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Pedersen v. MidFirst Bank

Bank Receiving Transmitted Funds Lacked Duty to Reverse Payment Order, Freeze Account

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MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER I. Introduction Plaintiffs Alan Pedersen and Nancy Pedersen bring this action against defendants MidFirst Bank and Property ID Title Company, alleging various claims relating to an apparent wire transfer fraud perpetrated against plaintiffs. (Dkt. No. 43, 2d Am. Compl.) Pending is MidFirst’s motion to dismiss, (Dkt. No. 23), and a joint motion seeking dismissal of Property ID from the action, filed by plaintiffs and Property ID, (Dkt. No. 48). For the reasons that follow, both motions are granted. II. Background A. Facts¹ At the time relevant to this litigation, plaintiffs maintained separate bank accounts at Tompkins Trust Company and M&T Trust Company. (2d Am. Compl. 14.) In September 2019, plaintiffs executed a contract to purchase real estate located in Florida for $665,000. (Id. 23.) A few days prior to the closing date, plaintiffs received emails, which appeared to be from their escrow agent, instructing plaintiffs to wire escrow funds, in the amount of $128,745.35, to MidFirst, in the name of “PROPERTY I.D. TITLE COMPANY TRUST ACCOUNT.” (Id.

26-27.) Believing these instructions to be legitimate, plaintiffs went to the Ithaca branches of Tompkins and M&T and requested that each bank transmit wires in the amount of $64,372.68 and $64,372.67, respectively, to the Property ID account at MidFirst. (Id. 28.) The wire transfers were completed on October 17, 2019, and, on that same day, the proceeds were deposited into the Property ID account at MidFirst. (Id.

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