FLORIDA TRIAL COURT FINALLY DISMISSES PRO SE COMPLAINT WITH PREJUDICE

After giving the pro se plaintiff (Rivas) five attempts to state a claim for breach of contract, unclean hands and tortious conduct, West Palm Beach Judge Gregory Keyser finally put an end to Rivas’ meritless pursuit for $150,000,000 in damages against Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc., and Nexbank Capital, Inc. (collectively, “Defendants”)ⁱ. Rivas v. Dovenmuehle Mort., Inc., Palm Beach Circuit Court Case No. 2023-CA-002380.

In March 2023 Rivas brought a three-count complaint against Defendants based on a note and mortgage executed by Milady Garcia in favor of LoanDepot.com.ⁱⁱ Notably missing from the complaint were any allegations specific to Defendants and any allegations explaining how Defendants could be found liable to Rivas based on a note executed by Garcia in favor of LoanDepot.ⁱⁱⁱ Each of Defendants’ five motions to dismiss were granted; however, the court continued to give Rivas the opportunity to amend.

Finally, after 19 months of litigation and four failed amendments to the original complaint, the court dismissed Rivas’ complaint with prejudice.^iv Choosing to address “a few” of the pleading deficiencies in Rivas’ fourth amended complaint, the Court noted Rivas’ apparent lack of standing the lack of sufficient allegations or exhibits to demonstrate when or how Defendants allegedly became the assignees of Garcia’s loan.^v The court also noted Rivas failed to allege a legal or factual basis for the $150,000,000 sought in damages.^vi

Although a favorable result, the time and money wasted defending against these types of pro se proceedings is costly. Seeking sanctions early in the proceedings for frivolous claims may be one way to reduce or eliminate them.