You are here: / / Pleading Requirements for Unjust Enrichment and Fraud Not Met
, ,

Pleading Requirements for Unjust Enrichment and Fraud Not Met

The Second Department determined the complaint against defendant bank alleging unjust enrichment and fraud was properly dismissed for failure to state a cause of action. The action stemmed from a foreclosure sale.  After the property had been sold, the judgment of foreclosure and sale was vacated because the bank did not properly serve process on one of the parties. The full amount paid for the property was refunded to the plaintiff.  The plaintiff then sued for unjust enrichment claiming the bank collected banK fees and interest.  Re: unjust enrichment: the complaint failed to allege the bank had been enriched at plaintiff’s expense. And the plaintiff sued for fraud alleging the bank knew it had failed to properly serve one of the parties at the time it prosecuted the foreclosure action.  Re: fraud: the complaint included only conclusory allegations of fraud without out the requisite supporting factual allegations. The Second Department explained:

The elements of a cause of action to recover for unjust enrichment are “(1) the defendant was enriched, (2) at the plaintiff’s expense, and (3) that it is against equity and good conscience to permit the defendant to retain what is sought to be recovered” … . “The essential inquiry in any action for unjust enrichment or restitution is whether it is against equity and good conscience to permit the defendant to retain what is sought to be recovered” … .

Here, the plaintiff merely alleged in the amended complaint that U.S. Bank was “unjustly enriched in that it collected bank fees and interest.” Even accepting these allegations in the amended complaint as true, the amended complaint failed, as a matter of law, to sufficiently allege that U.S. Bank was enriched at the plaintiff’s expense … . * * *

“The elements of a cause of action sounding in fraud are a material misrepresentation of an existing fact, made with knowledge of the falsity, an intent to induce reliance thereon, justifiable reliance upon the misrepresentation, and damages” … . All of the elements of a fraud claim “must be supported by factual allegations containing the details constituting the wrong” in order to satisfy the pleading requirements of CPLR 3016(b)… .

Here, the amended complaint consisted of conclusory allegations regarding U.S. Bank’s knowledge that it had commenced and prosecuted the underlying foreclosure action without properly effecting service on all of the necessary parties. Furthermore, the facts alleged in the amended complaint do not give rise to a reasonable inference that U.S. Bank had knowledge of, or participated in, the alleged fraud … . GFRE, Inc. v U.S. Bank, N.A., 2015 NY Slip Op 05640, 2nd Dept 7-1-15

 

You might also like
Potential Use of Condemned Property In Conjunction with Adjoining Land Properly Considered in the Valuation of the Taking/Statutory 6% Interest Applies in Condemnation Proceedings
School Failed to Demonstrate Assault on Student Was Unforeseeable—Summary Judgment Properly Denied
Partial Performance of an Oral Modification Will Allow Enforcement of the Oral Modification Even Where the Written Agreement Prohibits Oral Modification
Bar Patron Was Beaten to Death by Other Patrons—Defendants (Bar and Premises Owners) Were Unable to Demonstrate the Attack Was Not Foreseeable and their Negligence Was Not the Proximate Cause of the Attack—Defendants’ Summary Judgment Motion Properly Denied
ALTHOUGH DEFENDANTS WERE ENTITLED TO EXEMPTION FROM SNOW-ICE SIDEWALK-FALL LIABILITY UNDER THE NYC ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, THEY DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THE HAZARD WAS NOT CREATED BY THEIR SNOW REMOVAL EFFORTS, SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROPERLY DENIED.
PETITION FOR A REFERENDUM CONCERNING THE SALE OF TOWN LAND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RECREATIONAL PARK SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INVALIDATED, THE PETITION MET THE REQUIREMENTS OF TOWN LAW 91 (SECOND DEPT).
EXPLOSION BENEATH AN ABANDONED AND SEALED MANHOLE OWNED BY THE VILLAGE LIFTED UP PLAINTIFF’S CAR WHICH CAME DOWN ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE STREET, COMPLAINT DISMISSED BECAUSE THE VILLAGE DEMONSTRATED IT DID NOT HAVE WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE DEFECT (SECOND DEPT).
FAILURE TO INCLUDE YEAR IN THE DATES OF THE SIGNATURES REQUIRED INVALIDATION OF THE DESIGNATING PETITION.

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

The Fact that Plaintiff’s Testimony Was the Only Evidence of the Defect... People Could Not Show Good Cause for the Nearly Five-Year Pre-Indictment Delay—Indictment...