Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC v. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC et al

Filing 122

ORDER. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that SFRs Emergency Motion to Stay Briefing and/orLitigation 120 is granted, in part, and denied, in part. Please see Oder for details. Signed by Magistrate Judge George Foley, Jr on 10/27/2016. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DL)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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BAYVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC,

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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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SFR INVESTMENTS POOL 1, LLC, et al.,
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Defendants.
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__________________________________________)

Case No. 2:14-cv-01875-JCM-GWF
ORDER

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This matter is before the Court on SFR’s Emergency Motion to Stay Briefing and/or

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Litigation (ECF No. 120), filed on September 22, 2016. Claimant in Intervention, Bank of America

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(“BANA”) filed an Opposition (ECF No. 121) on October 20, 2016.

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“[T]he power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to control

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the disposition of the causes of action on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for

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counsel, and for litigants.” Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936). “A trial court may,

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with propriety, find it is efficient for its own docket and the fairest course for the parties to enter a

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stay of an action before it, pending resolution of independent proceedings which bear upon the

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case.” Leyva v. Certified Grocers of Cal., Ltd., 593 F.2d 857, 863 (9th Cir. 1979). In deciding

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whether to grant a stay, a court may weigh the following: (1) the possible damage which may result

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from the granting of a stay; (2) the hardship or inequity which a party may suffer in being required

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to go forward; (3) the orderly course of justice measured in terms of the simplifying or complicating

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of issues, proof, and questions of law which could be expected to result from a stay. CMAX, Inc. v.

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Hall, 300 F.2d 265, 268 (9th Cir. 1962). However, “[o]nly in rare circumstances will a litigant in

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one case be compelled to stand aside while a litigant in another settles the rule of law that will

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define the rights of both.” Landis, 299 U.S. at 255. A district court’s decision to grant or deny a

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Landis stay is a matter of discretion. See Dependable Highway Exp., Inc. v. Navigators Ins. Co.,

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498 F.3d 1059, 1066 (9th Cir. 2007).

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SFR requests that the Court enter a stay of the entirety of this litigation pending the issuance

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of the mandate in Bourne Valley Court Trust v. Wells Fargo Bank, 2016 WL 4254983 (9th Cir.

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Aug. 12, 2016). SFR argues that “the Ninth Circuit’s ultimate resolution of this issue may have a

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dispositive effect upon this litigation, since a due process challenge has been raised.” Motion (ECF

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No. 120), 3:14-16. BANA, however, argues that litigation should not be stayed pending the

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issuance of the mandate because “BANA’s pending motion for summary judgment does not rise and

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fall with Bourne Valley.” Opposition (ECF No. 121), 2:5-6 (Emphasis in original). Weighing the

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above Landis factors and the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that a partial stay of litigation is

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warranted here. Specifically, the Court will stay litigation as to the issues directly dependent upon

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the outcome of Bourne Valley. If these issues were not stayed, a delay could result from any

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motions for reconsideration that may become necessary if the current decision in Bourne Valley is

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overturned. This delay outweighs the potential de minimis harm to the parties if they are required to

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wait longer for a resolution of this case if it is stayed. However, the Court finds that the remainder

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of the issues involved in this litigation shall continue in the normal course. Accordingly,

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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that SFR’s Emergency Motion to Stay Briefing and/or

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Litigation (ECF No. 120) is granted, in part, and denied, in part. A stay is granted as to the issues

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directly dependent on the outcome of Bourne Valley. However, a stay is denied as to litigation of all

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other issues.

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DATED this 27th day of October, 2016.

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______________________________________
GEORGE FOLEY, JR.
United States Magistrate Judge

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