United States v. Ochescu et al

Filing 36

ORDER Granting 35 Joint Motion to Extend Time re Summary Judgment Motions. Summary Judgment Motions due by 1/16/2017. Signed by Magistrate Judge George Foley, Jr on 12/2/2016. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SLD)

Case 2:15-cv-02424-APG-GWF Document 35 Filed 12/01/16 Page 1 of 7

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CAROLINE D. CIRAOLO
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General

LAUREL I. HANDLEY (# 9576)
REBECCA KERN (# 9079)
Aldrige Pite LLP
520 South 4th St., Suite 360
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

E. CARMEN RAMIREZ
Trial Attorneys, Tax Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 683
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044-0683
Telephone:
[phone] (Ramirez)
Facsimile:
[phone]
[e-mail]

Email: [e-mail]
Attorneys for Ditech Financial LLC

DANIEL J. BOGDEN
United States Attorney
District of Nevada
Of Counsel

Attorneys for the United States of America
DONALD H. WILLIAMS (# 5548)
DREW STARBUCK (# 13964)
Williams & Associates
612 South Tenth St.
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

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Email: [e-mail]
[e-mail]

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Attorneys for Republic Silver State Disposal, Inc.
d/b/a Republic Services, Inc.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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CONSTANTIN OCHESCU,
LILIANA COSMA,
DITECH FINANCIAL LLC, and
REPUBLIC SERVICES, INC.,
Defendants.

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Case No.: 2:15-cv-02424-APG-GWF
JOINT MOTION TO ALLOW EARLY
SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS
AFTER DECEMBER 2, 2016
(First Request)

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Plaintiff the United States of America and defendants Ditech Financial LLC (“Ditech”) and

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Republic Services, Inc. (“Republic Services”), hereby move the Court for an order modifying the date

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for early partial summary judgment motions in the Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order. (ECF No.

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30). Defendants Constantin Ochescu and Liliana Cosma have not appeared in the suit, and have not
participated in this Motion, or in formulating the Discovery Plan and. In support of their request, the
parties state as follows:

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BACKGROUND
1) This is a civil action concerning federal income taxes. The Complaint (ECF No. 1) seeks a
judgment against defendant Mr. Ochescu for unpaid federal income taxes, and seeks to
satisfy a portion of the judgment by foreclosing on tax liens on real property that Mr.
Ochescu transferred to his wife, defendant Ms. Cosma. Defendants Republic Services, Inc.

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(“Republic”) and Ditech Financial LLC (“Ditech”) were named because they may also have

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liens on the property. Mr. Ochescu and Ms. Cosma have not appeared in this matter, and the

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Clerk of Court has noted their default.

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2) The United States, Republic, and Ditech have engaged in good faith negotiations to attempt
to resolve any competing claims to the property.

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3) The United States and Ditech are working to finalize an agreement between the two of them,
but the parties agree an agreement between all three parties may be most beneficial for
resolving the disputes.

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4) All three parties also agree that the dispute between Republic and the United States turns

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primarily on a question of law: whether a Nevada state statute applies and would give

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priority to certain liens Republic Services claims on the property over the federal tax liens
and/or over Ditech’s claims.
5) Counsel for the United States believed that the question would be most efficiently addressed
by an early motion for partial summary judgment, for which little or no fact discovery would

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be required. Therefore, the parties proposed, and the Court approved, the following

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deadlines, as relevant here:

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

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Initial Disclosures by September 1, 2016.


Deadline for Initial Motions for Summary Judgment, if any: The parties will
conduct limited discovery on the issue of lien priority and submit early motions for

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summary judgment, if any, by December 2, 2016.

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Initial Disclosures: The parties shall exchange Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)

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Discovery Cut-Off Date: If appropriate, other fact discovery in this action will be

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completed one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of the Court’s ruling(s) on

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any early motions for partial summary judgment. If the parties do not submit any

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such motions, the fact discovery cut-off date will be May 31, 2017, which is one
hundred eighty (180) days from December 2, 2016.
REQUEST FOR RELIEF
6) The parties have exchanged initial disclosures, and have completed their informal discovery

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concerning lien priority. They have discussed a possible stipulation that would resolve the

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claims between them, as well as separate stipulations between two of them if a three-part

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agreement is not reachable. However, the parties have not been able to resolve questions
related to the lien priority issues. A related issue concerns whether Republic’s liens would

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persist on the property, if the property is ultimately sold but the proceeds do not satisfy all
liens.
7) The parties respectfully request that they be permitted to continue their negotiations on these
issues, but retain the right to submit early summary judgment motions by January 16, 2017
(45 days after December 2, 2016), if those negotiations fail.

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8) The parties are not asking to modify the other deadlines in the case, and good cause exists for

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the request. It is not made for delay, but to facilitate a possible resolution of the issues. If

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the issues can be resolved, even in part, it will save the parties and the Court from having to

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address some or all of the dispute on summary judgment briefing.

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WHEREFORE, the parties respectfully request that the deadline for early summary judgment
motions be extended through January 16, 2017.

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Dated: December 1, 2016

Respectfully submitted,

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CAROLINE D. CIRAOLO
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General

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/s/ E. Carmen Ramirez
E. CARMEN RAMIREZ
Trial Attorney, Tax Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 683
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044-0683
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

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Email: [e-mail]
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[e-mail]
DANIEL BOGDEN
United States Attorney
District of Nevada

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Attorneys for the United States of America

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/s/Laurel Handley
Laurel I. Handley (# 9576)
Rebecca Kern (# 9079)
Aldrige Pite LLP
520 South 4th St., Suite 360
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

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Email: [e-mail]
Attorneys for Ditech Financial LLC

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/s/ Donald H. Williams
Donald H. Williams (# 5548)
Drew Starbuck (# 13964)
Williams & Associates
612 South Tenth St.
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

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Email: [e-mail]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Republic Silver State Disposal, Inc. d/b/a
Republic Services, Inc.

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IT IS SO ORDERED:

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______________________
George Foley, Jr.
United States Magistrate
United States District JudgeJudge

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United States Magistrate Judge
DATED: December 2, 2016

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that service of the foregoing is made this 1st day of December,
2016 on the following parties, by the following means:
By U.S. Mail:
Constantin Ochescu
8064 Cetus Circle
Las Vegas, NV 89128
Liliana Cosma
8064 Cetus Circle
Las Vegas, NV 89128

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By ECF:
Republic Silver State Disposal, Inc. d/b/a Republic Services, Inc.
c/o Donald H. Williams
Williams & Associates
612 South Tenth St.
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Ditech Financial LLC
c/o Rebecca Kern
Aldrige Pite LLP
520 South 4th St., Suite 360
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
/s/ E. Carmen Ramirez
E. CARMEN RAMIREZ
Trial Attorney, Tax Division
U.S. Department of Justice

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