The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry v. California State Grange

Filing 276

ORDER signed by Senior Judge William B. Shubb on 1/2/2019 GRANTING 275 Plaintiff's Motion for Assignment. (Kirksey Smith, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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THE NATIONAL GRANGE OF THE
ORDER OF PATRONS OF
HUSBANDRY,
Plaintiff,

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No. 2:14-cv-676 WBS DB

ORDER RE: MOTION FOR ASSIGNMENT
ORDER

v.
CALIFORNIA GUILD, formerly
doing business as “California
Stage Grange,”
Defendant.

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On April 17, 2018, the court re-opened post judgment

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proceedings after finding that the money defendant used to

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satisfy a judgment in favor of plaintiff for attorneys’ fees came

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from a fund that defendant had been enjoined from accessing

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pursuant to a state court injunction (“post judgment order”).

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(Docket No. 235.)

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removed from the restricted account and vacated the judgment in

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that amount.

The court determined that $93,707.78 was

The court also ordered defendant to pay plaintiff
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$9,000 in sanctions.

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The court previously issued an order assigning

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plaintiff the right to collect payments due to defendant from its

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local chapters to satisfy the judgment over attorneys’ fees.

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(March 9, 2017 Order Re: Mot. for Assignment Order (“March 2017

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Assignment Order”) (Docket No. 189).)

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order assigning it the right to collect payments due to defendant

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from its local chapters to satisfy the court’s post judgment

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order.

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(Docket No. 275.)

Plaintiff now moves for an

Defendant has filed no opposition to

the motion.

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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 69(a)(1) provides that

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proceedings in aid of judgment or execution must comply with the

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law of the state where the court is located.

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69(a)(1); Credit Suisse v. U.S. Dist. Court, 130 F.3d 1342, 1344

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(9th Cir. 1997).

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708.510 (“Section 708.510”), “the court may order the judgment

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debtor to assign to the judgment creditor . . . all or part of a

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right to payment due or to become due, whether or not the right

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is conditioned on future developments . . . .”

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Code § 708.510(a); Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 627 F.3d

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1117, 1130–31 (9th Cir. 2010).

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Fed. R. Civ. P.

Under California Civil Procedure Code Section

Cal. Civ. Proc.

In considering whether to issue an assignment order

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under Section 708.510, the court “may take into consideration all

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relevant factors,” including “the reasonable requirements of the

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judgment debtor who is a natural person,” other “[p]ayments the

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judgment debtor is required to make,” “the amount remaining due

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on the money judgment,” and “[t]he amount being received or to be

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received in satisfaction of the right to payment that may be
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assigned.”

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Int’l, Inc. v. Dostel Corp., M.C. No. 2:11–45 WBS GGH, 2013 WL

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1324280, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 2, 2013).

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assignment order does not demand “[d]etailed evidentiary

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support,” Choice Hotels, 2013 WL 1324280, at *1, a judgment

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creditor must describe the source of the right to payment with

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“some degree of concreteness,” Icho v. PacketSwitch.com, Inc.,

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Civ. No. 01–20858 LHK PSG, 2012 WL 4343834, at *2 (N.D. Cal.

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Sept.21, 2012).

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Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 708.510(c); Choice Hotels,

While a motion for an

Plaintiff identifies two types of payments made by

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defendant’s local chapters to defendant: (1) membership dues, and

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(2) loan payments.

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March 2017 Assignment Order addressed similar payments, the court

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adopts the reasoning of that order in full.

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(Pl.’s Mot. at 2.)

Given that the court’s

With respect to membership dues, plaintiff represents

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that “the Local Chapters are expected to continue to pay dues to

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the [defendant].”

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(Docket No. 275-2).)

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continue to receive dues going forward, so the court concludes

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that the dues paid by the local chapters to defendant are “a

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sufficiently concrete source of payment to justify an assignment

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order.”

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loan payments, plaintiff maintains that documents disclosed by

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defendant reveal that multiple local chapters owe loan payments

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to defendant.

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that it will continue to receive these loan payments and provides

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no reason for why these payments may be subject to any other

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encumbrance.

(Decl. of Mark A. Serlin (“Serlin Decl.”) ¶ 3
Defendant does not dispute that it will

(See March 2017 Assignment Order at 4.)

(Serlin Decl. ¶ 4.)

With respect to

Defendant does not dispute

Therefore, the court also finds that the loan
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payments are sufficiently concrete to justify an assignment

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order.

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For the same reasons given in the court’s previous

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order, “[t]he factors set forth in section 708.510(c) indicate

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that an assignment order is proper here.”

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Assignment Order at 5.)

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remaining after the court’s post judgment order nor the sanctions

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ordered by the court have been paid, and defendant “has not

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alerted the court to any judgments or assignments . . . that it

Neither that portion of the judgment

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is required to satisfy.”

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justify an assignment order.

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(See March 2017

(Id.)

The other remaining factors also

(See id. at 6.)

The fact that the post judgment order is on appeal does

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not change the court’s conclusion.

Absent defendant posting a

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supersedeas bond and obtaining a stay from the court pending

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appeal, federal judgments are immediately enforceable.

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Telecom Asset Mgmt., LLC v. FiberLight, LLC, No. 14-CV-00728-SI,

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2016 WL 7188008, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 12, 2016); see also In re

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Padilla, 222 F.3d 1184, 1190 (9th Cir. 2000) (“Absent a stay or

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supersedeas, the trial court also retains jurisdiction to

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implement or enforce the judgment or order but may not alter or

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expand upon the judgment.”)

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defendant has simply chosen neither to pay the judgment nor to

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file any response to plaintiff’s motion.

See

Instead of seeking such relief,

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiff’s Motion for an

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assignment order be, and the same hereby is, GRANTED as follows:

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(1)

All membership dues due to defendant now or in the

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future from the local chapters listed in Exhibit A of

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plaintiff’s Motion (Docket No. 275) are hereby assigned
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to plaintiff to the extent necessary to satisfy the

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court’s post judgment order (Docket No. 235).

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(2)

All payments due to defendant now or in the future

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pursuant to loans defendant made to the local chapters

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listed in Exhibit A of plaintiff’s Motion are hereby

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assigned to the extent necessary to satisfy the court’s

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post judgment order.

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(3)

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Defendant is hereby enjoined from assigning,
encumbering, or otherwise disposing of the payments

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discussed in (1) and (2) to any other person or entity

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until it has satisfied the court’s post judgment order.

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(4)

Counsel for plaintiff shall serve a copy of this Order

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on the local chapters listed in Exhibit A of

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plaintiff’s Motion.

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Dated:

January 2, 2019

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