Plaza Bank v. Green et al
Filing
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ORDER Denying 121 Plaintiff's Motion For Authorization To Register Judgment In The United States District Court For The District Of Arizona. Signed by Judge Miranda M. Du on 7/15/2013. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SLD)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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PLAZA BANK, a California Corporation,
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Plaintiff,
ORDER
v.
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Case No. 2:11-cv-00130-MMD-VCF
ALAN GREEN FAMILY TRUST, a Nevada
trust, ALAN GREEN, an individual,
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(Plf.’s Motion for Authorization to Register
Judgment in the United States District
Court for the District of Arizona
– dkt. no. 121)
Defendants.
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I.
SUMMARY
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Before the Court is Plaintiff Plaza Bank’s Motion for Authorization to Register
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Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. (Dkt. no. 121.)
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For the reasons discussed below, the Motion is denied.
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II.
BACKGROUND
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The underlying facts of this case are set out more particularly in the Court’s prior
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Orders. Pertinent to this Motion is that on December 26, 2012, the Court granted Plaintiff
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Plaza Bank’s (“Plaintiff”) Motion for Partial Summary Judgment against Defendants Alan
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Green Family Trust (the “Trust”) and Alan Green (“Green”) (collectively, “Defendants”).
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The Court determined that the Trust had fraudulently transferred the sale proceeds of an
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Arizona property (the “Coyote Road Property”) to Green and that, consequently, Green
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was personally liable for the Trust’s deficiency on a loan from Plaintiff. Plaintiff
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subsequently voluntarily dismissed its remaining claims, and final judgment was
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enteredagainst Defendants on December 26, 2012. Defendants filed their Notice of
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Appeal on January 15, 2013.
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The instant Motion seeks to register the Court’s judgment in the District of Arizona
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because Plaintiff believes that Defendants’ assets, if any, are most likely located in
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Arizona. Plaintiff’s belief is premised on the fact that the Coyote Road Property and two
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other properties that were the subjects of the dismissed claims (respectively, the “Golf
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Links Property” and the “Resort Way Property”) were all located in Arizona. However,
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both the Coyote Road and Resort Way Properties have been sold (dkt. nos. 75, 81), and
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another lender has foreclosed on the Golf Links Property (dkt. no. 124-2). Nonetheless,
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Plaintiff “believes that any assets that may be available to satisfy the Judgment are likely
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to be located – either now, or at some point in the future – in the District of Arizona.”
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III.
DISCUSSION
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A.
Legal Standard
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Unless a stay is obtained, a prevailing party may seek enforcement of a final
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order fourteen (14) days after its entry. Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(a). Where an appeal is
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pending however, that judgment is only enforceable in the district in which it was
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rendered, unless the judgment is registered in another district pursuant to a court order.
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28 U.S.C. § 1963. A court may enter such an order upon a finding of “good cause.” Id.
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“Good cause” is generally demonstrated by a showing that the judgment debtor
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lacks assets in the judgment forum, but has substantial assets in the registration forum.
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Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. v. Krypton Broad. of Birmingham, Inc., 259 F.3d 1186,
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1197-98 (9th Cir. 2001). A prevailing party need not conclusively prove the status of the
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other parties finances as the standard is a “‘mere showing’ of good cause.” Kowalski v.
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Mommy Gina Tuna Res., CIV. Nos. 05-00679-BMK, 05-00787-BMK, 06-00182-BMK,
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2009 WL 1322367, at *1 (D. Haw. May 8, 2009); see also Branch Banking and Trust Co.
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v. Maxwell, No. 8:10-cv-2464-T-23AEP, 2012 WL 3069197 at *2 (M.D. Fla. July 26,
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2012); Hicks v. The Cadle Co., No. 04-cv-02616-ZLW-KLM, 2009 WL 189938 at *3 (D.
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Colo. January 27, 2009). However, where the existence of assets is affirmatively
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disputed, further inquiry may be necessary. Kowalski, 2009 WL 1322367 at *1.
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B.
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The Court does not find that Plaintiff has demonstrated good cause. Although
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there is no apparent dispute that Defendants lack sufficient assets in this District,
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Defendants argue that they no longer hold any assets in Arizona. Consequently,
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Plaintiff’s belief that Defendant might have assets in Arizona, “either now, or at some
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point in the future,” is not a sufficient showing of good cause.
Analysis
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Plaintiff’s position relies on Defendants’ historical holdings of the properties in
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Arizona that were the subjects of this lawsuit. However, the record establishes that none
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of those properties remains in Defendants’ control.
Plaintiff does not challenge the
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testimony in the record establishing this fact or provide any evidence or argument that
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Defendants have other real property or substantial personal property in Arizona. Plaintiff
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therefore cannot demonstrate that Defendants have any, much less substantial, assets
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in the registration forum.
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In its Reply, Plaintiff asserts that any evidentiary insufficiency is due to
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Defendants’ failure to produce the financial information required by the Court’s Order
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Authorizing Examination (dkt. no. 114) and, further, that a mere showing of good cause
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does not require it to prove Defendants’ finances. However, even though Defendants
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may not have been as forthcoming with information as Plaintiff would have liked, Plaintiff
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still has the obligation to provide a good faith basis for its belief that assets may
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presently be found in the registration forum. This good faith basis need not constitute
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conclusive proof of the existence and location of assets, but Plaintiff must nevertheless
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provide some basis to support its assertions, especially given that Defendants have
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affirmatively disputed the existence of assets. Reliance on historical data shown to be
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outdated and inaccurate is not enough.
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Finally, Plaintiff argues that good cause can also be inferred from the Defendants’
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behavior. Specifically, Plaintiff argues that the very fact that Defendants opposed this
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Motion suggests both that Defendants have assets ─ as they incurred the expense of
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filing the opposition ─ and that the assets are located in Arizona ─ as Defendants would
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suffer no prejudice from registration if no assets existed there. The Court, however, does
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not agree with Plaintiff’s inferences or underlying assumptions. The Court refuses to
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adopt a rule where the mere act of opposing a motion for registration constitutes
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evidence in support of the same motion ─ the phrase “heads I win, tails you lose” comes
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to mind. Such a construction is fundamentally unsound because it punishes a party for
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attempting to protect its own legal rights. The fact that Defendants filed an opposition is
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not a demonstration of good cause.
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IV.
CONCLUSION
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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff Plaza Bank’s Motion for Authorization
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to Register Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona is
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DENIED.
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DATED THIS 15th day of July 2012.
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MIRANDA M. DU
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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