5
Chase Bank, N.A., 704 F.3d 545, 548 (8th Cir. 2013) (affirming the dismissal of three
quiet-title theories “because the plaintiffs’ pleadings, on their face, have not provided
anything to support their claim that the defendants’ adverse claims are invalid, other than
labels and conclusions, based on speculation that transfers affecting payees and
assignments of the notes were invalid”). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires
“a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.”
That “requires more than labels and conclusions” or a “a formulaic recitation of the
elements of a cause of action.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. “Factual allegations must be
enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. As it stands, it is not
clear Strong’s Complaint can satisfy that standard.
After briefly describing a general mishandling of his mortgage loan, Strong
provides a laundry list of more than a dozen state and federal statutes and regulations the
defendants “presumably” violated. Strong then—largely failing to distinguish between
the defendants—makes a series of vague and conclusory allegations that the defendants
acted improperly in some way or violated one provision or another of the cited statutes
and regulations. But Strong’s random allegations do not effectively establish a basis for a
legally cognizable claim under state or federal law. Nor do they include sufficient facts
to raise a plausible claim for relief under any of the statutes and regulations he lists or
allow the defendants to respond. Bare allegations that the defendants violated a statute or
regulation do not suffice, particularly when the allegations do not describe each specific
defendant’s degree of participation, if any, in the alleged misconduct.
Strong’s “allegations are variously legal conclusions, which this court may ‘set
aside,’ abstract statements of fact, statements of fact whose relevance to the asserted
claims are dubious,” and obscure contentions apparently based on undeveloped legal
theories cobbled together from the long list of statutes and regulations Strong
haphazardly cites. Vang v. PNC Mortg., Inc., 517 F. App’x 523, 526 (8th Cir. 2013)
(unpublished per curiam) (quoting Braden v. Wal–Mart Stores, Inc., 588 F.3d 585, 594
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