REFinBlog

Editor: David Reiss
Cornell Law School

November 27, 2013

California Court Finds That the Plaintiff’s Complaint Should be Dismissed as Defendant Owed no Fiduciary Duty

By Ebube Okoli

The court in deciding Lawrence v. Sadek, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153074 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 21, 2013) dismissed the plaintiff’s claims.

The plaintiff’s complaint alleged that defendant breached a fiduciary duty by allowing the plaintiff to enter the loan agreement knowing that she would default.

Plaintiff claimed, defendant owed her a fiduciary duty because Quick Loan, plaintiff’s lender, was a “client” of Peterson’s employer and co-defendant ETS Services. Peterson in response, argued that (1) she did not owe a fiduciary duty to plaintiff because neither she nor her employer ETS Services were parties to the loan transaction, and (2) even if she or her employer were parties to the transaction, lenders generally do not owe a fiduciary duty to borrowers.

Defendant Peterson filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to FRCP 12(b)(6). The Court held a hearing and after considering the parties’ arguments, the court found that the plaintiff’s claim should be dismissed because Peterson did not owe a fiduciary duty to plaintiff.

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