[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 15-15568

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 6:15-cv-01588-PGB-GJK

RENEE BELL, 

 Plaintiff-Appellant,

 versus

LISA SYKES, 

Representative U.S. Bank, 

DOUGLAS C. ZAHM, 

DIANNE GRANT, 

JANET THORPE, 

U.S. BANK NATIONAL/LEADER MORTGAGE, 

 Defendants-Appellees.

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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Florida

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(March 13, 2017)

Before HULL, JULIE CARNES and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM: 

Renee Bell, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, appeals the district 

court’s sua sponte dismissal under the Rooker-Feldman1 doctrine of her 42 U.S.C. 

§ 1983 civil rights complaint. 

We review “dismissals for lack of subject matter jurisdiction de novo.” 

Nicholson v. Shafe, 558 F.3d 1266, 1270 (11th Cir. 2009). A court must dismiss an 

action if it “determines at any time that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction.” 

Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(h)(3). We also review de novo the district court’s application of 

the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Fla., 713 F.3d 

1066, 1069-70 (11th Cir. 2013). “Pro se pleadings are held to a less stringent 

standard than pleadings drafted by attorneys and will, therefore, be liberally 

construed.” Tannenbaum v. United States, 148 F.3d 1262, 1263 (11th Cir. 1998). 

Although we show leniency to pro se litigants, we will not rewrite a deficient 

pleading in order to sustain an action. Campbell v. Air Jamaica Ltd., 760 F.3d 

1165, 1168-69 (11th Cir. 2014).

The Rooker-Feldman doctrine applies to “cases brought by state-court losers 

complaining of injuries caused by state-court judgments rendered before the 

district court proceedings commenced and inviting district court review and 

rejection of those judgments.” Nicholson, 558 F.3d at 1273 (quotation omitted); 

 1 See Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 415-16 (1923); D.C. Court of Appeals v. 

Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 476-82 (1983).

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see Exxon Mobil Co. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005). It 

applies when issues presented to the district court are “inextricably intertwined 

with the state court judgment.” Alvarez v. Att’y Gen., 679 F.3d 1257, 1262 (11th 

Cir. 2012). An issue is “inextricably intertwined” with the state court judgment 

when “(1) the success of the federal claim would effectively nullify the state court 

judgment” or “(2) the federal claim would succeed only to the extent that the state 

court wrongly decided the issues.” Id. at 1262-63 (quotations omitted). The 

Rooker-Feldman doctrine only precludes federal court review of federal claims 

that the plaintiff had a reasonable opportunity to raise in an earlier state 

proceeding. See Casale v. Tillman, 558 F.3d 1258, 1260 (11th Cir. 2009).

Bell filed a complaint essentially seeking appellate review of a state 

foreclosure judgment that went against her. Bell is the type of state-court losing 

party that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine covers. See Nicholson, 558 F.3d at 1273. 

Bell’s complaint is not a distinct federal action and she makes no argument 

indicating that she did not have a reasonable opportunity to raise her constitutional 

claims at an earlier state proceeding. Her complaint is an attempt to gain appellate 

review from the federal district court of a final state judgment. See Nicholson, 558 

F.3d at 1270. Any success by Bell would require a holding that the state court was 

wrong and would nullify the state judgment. See Alvarez, 679 F.3d at 1262. 

Therefore, the federal district court had no jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feldman

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doctrine. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal for lack of subjectmatter jurisdiction. 

AFFIRMED. 

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