Futia v. Roberts
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:23-cv-01774
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Futia v. Roberts, Judge Briccetti denied Futia’s default-judgment request against Chase Bank because Chase timely moved to dismiss.
The order directly affected Anthony J. Futia, Jr., Chase Bank, and Bank of Greene County. Futia’s request for default judgment against Chase Bank was denied; Bank of Greene County was directed to appear and refile its answer in federal court; and Futia was warned about possible sanctions and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
What happened
In Futia v. Roberts, Anthony J. Futia, Jr., who was representing himself, brought the case in New York state court; some defendants removed it to federal court. Several defendants moved to dismiss, while Bank of Greene County filed an answer in the state-court case but had not appeared or responded in federal court.
Futia asked the federal court to enter a default judgment against Chase Bank, apparently because Chase had not answered the complaint. The court noted that Chase had timely filed a motion to dismiss instead. The court also ordered Bank of Greene County’s counsel to appear and refile its answer in federal court.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti denied Futia’s request for default judgment against Chase Bank, warned Futia that continued repetitive or frivolous filings could lead to sanctions, and denied permission to proceed without paying fees on any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Futia v. Roberts · No. 7:23-cv-01774
- Vincent Briccetti
- June 23, 2023
Background
Anthony J. Futia, Jr., proceeding without a lawyer, began the action by filing a summons and complaint in Supreme Court, Westchester County, on February 2, 2023. Raymond Roberts, Douglas O’Donnell, and Kilolo Kijakazi, identified as the Federal Defendants, removed the action to the Southern District of New York under the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1). The court stated that this type of removal did not require the consent of the other defendants.
The Federal Defendants moved to dismiss on March 8, 2023. Timothy C. Idoni moved to dismiss on April 12, 2023, and Chase Bank moved to dismiss on April 13, 2023. Bank of Greene County had not filed a notice of appearance or response in federal court, but it had filed an answer in the state-court action before removal. The court directed counsel for the Federal Defendants to serve this order on Bank of Greene County’s counsel. It then directed Bank of Greene County’s counsel to file a notice of appearance and refile the answer in federal court.
The court had previously treated Futia’s filings titled “Jurisdiction Challenge” as motions to send the case back to state court and denied those motions. The court had also warned Futia that continued frivolous filings could result in sanctions.
Default-Judgment Request
On June 20, 2023, Futia filed an affidavit of default seeking a default judgment against Chase Bank for allegedly failing to answer the complaint. The court found the request frivolous because Chase had timely moved to dismiss the action on April 13, 2023. A defendant that timely files a motion to dismiss has not failed to respond merely because it has not yet filed an answer.
Disposition
The court denied Futia’s request for default judgment against Chase Bank. It again warned that continued repetitive or frivolous submissions could lead to sanctions under the court’s inherent authority or Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(c). The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The court also ordered that a copy of the order be mailed to Futia.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.