Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_14-cv-01065/USCOURTS-casd-3_14-cv-01065-3/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 220
Nature of Suit: Foreclosure
Cause of Action: 28:1332pr Diversity-Petition for Removal

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

BRUCE F. BICKOFF,

Plaintiff,

v.

WELLS FARGO BANK N.A.,

Defendant.

Case No.: 14CV1065 BEN (WVG)

ORDER GRANTING THIRD PARTY

DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO 

DISMISS THIRD PARTY 

COMPLAINT

[Docket No. 42]

Third-party Defendant Remy Bickoff moves to dismiss Defendant Wells Fargo 

Bank N.A.’s Third-Party Complaint (“3PC”) under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 

12(b)(1) and (6). (Docket No. 42.) Wells Fargo has filed an Opposition and Remy1 has 

filed a Reply. (Docket Nos. 43, 46.) Because Wells Fargo has failed to sufficiently 

allege standing, the Motion to Dismiss is granted and the 3PC is dismissed without 

prejudice and with leave to amend.

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1 The Court refers to Third Party Defendant Remy Bickoff as Remy to avoid any confusion with his 

former client, Plaintiff Bruce Bickoff. 

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BACKGROUND2

Plaintiff’s Fourth Amended Complaint (“FAC”) asserts numerous claims against 

Wells Fargo based on allegations that Wells Fargo guaranteed Plaintiff unconditional 

automatic permanent financing following a $3,000,000 construction loan, did not provide 

permanent financing, and eventually proceeded with foreclosing on the Property. 

Plaintiff’s FAC seeks to recover damages for the equity in the property he allegedly lost 

as a result of the sale of the property at a trustee’s sale for less than fair market value. 

Wells Fargo’s 3PC alleges that Plaintiff did not repay the construction loan by an

extended deadline for repayment and that the Property was ultimately sold at a trustee’s 

sale for only one cent more than what Plaintiff owed Wells Fargo on the construction 

loan, well below fair market value. 

Wells Fargo’s 3PC asserts claims against Remy, Plaintiff’s counsel in the action 

until recently. Wells Fargo alleges that during discovery in this case Wells Fargo learned 

that Remy bought the Property that is the subject of this litigation at the trustee’s sale 

through an agreement with another individual. The 3PC alleges that Remy approached

Jay Schuminsky with the opportunity to purchase the Property “at a significant discount.” 

(3PC, Ex. 1, Rancho Santa Fe Profit Sharing Agreement (“the Agreement”) 1.) This was 

immediately after this Court denied a request for a preliminary injunction, sought by 

Remy on behalf of Plaintiff, to stop the trustee’s sale. Remy and Schuminsky entered 

into the Agreement under which Schuminsky would bid on the Property at the trustee’s 

sale with a minimum bid of $3,317,000. They also agreed that the minimum resale price 

would be $4,500,000, the minimum lease price would be $10,000 per month and the two 

would share the profits from leasing and selling it. Wells Fargo asserts in Opposition to 

the Motion that Remy depressed the purchase price by filing a lis pendens on the 

 

2 The following background is drawn from the allegations of Plaintiff’s FAC and Wells Fargo’s 3PC. It 

does not constitute findings of fact. The Court also notes that Plaintiff and Wells Fargo have cross 

motions for summary judgment on file that the Court will rule on separately.

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Property and failing to have another withdrawn.

3

 

The Property sold for $3,289,416.83, one cent more than the amount Plaintiff owed 

Wells Fargo on the defaulted construction loan. Schuminsky was the winning bidder. 

Remy obtained at least $200,000 in profit from the deal.

Wells Fargo alleges that it had no knowledge of the Agreement until discovery in 

this case and that, based on Plaintiff’s deposition testimony, Plaintiff also did not have 

any knowledge of the Agreement, although he met Schuminsky at Remy’s wedding. 

Wells Fargo additionally alleges that had it known about the Agreement, it would have 

sought judicial intervention to stop the sale to Remy given the violations of rules of 

professional conduct and public policy in the transaction.

DISCUSSION

Wells Fargo asserts claims for equitable indemnity, declaratory relief, and 

fraudulent concealment. Remy challenges Wells Fargo’s standing and moves to dismiss 

all three claims for failing to state a claim. As discussed more fully below, Wells Fargo 

has failed to sufficiently allege standing. 

I. Standing

A plaintiff bringing an action in the federal court has the burden to show that 

Article III standing exists. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 561 (1992); 

Snake River Farmers’ Ass’n, Inc. v. Dep’t of Labor, 9 F.3d 792, 795 (9th Cir. 1993). 

Plaintiff must show (1) an injury in fact; (2) traceable to the challenged action of the 

defendant; and (3) likely to be redressed by a favorable decision. Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560. 

“A plaintiff must establish standing with the ‘manner and degree of evidence required at 

the successive stages of the litigation.’” Carrico, 656 F.3d at 1006 (quoting Lujan, 504 

U.S. at 561). At the pleading stage, courts must look to the allegations of the complaint 

 

3 These allegations are not in the 3PC, however, the Court only considers them in evaluating standing. 

Carrico v. City & Cnty. of S.F., 656 F.3d 1002, 1006 (9th Cir. 2011). 

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and accept them as true. Id. Additionally, when considering constitutional standing, 

courts may “allow or . . . require the plaintiff to supply, by amendment to the complaint 

or by affidavits, further particularized allegations of fact deemed supportive of plaintiff’s 

standing.” Maya v. Centex Corp., 658 F.3d 1060, 1068 (9th Cir. 2011). 

Remy argues that Wells Fargo has failed to allege an injury-in-fact that is traceable 

to Remy — the first and second requirements. Wells Fargo does not specifically address 

standing.4 

Remy’s challenge to the injury-in-fact element relies primarily on characterizing 

Plaintiff’s claims against Wells Fargo as limited to the denial of permanent financing and 

foreclosure; two actions Remy did not take.5 However, Plaintiff seeks to recover the 

equity he allegedly lost in the Property when it sold for less than fair market value at the 

trustee’s sale.6 Wells Fargo alleges that Plaintiff is seeking to recover that loss only from 

Wells Fargo when Remy is also responsible. In short, Wells Fargo’s alleged injury is the 

liability it faces alone when Remy is also liable for it. At this stage, when evaluating 

standing, “general factual allegations of injury resulting from the defendant’s conduct 

may suffice, for on a motion to dismiss we ‘presume that general allegations embrace 

those specific facts that are necessary to support the claim.’” Id. at 1068 (quoting Lujan, 

 

4 Wells Fargo’s analysis of the equitable indemnity claim notes Remy’s standing argument — that the 

3PC fails to allege an injury-in-fact traceable to Remy’s conduct. However, it is only noted and not 

analyzed in terms of standing. “[T]he threshold question of whether plaintiff has standing (and the court 

has jurisdiction) is distinct from the merits of [a] claim. Rather, the jurisdictional question of standing 

precedes, and does not require, analysis of the merits.” Maya, 658 F.3d at 1069. The Court has 

considered and addresses the standing question despite the lack of analysis in Opposition because there 

is some overlap in the analysis and granting Remy’s Motion as to standing based solely on the lack of 

opposition would only delay the resolution of this case. 

5 Remy additionally asserts that Wells Fargo is trying to recover for Remy’s conduct against Plaintiff 

and suggests Wells Fargo is improperly attempting to assert the rights of a third party. This is not 

accurate. The allegations that Remy breached fiduciary duties to Plaintiff are necessary for Wells 

Fargo’s equitable indemnity claim.

6

In conducting this analysis, the Court is not indicating that Plaintiff has produced evidence or 

established he is entitled to damages for lost equity. That issue will likely be addressed in ruling on the 

parties’ cross motions for summary judgment. 

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504 U.S. at 561). Wells Fargo has sufficiently alleged an injury-in-fact, particularly 

given the stage of the proceedings. 

Remy also argues that Wells Fargo’s alleged injury is not traceable to Remy’s 

conduct. For Wells Fargo’s injury to be traceable to Remy’s conduct, Wells Fargo needs 

to plead that Remy’s conduct contributed to the Property selling at a lower price. “To 

survive a motion to dismiss for lack of constitutional standing, plaintiffs must establish a 

‘line of causation’ between defendants’ action and their alleged harm that is more than 

‘attenuated.’” Id. at 1070 (quoting Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 757 (1984)). “A causal 

chain does not fail simply because it has several ‘links,’ provided those links are ‘not 

hypothetical or tenuous’ and remain ‘plausible.’” Id. (quoting Nat’l Audubon Soc., Inc. v. 

Davis, 307 F.3d 835, 849 (9th Cir. 2002)). 

The problem here is that the only conduct alleged, finding and contracting with a 

buyer to purchase the Property at a significant discount and resell it to earn a profit, may 

or may not have resulted in the Property being sold at a low price. It is simply too 

speculative as plead. Evidence Wells Fargo submits in Opposition, the two lis pendens

recorded against the Property, come closer to a plausible claim that Remy’s conduct 

caused the low sale price. Drawing inferences in Wells Fargo’s favor, Remy might have 

filed a lis pendens or failed to have one withdrawn to scare off other bidders and allow

Remy to obtain the property at a lower price. But, even with the Court considering those

facts, not alleged in the 3PC, there are no allegations that either lis pendens was 

improper.

Wells Fargo has failed to sufficiently allege its injury is traceable to Remy. 

Accordingly, the Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED as to Wells Fargo’s standing and 

DISMISSED without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. 

///

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Wells Fargo has requested leave to amend and the Court cannot find that 

amendment would be futile. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2) (“The court should freely give leave 

when justice so requires.”). Wells Fargo may amend the 3PC to attempt to sufficiently 

allege standing.

CONCLUSION

The Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED under Rule 12(b)(1). The 3PC is 

DISMISSED without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and with leave to 

amend. Wells Fargo may file an amended third-party complaint on or before March 19, 

2016. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: February 19, 2016

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