UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

PANAMA CITY DIVISION

RICHARD DECOURSY, 

Plaintiff,

vs.

DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL 

TRUST COMPANY, as Trustee

Defendant.

________________________________/

CASE NO: __________________

(Formerly Bay County Circuit Court 

Case No. 2020-001724-CA)

DEFENDANT’S NOTICE OF REMOVAL

Defendant, DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, 

erroneously identified “AS TRUSTEE” for an unspecified trust (“DBNTC” or 

“Defendant”), hereby removes the action currently pending in the Circuit Court of 

the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Bay County, Florida, Case No. 2020-

001724-CA (the “State Court Action”), to the United States District Court for the 

Northern District of Florida, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441 and 28 U.S.C. § 1331. 

Removal is based on diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332 and 1441 

as more fully set forth below. 

I. BACKGROUND & CONDITIONS OF REMOVAL

1. This matter arises out of Plaintiff’s dispute over a Note and Mortgage 

executed by Plaintiff in favor of Defendant’s predecessor secured by real property 

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located at 2861 Thaxton Drive, Unit 46, Palm Harbor, FL 34684 (the “Property”). 

(See Complaint ¶3).

2. Plaintiff, Richard Decoursy, is a citizen and resident of Pinellas County, 

Florida. 

3. Defendant is a national banking association organized under the laws 

of the United States with its principal place of business in Santa Ana, California.

4. Venue is proper in the United States District Court Northern District of 

Florida because the case is being removed from the Circuit Court of the Fourteenth 

Judicial Circuit in and for Bay County, Florida.

5. Nothing in this Notice of Removal shall be interpreted as a waiver or 

relinquishment of any of Defendant’s rights to assert defenses, counterclaim, or to 

seek transfer to the Middle District of Florida as this action arises out of a dispute in 

Pinellas County rather than Bay County. (See again Complaint, ¶3).

6. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b), this Notice of Removal is being filed 

within thirty (30) days from the date of Defendant’s receipt of the initial pleading.

Defendant was not served with process in this matter and has filed a Motion to Quash 

Service of Process in relation thereto.

7. Defendant discovered this matter on or about December 15, 2020 

through an online records search prompted by the discovery of similar matters filed 

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by Plaintiff’s counsel, Lee Segal, Esq., that likewise resulted in improper defaults

and/or judgments by default due to lack of service of process on Defendant.

8. This action is not a non-removable action as described under 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1445.

9. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a), a true and correct copies of all process 

and pleadings available to counsel as of this date are attached hereto as Composite 

Exhibit “A.”

10. In accordance with 29 U.S.C. § 1446(d), contemporaneously with the 

filing of this Notice of Removal, Defendant has served Plaintiff with a copy of this 

Notice of Removal and has filed a Notice of Filing Notice of Removal with the Clerk 

of the Court for the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in Bay County, Florida. A copy of 

the Notice of Filing Notice of Removal (without attachments) is attached hereto as 

Exhibit “B.”

II. THE COMPLAINT

11. Plaintiff has sued DBNTC under the “Civil Remedies for Criminal 

Practices Act” (Fla. Stat §772.101, et seq.) and for collection of an “unlawful debt” 

and for alleged misrepresentation(s) purportedly made by a third-party1 in the 

 1 In 2018, a foreclosure action was purportedly filed by Deutsche Bank Trust 

Company Americas, as Trustee for Residential Accredit Loans, Inc. Mortgage 

Asset-Backed Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-QS6 against Richard 

Decoursy in Pinellas County Circuit Court under Case No. 18-2703-CI (“Pinellas 

County Foreclosure Action”). (See Complaint, ¶13).

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procurement of a Loan Modification to settle a foreclosure action—to which 

DBNTC was not a party.

12. Plaintiff nakedly concludes that Defendant is the “alter ego” for the 

entity that filed the Pinellas County Foreclosure Action. (Complaint ¶14).

13. The State Court Action repeatedly challenges the foreclosing entity’s

status as owner and holder of the Note and Mortgage that are at issue in this case,

and that were the basis of the Pinellas County Foreclosure Action. (See Complaint, 

¶¶ 10, 16, 18, 21 (each denying the foreclosure court’s finding that the foreclosure 

plaintiff was the owner or holder of the Note)). 

14. DBNTC was not a party to the Pinellas Foreclosure Action or any of 

the instruments challenged in the State Court Action. (See again Exhibit “A”).

III. LEGAL STANDARD - GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL

15. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1441(a), “any civil action brought in a state 

court of which the district court of the United States have original jurisdiction, may 

be removed by the defendants, to the district court of the United States...where such 

action is pending.” 

16. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, the district courts have original 

jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or 

value of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is between—

(1) citizens of different States; 

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(2) citizens of a State and citizens or subjects of a foreign state; 

(3) citizens of different States and in which citizens or subjects of a 

foreign state are additional parties; and 

(4) a foreign state, defined in section 1603 (a) of this title, as plaintiff 

and citizens of a State or of different States. 

17. This Court has original jurisdiction on the basis of diversity and amount 

in controversy. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The parties are diverse because they are 

citizens of different states. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1).

18. “Removal is proper if the defendant proves, by a preponderance of the 

evidence, the amount in dispute exceeds $75,000.” Luch v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., No. 

17-21507-CIV, 2017 WL 5643314, at *1 (S.D. Fla. June 9, 2017) (citing Dart 

Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens, 135 S. Ct. 547, 553–54 (2014)). Also, 

“when a statutory cause of action entitles a party to recover reasonable attorney fees, 

the amount in controversy includes consideration of the amount of those fees.” 

Cohen v. Office Depot, Inc., 204 F.3d 1069, 1079 (11th Cir. 2000).

A. Diversity Of Citizenship Exists.

19. Plaintiff, Richard Decoursy, is a citizen and resident of Pinellas County, 

Florida. 

20. Defendant, DBNTC, is a national banking association organized under 

the laws of the United States with its principal place of business in Santa Ana, 

California. (See Exhibit “C”).

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21. Because the parties are citizens of different states, diversity exists.

B. Amount in Controversy Exceeds $75,000.

22. Plaintiff in this matter seeks “treble damages” that include “the full 

amount owed under the modified mortgage, interest on that amount, and the 

attorney’s fees and costs incurred defending the [Pinellas County Foreclosure 

Action].” (See again Complaint, ¶¶ 39-40). 

23. As evidenced by Plaintiff’s Affidavit in Support of Summary Judgment 

filed in the State Court Action, Plaintiff is seeking $195,865, which is his estimated 

value of the Property plus $11,300 in attorneys’ fees as well as his aforementioned 

demand for triple damages. See Exhibit “D”. Thus, the amount in controversy at 

issue clearly exceeds $75,000. See Diversified Mortg., Inc. v. Merscorp, Inc., No. 

8:09–cv–2497, 2010 WL 1793632, at *2 (M.D. Fla. 2010) (holding that the face 

value of mortgages can be used to determine the amount in controversy).

24. In this matter, because Plaintiff seeks three times the value of the 

Property, plus attorney’s fees, the amount in controversy in this matter exceeds

$600,000 and thus meets the amount in controversy threshold under 28 U.S.C. § 

1332.

III. CONCLUSION

25. Removal of this case is timely and appropriate, and this Court has 

jurisdiction over the claims based upon diversity of citizenship. Defendant

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respectfully requests that this Court take jurisdiction over this matter and remove 

this action from the Circuit Court of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Bay

County, Florida to the United States District Court for the Northern District of 

Florida without waiver of DBNTC’s right to further seek transfer to the Middle 

District of Florida as this action arises out of a dispute in Pinellas County rather than 

Bay County.

WHEREFORE, Defendant respectfully requests that the aforesaid action 

now pending in the Circuit Court of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Bay 

County, Florida, Case No. 2020-001724-CA be removed to this Honorable Court. 

Dated: January 14, 2021

Jason H. Okleshen, Esq. 

Florida Bar No. 496170

Okleshenj@gtlaw.com

GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A.

777 S. Flagler Drive, Suite 300 East

West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Telephone: (561) 650-7915

Facsimile: (561) 655-6222

Respectfully Submitted,

Beth A. Norrow, Esq.

Florida Bar No. 061497

norrowb@gtlaw.com

GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A.

450 S. Orange Avenue, Suite 650

Orlando, Florida 32801

Telephone: (407) 420-1000

Facsimile: (407) 420-5909

Secondary email: dunnla@gtlaw.com; 

flservice@gtlaw.com

 

By: /s/ Beth A. Norrow

Beth A. Norrow, Esq.

Counsel for Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, as Trustee

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on January 14, 2021, a true and correct copy of 

the foregoing was filed with the CM/ECF e-filing system which will send a notice 

of electronic service to: 

Lee Segal, Esq.

18167 U.S. Highway 19 N., Ste. 100

Clearwater, FL 33764

lee@segalschuh.com

marie@segalschuh.com

/s/ Beth A. Norrow

 Beth A. Norrow

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