Price v. FCI Lender Services

Background

Karen Denise Price sued FCI Lender Services and 49 other defendants. She brought the action without a lawyer and sought damages, injunctive relief, and declaratory relief. Her claims included alleged violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Securities Exchange Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Lanham Act, and state law. The claims arose from the conveyance of real property located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Price asked to proceed without prepaying filing fees and filed emergency motions seeking a temporary restraining order and declaratory relief. The court also directed that the complaint’s electronic access be restricted because it revealed another person’s complete Social Security number. The opinion states that Price currently resides in a hotel in Duluth, Georgia.

Venue Analysis

The court considered the venue rules for Price’s claims. For the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims, the court explained that venue may be proper where a defendant resides, is found, has an agent, or conducts business. For the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act claims, venue may be proper where the property is located or where the alleged violation occurred. The other claims were governed by the general federal venue statute, which includes the district where a substantial part of the events occurred or where a substantial part of the property involved is located.

The court said Price had not clearly shown that all 50 defendants were found, had agents, or conducted business in the Southern District of New York. It concluded that the defendants were all found, had agents, or conducted business in Atlanta, and that the Northern District of Georgia was a proper venue for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims. The court also found that the property was in Atlanta and that most, if not all, of the alleged Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act violations appeared to have occurred there.

For the remaining claims, the court stated that not all defendants resided in New York and that Price did not allege that a substantial portion of the events occurred in the Southern District of New York. It concluded that the Northern District of Georgia was a proper venue for those claims as well.

Transfer and Disposition

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), a federal court may transfer a case to another federal district where it could have been brought when transfer would serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice. The court found transfer appropriate because the property, defendants, and substantial portion of the alleged events were in the Northern District of Georgia. It also considered it reasonable to expect that relevant documents and witnesses would be located there.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia immediately. The order closes the action in the Southern District of New York, terminates the pending motions there, and states that summonses will not issue from that court. The court deferred to the transferee court on whether Price may proceed without prepaying fees and whether to grant her requests for immediate relief. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal.