected each of these arguments,
concluding: (1) that it was “not aware of any decisions holding that failure to
adhere to a bankruptcy reorganization plan constitutes breach of contract,”
id. at 3; (2) that plaintiff was not entitled to conduct discovery on the pattern
issue because he had failed to plead specific facts showing that other individuals
1
Because we conclude that the district court acted properly when it initially
dismissed plaintiff’s state claims based on plaintiff’s express representation to the
court that he was no longer pursuing the claims, we do not need to address
defendants’ argument that the district court did not have subject matter
jurisdiction over the claims because there was a lack of complete diversity of
citizenship between the parties and an insufficient amount in controversy. Simply
put, plaintiff abandoned the state claims, and the district court did not err in
refusing to reinstate the claims after plaintiff failed to show that the claims had
any merit under state law.
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had been injured by defendants’ alleged racketeering activity, id. ; and (3) that
plaintiff had failed to present any newly discovered evidence or show any
manifest error of law with regard to the court’s ruling on the pattern issue, id. at
4.
As required when addressing appeals from Rule 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6)
dismissals, we have reviewed the district court’s dismissal order de novo. See
Ordinance 59 Ass’n v. United States Dep’t of the Interior Sec’y , 163 F.3d 1150,
1152 (10th Cir. 1998). By contrast, we have reviewed the court’s denial of
plaintiff’s Rule 59(e) motion for an abuse of discretion. See Phelps v. Hamilton ,
122 F.3d 1309, 1324 (10th Cir. 1997). We have also reviewed the district court’s
additional postjudgment rulings for an abuse of discretion. 2
We conclude that the
district court did not commit reversible error in dismissing plaintiff’s complaint
and in denying the requested postjudgment relief, and we affirm the district court
for substantially the same reasons stated in its three orders.
We also reject plaintiff’s argument that he alleged sufficient facts to
establish a pattern of racketeering activity because he alleged that defendants
engaged in multiple predicate racketeering acts over a period of several years. In
this circuit, it is well established that a single scheme to accomplish one discrete
2
Because plaintiff is proceeding pro se, we have also reviewed his pleadings
liberally. See Haines v. Kerner , 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972).
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goal, directed at a finite group of individuals, with no potential to extend to other
persons or entities, rarely will suffice to establish a threat of continuing
racketeering activity. See Boone v. Carlsbad Bancorporation, Inc. , 972 F.2d
1545, 1556 (10th Cir. 1992); Sil-Flo, Inc. v. SFHC, Inc. , 917 F.2d 1507, 1516
(10th Cir. 1990); Phelps v. Wichita Eagle-Beacon , 886 F.2d 1262, 1273-74 (10th
Cir. 1989). We see no circumstances here that require a departure from this
general rule. Instead, as the district court found, plaintiff “alleges only a single
transaction, a single harm and a single victim–himself.” R., Vol. II, Doc. 22 at 2-
3. Moreover, while plaintiff attempted to plead a larger racketeering enterprise
extending beyond his own circumstances, we agree with the district court that his
allegations are wholly conclusory, and therefore insufficient to show a threat of
continuing racketeering activity beyond his own alleged injuries. See Hall v.
Bellmon , 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991) (“[C]onclusory allegations without
supporting factual averments are insufficient to state a claim on which relief can
be based.”).
The district court’s dismissal and postjudgment orders are AFFIRMED.
We also AFFIRM the judgment that the district court entered awarding defendant
Lundberg & Associates attorneys’ fees in the amount of $3,202.50 under Utah
Code Annotated § 76-10-1605(8). Although this appeal borders on being
frivolous and we have considered sanctioning plaintiff for pursuing meritless
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claims, we DENY Lundberg & Associates’ motion for an award of damages and
costs under Fed. R. App. P. 38. Finally, we DENY the request for appointment of
counsel that is set forth at the end of plaintiff’s opening brief.
Entered for the Court
Bobby R. Baldock
Circuit Judge
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