Freeto v. Litton Loan Servicing LP et al

Filing 40

ORDER granting 25 defendants' Motion to Stay pending a decision of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all proceedings in this case are stayed pending Judge Teilborg's order to remand defendants and claims back to this court. See order re specifics. Signed by Judge Larry R. Hicks on 3/5/2010. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SL)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Before the court is defendants' motion to stay the proceedings pending a decision of the 15 Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Doc. #251. 16 I. 17 In 2009, the United States Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation ("panel") consolidated 18 numerous cases in which plaintiffs allege that MERS engaged in improper business practices when 19 processing home loans. The panel assigned Judge Teilborg in the District of Arizona to oversee 20 these cases, and he will preside over all issues (discovery, dispositive motions, settlement) except 21 for trials. In re: Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Litigation, MDL No. 2119. In 22 its decision to create this MDL litigation, the Panel consolidated nine cases from Nevada, but noted 23 that additional "tag-along" cases with similar factual issues could be added to the list of 24 consolidated cases. 25 26
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA *** ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

RONALD E. FREETO, Plaintiff, v. LITTON LOAN SERVICING LP; et al., Defendants.

3:09-cv-00754-LRH-VPC ORDER

Facts and Procedural History

Refers to the court's docket entry number.

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Following the panel's decision, MERS moved to add numerous "tag-along" cases to the MDL, one of which is the current matter Freeto v. Litton Loan Servicing LP, 3:09-cv-0754LRH-VPC. The panel ruled on MERS's tag-along motions in a series of letters issued in December 2009, and January and February 2010. The panel granted MERS' request to add the present case to the pending multi-district litigation, but only as to those individual claims that "relate to the formation and/or operation of MERS." The Panel further indicated that "all claims in these actions that are unrelated to the formation and/or operation of the MERS system are separately and simultaneously remanded" to the district court in which they were first brought. II. Discussion In the present matter, MERS filed a motion to stay the proceedings until the panel issued an order on MERS's tag-along motions and determined whether the present matter would be consolidated. The panel has already issued an order transferring this matter to MDL thereby alleviating MERS's expressed need for a stay as illuminated in the present motion. However, the court notes that MERS and the many individual plaintiffs in the tag-along cases have filed motions with Judge Teilborg in which they dispute which claims should be part of the MDL and which should be remanded to their original district. Judge Teilborg will be deciding these issues once the matter is fully briefed. Because of the high volume of cases involved in these motions, it will be a number of months until Judge Teilborg has ruled on all of the issues affecting this case. Thus the court finds that moving forward with the present matter would be improper until it is determined which defendants and claims are to be remanded to this court. Accordingly, the court hereby stays all proceedings in this case until Judge Teilborg's ruling. \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ 2

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that defendants' motion to stay (Doc. #25) is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all proceedings in this case are STAYED pending Judge Teilborg's order to remand defendants and claims back to this court. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED this 5th day of March, 2010.

__________________________________ LARRY R. HICKS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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