[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 19-10182

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 0:18-cv-61269-WPD

JEROME MCDONALD, 

WINSOME MCDONALD, 

 Plaintiffs - Appellants,

 versus

SETERUS, INC., 

FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION, 

 Defendants - Appellees.

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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Florida

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(October 2, 2019)

Before MARCUS, ROSENBAUM, and NEWSOM, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

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Jerome and Winsome McDonald appeal the district court’s dismissal with 

prejudice of their claim against Seterus, Inc. for violations of the Real Estate 

Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2617 (2012). Although the 

McDonalds also sued the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) for 

breach of contract, on appeal they concede that claim is barred. We hold that 

because the RESPA claim against Seterus is inextricably intertwined with a prior 

state-court foreclosure judgment, the district court did not err in dismissing the 

McDonalds’ claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to the RookerFeldman doctrine.

1

 

* * *

The parties are familiar with the litigation history of this case; we summarize

the facts and proceedings only insofar as they are necessary to explain the context 

of our decision. 

Before it was foreclosed, the McDonalds’ mortgage was held by Fannie Mae 

and serviced by Seterus. The McDonalds contested the foreclosure action filed in 

Broward County, Florida, primarily arguing that the parties had executed a loanmodification agreement prior to foreclosure. The state court rejected the 

McDonalds’ argument and entered judgment for Fannie Mae, and the property was 

1 The Rooker-Feldman doctrine stems from two Supreme Court cases: Rooker v. Fidelity Trust 

Co., 263 U.S. 413 (1923) and D.C. Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983). See

Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 283 (2005). 

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sold. Following the ensuing denials of the McDonalds’ motions for 

reconsideration, the state action became final for Rooker-Feldman purposes by 

March of 2018, months before the McDonalds filed the federal action that 

underlies this appeal. See Nicholson v. Shafe, 558 F.3d 1266, 1275 (11th Cir. 

2009) (explaining when state-court actions become final under Rooker-Feldman). 

Even in the wake of the state-court judgment, the McDonalds continued to 

contest the foreclosure and sale. They sent three “Notices of Error” to Seterus, 

disputing both the amount owed and the fact of foreclosure. When Seterus denied 

the alleged errors, the McDonalds brought this action asserting that Seterus had 

violated RESPA’s implementing regulations. See 12 C.F.R. § 1024.35 (2019). 

Under RESPA, a mortgage servicer must investigate and respond to properly 

submitted Notices of Error, and either correct them or determine that no error 

exists. Id. at § 1024.35(e). Servicers are liable for any damages caused by a failure 

to properly respond to a Notice of Error. See 12 U.S.C. § 2605(f). In the instant 

case, among other damages the McDonalds seek the costs of defending the 

allegedly wrongful state foreclosure action. 

We review a district court’s application of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine de 

novo. Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, 713 F.3d 1066, 1069 (11th Cir. 2013)

(citation omitted). Under the doctrine, a federal district court lacks jurisdiction to 

review the final judgment of a state court. Id. at 1072 (citation omitted). The

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federal court is barred from adjudicating “a claim [that] was either (1) one actually 

adjudicated by a state court or (2) one ‘inextricably intertwined’ with a state court 

judgment.” Target Media Partners v. Specialty Mktg. Corp., 881 F.3d 1279, 1286

(11th Cir. 2018) (citation omitted). This includes “cases in which a plaintiff seeks 

damages . . . based on the issues related to the state case” rather than “relief that 

would directly prevent the enforcement of a state court order.” Goodman ex rel. 

Goodman v. Sipos, 259 F.3d 1327, 1333 (11th Cir. 2001). 

Courts in our circuit have applied the Rooker-Feldman doctrine to dismiss 

actions for lack of jurisdiction in similar circumstances—i.e., where a plaintiff 

sought, in effect, to challenge state-court foreclosure judgments. See, e.g., 

Zaychick v. Bank of America, N.A., 146 F. Supp. 3d 1273, 1276–77 (S.D. Fla. 

2015) (cataloguing cases). In the instant case, the McDonalds challenge the state 

foreclosure action, in particular by seeking to recoup the costs of defending it. A 

federal court could not find for the McDonalds without determining that the state

foreclosure—which was memorialized in a state-court judgment—was wrongful. 

The Rooker-Feldman doctrine therefore applies, and the McDonalds’ complaint 

was properly dismissed. 

We affirm the district court’s dismissal of the McDonalds’ complaint for 

lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.

AFFIRMED.

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