Tomaiolo v. Transamerica Corp.

131 F.Supp.2d 280

Maria E. TOMAIOLO; Roger R. Cote and Marie C. Cote; Michael J. Gallagher and Nanette D. Gallagher; Raymond E. Trudeau, Jr. and Patricia A. Trudeau; Maurice J. Turcotte and Barbara Turcotte; Robert J. Bray and Elizabeth A. Bray; John C. Bogue and Diane C. Bogue; Linda Larson; Karen Pagliarini; Charles D. Monahan and Patricia A. Monahan;

Charles A. Ross and Heather E. Ross; Christopher G. Coogan and Nancie R. Coogan; and Matthew Weaver and Patricia Weaver; Individually and on behalf of a class of persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. TRANSAMERICA CORPORATION; Beni Osuna; Mark Williams; James P. Houghton; John Doe and Jane Doe, being officers and agents of Transamerica Corporation whose identities are not yet known to the plaintiffs; Michael D. Mallinoff, in his capacity as City Manager of the City of Newport; Joel Johnson, in his former capacity as Town Treasurer and Tax Collector of the Town of Barrington; John Day, in his capacity as Town Treasurer of the Town of Bristol; Audrey Cornell, in her former capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Coventry; John Doe, in his capacity as Finance Director of the Town of Cumberland; Suzanne J. Wheelock, in her capacity as Finance Director of the Town of East Greenwhich; Pamela J. Fontaine, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Foster; Jane A. Steere, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Glocester; Frances Shocket, in her former capacity as Finance Director of the Town of Jamestown; Claudette A. Paine, in her capacity as Finance Director of the Town of Lincoln; William A. Hanlon, in his former capacity as Finance Director of the Town of Middletown; David L. Krugman, in his capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Narragansett; Henrietta T. Delga, in her capacity as Finance Director of the Town of North Smithfield; Bruce Young, in his capacity as Supervisor of Collections and Disbursements of the City of Pawtucket; Anthony Annarino, in his capacity as Tax Collector of the City of Providence; Stephen T. Napolitano, in his capacity as Treasurer of the City of Providence; Shirley E. Baton, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of West Greenwhich; Carolyn Joaquin, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of West Warwick; Frank Juchnick, in his capacity as Tax Collector of the City of Central Falls; Doris M. Yeaw, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Scituate; Janette H. Hopkins, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Charlestown; Kathleen S. DeLuca, in her former capacity as Tax Collector of the City of Cranston; Dorothy E. Caldwell, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Exeter; Kenneth L. Richardson, Jr., in his capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Johnston; John Doe or Jane Doe, in his capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of North Kingstown; William A. Rotella, Jr., in his capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of North Providence; Robert E. Gordon, in his former capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Portsmouth; Diane Larisa, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Richmond; Dennis G. Finlay, in his capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Smithfield; Mary Ann Packer, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of South Kingstown; Nancy Mello, in her capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Tiverton; Kathleen A. Raposa, in her capacity as Tax Collector in the Town of Warren; Carol A. Touzin, in her capacity as City Treasurer of the City of Woonsocket; John P. Mainville, in his capacity as Tax Collector of the Town of Burrillville; and John Doe and Jane Doe, being any appointed officials of any of the Cities and Towns in the State of Rhode Island who participated in the tax collection practices described herein; and the Cities and Towns of Barrington, Bristol, Coventry, Cumberland, East Greenwhich, Foster, Glocester, Jamestown, Lincoln, Middletown, Narragansett, Newport, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Providence, West

Greenwich, West Warwick, Central Falls, Scituate, Charlestown, Cranston, Exeter, Johnston, North Kingstown, North Providence, Portsmouth, Richmond, Smithfield, South Kingston, Tiverton, Warren, Woonsocket, and Burrillville and any other Rhode Island municipality that participated in the tax collection practices complained of herein, Defendants.

No. 98-161 L.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

February 20, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Thomas W. Kelly, Newport, RI, for Plaintiffs.

Marc DeSisto, Kathleen M. Powers, Providence, RI, Richard G. Riendeau, City Solicitor's Office, Providence City Hall, Providence, RI, Michael Anthony Ursillo, Nancy Ellen Giorgi, Providence, RI, Mark W. Freel, Kimberly A. O'Connell, Edwards & Angell, Providence, RI, Edmund L. Alves, Blish & Cavanagh, Providence, RI, Eileen G. Cooney, East Providence, RI, Albert Lauriston Parks, III, Hanson, Curran, Parks & Whitman, Providence, RI, Mark P. Welch, Pawtucket, RI, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

Lagueux, District Judge.

This case is before the Court on cross motions for summary judgment. "Plaintiffs," the twenty-three above named individuals, are real property owners and taxpayers in various cities and towns in Rhode Island who claim that their federal and state rights were violated by "defendants": Transamerica Corporation; employees of Transamerica, including Beni Osuna, Mark Williams, James P. Houghton, John Doe, and Jane Doe (collectively the "Transamerica Defendants"); the above named municipal officials; and Rhode Island municipalities (collectively the "Municipal Defendants").

Plaintiffs have stated five causes of action in their Sixth Amended Complaint and request that this Court certify a class for the first four of those claims. First, plaintiffs have brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Supp.1996), alleging that the Municipal Defendants violated their rights to equal protection and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution when they required those homeowners who paid their property taxes through third parties such as banks, mortgage companies, and escrow agents to pay the taxes in annual lump sum payments, rather than quarterly, for the years 1995-1999. Plaintiffs allege further that the Transamerica Defendants conspired with the Municipal Defendants to deprive plaintiffs of their federal constitutional rights and are, therefore, also liable under § 1983. Pursuant to their § 1983 claims, plaintiffs seek several forms of relief, including a permanent injunction prohibiting all defendants from interfering with plaintiffs payment of property taxes under R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-5-7 (1999) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA"), 12 U.S.C. §§ 2601-2617 (1994 &amp Supp.1998); compensatory damages for the time value of the tax monies paid in advance of their alleged due date and for deprivation of property without due process of law; punitive damages for the alleged deliberate interference with and indifference to the legal rights of plaintiffs; and attorneys' fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b) (Supp.1996). The second cause of action is to the effect that defendants violated plaintiffs' rights under Article 1 Section 2 of the Rhode Island Constitution. The third claim is that defendants intentionally interfered with plaintiffs' contractual relations. The fourth allegation is that defendants violated the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act of 1990, R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 42-112-1 to 42-112-2 (1998). Finally, a single plaintiff, Maria E. Tomaiolo, seeks a declaratory judgment against the City of Newport under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202 (1994) to allow her to pay her taxes through her bank in quarterly installments. Plaintiffs pray for an amalgam of injunctive and declaratory relief, as well as compensatory and punitive damages for the alleged state law violations.

With the exception of Tomaiolo's individual complaint against the City of Newport, plaintiffs have made all of their allegations against both the Municipal Defendants and the Transamerica Defendants. But for purposes of clarity, this Court will discuss the allegations against the different sets of defendants in turn, beginning with those claims against the Municipal Defendants. Despite their numerous allegations against the Municipal Defendants, only plaintiffs' § 1983 claim provides a basis for federal jurisdiction in this case. Although plaintiff Tomaiollo's request for declaratory relief against the City of Newport is made pursuant to federal statutes 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202, those provisions do not, by themselves, confer federal jurisdiction. Skelly Oil Co. v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 339 U.S. 667, 671-72, 70 S.Ct. 876, 94 L.Ed. 1194 (1950); 28 U.S.C. § 2201; id. § 2202. Those statutes only provide a federal court with the discretionary power to grant declaratory relief and other "necessary or proper relief" in cases in which the federal court already has jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a); id. § 2202. Clearly, claims two, three, and four in plaintiffs' Sixth Amended Complaint are all founded on state law and do not provide any basis for federal court jurisdiction. Accordingly, this Court, initially, must only consider plaintiffs' claims under § 1983 against the Municipal Defendants to determine if federal jurisdiction exists as to those Defendants.

Plaintiffs' allegations against the Municipal Defendants under § 1983 raise three issues which this Court must address. First, does the Tax Injunction Act ("TIA"), 28 U.S.C. § 1341 (1994), prohibit this Court from exercising jurisdiction over plaintiffs' request for injunctive and declaratory relief? Second, does the principle of comity prevent this Court from taking jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims for damages? And third, does the fact that the tax collection policies at issue in this case are no longer in effect allow this Court to exercise jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims? For the reasons discussed below, this Court concludes that the TIA and the principle of comity deprive this Court of subject...