Hargis v. Access Capital Funding, LLC, et al., No. 11-1027 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff sued defendants in Missouri state court, on behalf of a putative class of similarly situated borrowers, alleging that defendants engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in violation of Mo. Rev. State 484.020 when they charged certain fees in the course of refinancing plaintiff's mortgage. Defendants moved the suit to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), 28 U.S.C. 1332(d) and plaintiff subsequently appealed the district court's judgment. The court held that plaintiff failed to show that she was charged any fees, directly or indirectly, for legal work performed by non-lawyers. Therefore, plaintiff had not shown injury and did not have standing to bring her claim. In light of plaintiff's lack of standing, the district court should have dismissed for lack of jurisdiction rather than reaching the merits of the summary judgment motion. Accordingly, the judgment was affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded with instructions that the action be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Court Description: Civil Case - Diversity. District court did not err in denying motion to remand removed case under the Class Action Fairness Act because a preponderance of the evidence showed that the jurisdictional minimum was satisfied and Hargis did not establish to a legal certainty that the claim was for less. Case should have been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, because Hargis did not show fees were paid for services that constituted an unauthorized practice of law or that higher interest rate was charged based on fees connected to the loan. District court did not abuse its discretion in denying request for time to complete further discovery or for denying request for judicial notice.
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