United States District Court, D. Kansas
FOXFIELD VILLA ASSOCIATES, LLC, RICHARD A. BARTLETT, ERNEST J. STRAUB, III, BARTLETT FAMILY REAL ESTATE FUND, LLC, and PRES, LLC, Plaintiffs,
v.
PAUL ROBBEN, and RDC HOLDINGS, LLC, Defendants.
MEMORANDUM & ORDER
CARLOS
MURGUIA United States District Judge.
This
matter comes before the court upon defendants Paul Robben and
RDC Holdings, LLC (“RDC”)'s Motion to Dismiss
(Doc. 106) and plaintiffs Richard A. Bartlett, Bartlett
Family Real Estate Fund, LLC, Foxfield Villa Associates, LLC
(“FVA”), Pres LLC, and Ernest J. Straub,
III's Motion for Leave to file Sur-Reply (Doc. 119).
I.
Background
This
case involves a failed real estate development project in
Olathe, Kansas, that began in 2000. Defendants and plaintiffs
had financial interests at varying times in the project.
Plaintiffs' allegations relate to defendants' alleged
misconduct, which led plaintiffs to invest and eventually
lose money in the venture. Plaintiffs filed this suit against
numerous defendants on August 10, 2012. Another federal
lawsuit was filed on March 8, 2013 and was eventually
consolidated with this one. Both suits were stayed pending
resolution of a related Johnson County, Kansas court
proceeding.
Defendant
Robben filed for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 7 on April
3, 2013. On February 6, 2014, the bankruptcy court granted
defendant Robben a discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 727.
However, the bankruptcy court noted that some debts were not
discharged, including, “[d]ebts that the bankruptcy
court specifically has decided or will decide in this
bankruptcy case. . .” (Doc. 107-4).
On
September 8, 2015, plaintiffs filed a stipulation of
dismissal with prejudice, dismissing their claims against all
defendants except Mr. Robben and RDC. On November 25, 2015,
plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 66)
asserting the following 32 counts against remaining
defendants:
Count 1- negligent misrepresentation as a real estate
broker/salesperson (Robben)
Count 2- aiding and abetting count 2 (RDC)
Count 3- negligence as a real estate broker/salesperson
(Robben)
Count 4- aiding and abetting count 3 (RDC)
Count 5- negligent misrepresentation as a Certified
Public Accountant (“CPA”) (Robben)
Count 6- aiding and abetting count 5 (RDC)
Count 7- negligence as a CPA (Robben)
Count 8- aiding and abetting count 7 (RDC)
Count 9- Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“SEC”)
violations (Robben)
Count 10- Kansas Uniform Securities Act (“KUSA”)
...