UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

) SANDRA MARIE STRAWBRIDGE, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil No. 19-10132-LTS ) JAMES DEVINCENT, as TRUSTEE of ) 11 WOODLAND REALTY TRUST, ) ) Defendant. ) )

ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS (DOC. NO. 11)

March 6, 2019

SOROKIN, J. This case arises from a mortgage Ms. Strawbridge took out on her home. Doc. No. 1 ¶ 3. After some number of years attempting to pay off the mortgage and lower her payments, Ms. Strawbridge defaulted, and the mortgager began foreclosure proceedings. Id. ¶¶ 5-10. Though Ms. Strawbridge challenged the foreclosure proceedings in Massachusetts state courts, a final entry of judgment was entered against her in November 2017. Id. ¶ 12. Thereafter, Mr. DeVincent, the purchaser of the property, initiated eviction proceedings against Ms. Strawbridge. Id. ¶ 13. After more litigation in state courts, a final decision was entered in December 2018. Id. ¶ 14. Ms. Strawbridge now asks this Court to “enjoin any further actions for eviction by any party at interest here and to unite legal and equitable title in [her] estate.” Id. at 10. Mr. DeVincent moved to dismiss, arguing that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Doc. No. 11 at 5. Ms. Strawbridge opposed. Doc. No. 14. “[U]nder what has come to be known as the Rooker–Feldman doctrine, lower federal courts are precluded from exercising appellate jurisdiction over final state-court judgments.” Lance v. Dennis,

(2006). “Rooker–Feldman squarely applies when a plaintiff insists that [a federal court] must review and reject a final state court judgment,” even when the

complaint avoids explicitly asking the district court to do so. Davison v. Gov’t of Puerto Rico- Puerto Rico Firefighters Corps.,

(1st Cir. 2006). In this matter, Ms. Strawbridge implicitly asks this Court to declare that the state courts wrongly decided the foreclosure and eviction actions. However, Rooker-Feldman explicitly prohibits this Court from doing just that. Therefore, the Court determines that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction to hear this action. The defendant’s motion to dismiss, Doc. No. 11, is ALLOWED. SO ORDERED.

/s/ Leo T. Sorokin Leo T. Sorokin United States District Judge