U.S. Bank Nat'Lass'N v. Poblete

U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff, v. LUIS IVAN POBLETE, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 15-312 (BAH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

February 14, 2017

Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell

MEMORANDUM OPINION

The plaintiff, U.S. Bank National Association ("U.S. Bank"), initiated this action against Luis Ivan Poblete, two trusts, and the "unknown occupants" of a commercial property foreclosed by U.S. Bank in 2010, alleging that the defendants unlawfully trespassed upon, converted, and interfered with the legal title of the foreclosed property. See generally Compl., ECF No. 1. Pending before the Court are U.S. Bank's motion for discovery sanctions against Poblete, motion to modify the scheduling order, and motion to enter default judgment against the two trusts. See Pl.'s Mot. Discovery Sanctions, Modify Sched. Order, & Enter Default J. ("Pl.'s Mot."), ECF No. 41. For the reasons set forth below, U.S. Bank's motion for sanctions and motion for default judgment are granted, and U.S. Bank's motion to modify the scheduling order is granted as described below and is otherwise moot.

I. BACKGROUND

The background of this case is described in this Court's prior Memorandum Opinion regarding U.S. Bank's motion to dismiss Poblete's counterclaims and motion for partial summary judgment and, consequently, will be summarized only briefly here. See U.S. Bank Nat'l Assoc. v. Poblete (Poblete I), Civil Action No. 15-312 (BAH), 2016 WL 1089217 (D.D.C. Mar. 18, 2016). In 2004, Poblete purchased commercial real estate located at 1921 Rosedale Street N.E., Washington, D.C. (the "Property"). Id. at *1. On June 22, 2007, a first notice of foreclosure was recorded against him for the Property, and a second notice followed on November 21, 2007. Id. at *2. In an effort to prevent foreclosure, in 2008 Poblete filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court alleging fraud ("2008 Lawsuit"). Id. While that lawsuit was pending, Poblete signed a deed transferring the Property from himself to Warmoesstraat Trust, as trustee for 1921 Rosedale Street Trust, (collectively, the "Trust Defendants"), but he did not record the deed until February 26, 2010, after a third and final notice of foreclosure was sent to Poblete on January 29, 2010. Id. The Property was foreclosed upon by U.S. Bank on March 4, 2010, and the following day, Poblete stipulated to dismissal of the 2008 Lawsuit, apparently believing that his purported transfer of the deed to the Property to a trust would prevent its foreclosure. Id.

In October 2010, U.S. Bank filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court against Poblete and the two Trust Defendants to enjoin Poblete from trespassing upon the Property, which he continued to claim as his own. Id. In March 2011, the Superior Court entered judgment against Poblete for damages arising from the trespass. Id. Shortly thereafter, however, Poblete filed another lawsuit in Superior Court to evict tenants renting the Property from U.S. Bank. Id. U.S. Bank intervened in that action to assert its rightful ownership of the Property. Id. at *3. The Superior Court dismissed the case with prejudice, holding that U.S. Bank is the rightful owner of the Property. Id. Undeterred, 1921 Rosedale Street Trust filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court claiming that it was the rightful owner on the ground that Poblete conveyed the Property to the trust prior to the foreclosure sale. Id. Affirming the Superior Court's dismissal of the case, theD.C. Court of Appeals noted that the deed Poblete relied upon had not been recorded and thus was not effective. Id.

Notwithstanding these three judgments in favor of U.S. Bank, Poblete continued to assert ownership over the Property by recording an additional deed, preventing U.S. Bank's representatives from accessing the Property, and removing U.S. Bank's locks on the Property and installing new ones. Id. In response to these actions, U.S. Bank filed the instant lawsuit against Poblete and the Trust Defendants, seeking to enjoin the defendants from filing claims relating to the Property without leave of Court and recording instruments pertaining to the Property, a declaratory judgment as to the ownership of the Property, ejectment of the defendants, and to quiet title against the defendants, as well as damages for their conversion, slander of title, and trespass of the Property. See generally Compl. While the Trust Defendants have never appeared in this action, Poblete responded to the Complaint, filing an answer and counterclaims against U.S. Bank and nine third-party defendants, including U.S. Bank's counsel, as well as a motion for recusal and motion to be heard by the Chief Judge. The latter two motions were denied, and U.S. Bank requested entry of an order of default from the Clerk of Court against the Trust Defendants, which default was entered on July 29, 2015. Poblete I, 2016 WL 1089217, at *4.¹

U.S. Bank then filed a motion for partial summary judgment on its claims to quiet title against the defendants and to eject the defendants from the Property, see id. at *10 & n.9, and,jointly with one third-party defendant, a motion to dismiss Poblete's counterclaims, which motions were granted, see id. at *1, *4.

Pursuant to the Court's Order on U.S. Bank's motion to dismiss and for partial summary judgment, the parties were directed to meet and confer in accordance with Local Civil Rule 16.3 and file a report by April 1, 2016. See Order at 1-2, ECF No. 25. Seeking to comply with the Court's Order, U.S. Bank sent a letter to Poblete's address of record, which was delivered on March 22, 2016. See Pl.'s LCvR 16.3(D) Report, Ex. 2, ECF No. 27-2. In response, Poblete emailed U.S. Bank's counsel on March 28, 2016, and the parties proceeded to exchange a series of emails over the course of the next few days, in which Poblete requested U.S. Bank's consent to an extension until April 20, 2016, and U.S. Bank offered to consent to an extension of one week, which offer Poblete refused. See id., Ex. 3, ECF No. 27-3. On March 30, 2016, U.S. Bank filed its own report with the Court, see id., and Poblete filed a motion for an extension of time for forty-five days, see Mot. Extend Time Respond/Comply Order & Mem. Op., ECF No. 28. Poblete's motion was denied "in light of the plaintiff's timely filed [report] and the defendant's failure to confer in a timely manner with the plaintiff." Min. Order, dated Apr. 1, 2016. In that Order, the Court also issued a Scheduling Order, as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b), providing that "fact discovery shall be completed by June 30, 2016" and "caution[ed] all parties that failure to comply with discovery requests may result in sanctions, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including the drawing of negative inferences and awarding of default judgment against the non-complying party." Id.

Rather than focusing on completing discovery within the three-month period set out in the Scheduling Order, Poblete began generating multiple miscellaneous and frivolous motions consuming the resources of this Court and opposing counsel. For example, on April 25, 2016,Poblete filed a "Motion for Miscellaneous Relief," ECF No. 30, which was construed as a motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). In denying the motion, the Court explained it was untimely and, in any event, that its argument "that 'the Plaintiff's attorney has brought his action under a statutory scheme' that amounts to 'an act of Treason' is groundless." Min. Order, dated Apr. 27, 2016. Then, on May 24, 2016, U.S. Bank filed a Motion to Compel Defendant to Respond to Discovery. See Pl.'s Mot. Compel Def. Resp. Discovery, ECF No. 31. In support of that motion, U.S. Bank explained that it "served interrogatories and document requests on Poblete on April 13, 2016," and "Poblete had until April 16, 2016 to respond to those discovery requests" under the applicable rules. Id. at 1. On May 19, 2016, U.S. Bank's counsel "sent Poblete an email inquiring as to the status of the responses and offering a brief extension if Poblete contacted counsel by close of business the following day and agreed to provide complete responses." Id. Receiving no response, U.S. Bank's counsel sent a further email on May 23, 2016, advising Poblete that U.S. Bank intended to file a motion to compel Poblete to respond to discovery. In response, Poblete sent an email stating, "Thank you [U.S. Bank's counsel] [b]ut I am going to be doing an appeal." Id., Ex. 5, ECF No. 31-5.

On the same day that U.S. Bank filed its motion to compel, Poblete filed with the Court two documents, both entitled "Praecipe to File UCC Affidavit of Publication," see ECF Nos. 32-33, which were stricken because they were "irrelevant to the resolution of this matter," Min. Order, dated May, 26, 2016. In addition, Poblete filed a notice of appeal of the Court's Minute Order of April 27, 2016, denying Poblete's Motion for Miscellaneous Relief, see Notice Appeal, ECF No. 34, which appeal was dismissed by the D.C. Circuit on November 21, 2016, for lack of prosecution, see ECF No. 49-1. In the absence of any response from Poblete to the motion to compel, on June 13, 2016, the Court directed Poblete to show cause by June 24, 2016, why U.S.Bank's motion to compel should not be granted as conceded, as well as "why appropriate sanctions should not be imposed on the defendant for failure to comply with his discovery obligations." Min. Order, dated June 13, 2016. In that order, Poblete was specifically warned that "multiple sanctions are authorized to be imposed against a disobedient party for failure to obey a Discovery Order, including the award of default judgment." Id.

Instead of responding to the Court's order to show cause, Poblete filed or attempted to file a number of documents with the Court, each of which was either unintelligible, repetitive, or irrelevant. For example, on June 28, 2016, Poblete filed a "Writ of Error" stating, inter alia, that he is "claiming trespassing...