Cochran v. Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co., N.A.

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION FEB 28 2017 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT MELODY L. COCHRAN, No. 15-56203 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 2:15-cv-03209-GHK-JC v. BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON MEMORANDUM* TRUST COMPANY, N.A.; WESTERN PROGRESSIVE, LLC; OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, LLC, Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California George H. King, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted February 7, 2017 Pasadena, California Before: SCHROEDER, PREGERSON, and MURGUIA, Circuit Judges. Plaintiff-Appellant Melody Cochran appeals the district court’s order dismissing her complaint, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and dependent state law claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo the district court’s dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Schlegel v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA, 720 F.3d 1204, 1207 (9th Cir. 2013). We affirm. The FDCPA only imposes liability when an entity is attempting to collect a debt. 15 U.S.C. § 1692(e). In her complaint, Cochran complains of Defendants- Appellees’ conduct related to the initiation of a nonjudicial foreclosure sale of her property, i.e., sending three pre-foreclosure notices. Such activity, which is required under California nonjudicial foreclosure laws, is not debt collection activity as defined by the FDCPA. Ho v. ReconTrust, 840 F.3d 618, 621 (9th Cir. 2016) (“[A]ctions taken to facilitate a non-judicial foreclosure, such as sending the notice of default and notice of sale, are not attempts to collect a ‘debt’ as that term is defined by the FDCPA.”). Therefore, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of the FDCPA claim and the dependent state law claims. AFFIRMED. The issuance of the mandate in this case is STAYED pending the issuance of the mandate in Ho v. ReconTrust, No. 10-56884. The requests for judicial notice are GRANTED. 2