Amina Sheikhani v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Amina Sheikhani v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA, 577 F. App'x 610 (7th Cir. 2014)
PerCuriam

Amina Sheikhani v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA

Opinion

ORDER

In an earlier case, Amina Sheikhani’s husband (purportedly acting as her “nominee”) sued Wells Fargo Bank under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, see 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p, and Illinois common law. The suit *611 challenged a state foreclosure judgment that had led to the sale of Sheikhani’s house. The district court dismissed that case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. See Dist. of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 486, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983); Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 416, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923). We upheld the dismissal. Sheikhani v. Wells Fargo Bank, 526 Fed.Appx. 705 (7th Cir. 2013). Five months later Sheikhani herself sued Wells Fargo and several additional defendants, once more invoking § 1983 and the FDCPA. Concluding that Sheikhani again sought to challenge the foreclosure judgment, the district court applied Rooker-Feldman and dismissed the suit. Sheikha-ni moved for leave to amend her complaint, but the court denied her request as futile.

Sheikhani appeals from that denial, asserting that the district court abused its discretion by not allowing her to amend her complaint. But the court was right that Rooker-Feldman blocks federal suits that attack state-court judgments, see Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284, 125 S.Ct. 1517, 161 L.Ed.2d 454 (2005); Arnold v. KJD Real Estate, LLC, 752 F.3d 700, 704-05 (7th Cir. 2014), and Sheikhani does not dispute that her suit mounts such an attack. Her briefs on appeal, and the amended complaint she wants to file, aim squarely at the foreclosure judgment. She contends, based on alleged “breaches” of a pooling and servicing agreement, that “[t]he Foreclosing entity was not the true owner of the loan” and that it lacked standing to foreclose. Rooker-Feldman puts that dispute outside the district court’s jurisdiction.

Affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
Amina SHEIKHANI, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WELLS FARGO BANK, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees
Cited By
7 cases
Status
Unpublished