NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

LAMESHA ARLENA ROBERTSON, 

Plaintiff-Appellant, 

 v. 

CITIBANK, NA; et al., 

Defendants-Appellees.

No. 13-15449 

D.C. No. 3:12-cv-02996-JSW 

MEMORANDUM*

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Northern District of California

Jeffrey S. White, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted February 13, 2018**

Before: LEAVY, FERNANDEZ, and MURGUIA, Circuit Judges.

Lamesha Arlena Robertson appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment 

dismissing her action alleging federal and state law claims arising from foreclosure 

proceedings. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a 

district court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil 

 

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent 

except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision 

without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

FILED

FEB 22 2018

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
2 13-15449 

Procedure 12(b)(6). Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 341 (9th Cir. 2010). We 

affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Robertson’s quiet title and wrongful 

foreclosure claims because the claims rely on legal bases rejected by California 

courts and Robertson failed to allege facts sufficient to “state [any] claim to relief 

that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 341-42 (citation omitted); see, e.g., Saterbak v. 

JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 199 Cal. Rptr. 3d 790, 795-96 (Ct. App. 2016) 

(plaintiff bears burden of pleading that a defect in assignment renders the 

assignment void, rather than voidable); Siliga v. Mortg. Elect. Registration Sys., 

Inc., 161 Cal. Rptr. 3d 500, 506 (Ct. App. 2013) (“California courts have held that 

a trustor who agreed under the terms of the deed of trust that MERS, as the 

lender’s nominee, has the authority to exercise all of the rights and interests of the 

lender . . . is precluded from maintaining a cause of action based on the allegation 

that MERS has no authority to exercise those rights.”), disapproved of in part on 

other grounds by Yvanova v. New Century Mortg. Corp., 365 P.3d 845 (Cal. 2016); 

Debrunner v. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co., 138 Cal. Rptr. 3d 830, 835 (Ct. App. 

2012) (party need not possess promissory note to foreclose).

The district court properly dismissed Robertson’s Fair Debt Collection 
3 13-15449 

Practices Act (“FDCPA”) claims because Robertson failed to allege facts sufficient 

to show defendants engaged in debt collection activity. See 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5), 

(6); Ho v. ReconTrust Co., 858 F.3d 568, 572 (9th Cir. 2017) (“[A]ctions taken to 

facilitate a non-judicial foreclosure . . . are not attempts to collect a ‘debt’ as that 

term is defined by the FDCPA.”). Robertson also failed to allege facts sufficient to 

show defendants took or threatened to “take any nonjudicial action to effect 

dispossession . . . of property” without a “present right to possession of the 

property claimed as collateral through an enforceable security interest.” See 15 

U.S.C. § 1692f(6)(A).

The district court did not abuse its discretion in not granting Robertson leave 

to file a second amended complaint because amendment would be futile. See 

Chappel v. Lab. Corp., 232 F.3d 719, 725 (9th Cir. 2000) (“A district court acts 

within its discretion to deny leave to amend when amendment would be 

futile . . . .”); Chodos v. West Publ’g Co., 292 F.3d 992, 1003 (9th Cir. 2002) 

(district court’s discretion “particularly broad” when it has already granted a 

plaintiff leave to amend).

We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued 

in the opening brief, or arguments and allegations raised for the first time on 
4 13-15449 

appeal. See Padgett v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).

Robertson’s request for oral argument, set forth in her opening brief, and 

request for judicial notice (Docket Entry No. 24), are denied.

AFFIRMED.