Judge Paul Engelmayer
Based on discrete mortgage transactions, 52 homeowners from 16 states sued 16 banks and loan servicers asserting causes of action under, among others, the Truth in Lending Act, the Home Ownership Equity Protection Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Real Estate Settlement Practices Act. District court granted the Bank of America defendants' (BOA) motion to sever all plaintiffs, except named plaintiff Kalie as misjoined. It further dismissed Kalie's claims. Discussing Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20(a), the court found the rule's "same transaction or occurrence" element was not met. Quoting Abraham v. Am. Home Mortgage Servicing, it observed that "separate loan transactions by different lenders do not constitute a single transaction or occurrence and claims by plaintiffs who engaged in those separate transactions generally cannot be joined in a single action." In dismissing Kalie's claims—rather than transferring them to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania—the court found her complaint riddled with legal conclusions and lacking in factual support sufficient to make out plausible claims. Among other things Kalie's complaint did not specify which Bank of America entity was involved in her loan.
