U.S. Bank National Association, not in its Individual Capacity but Solely as Trustee of SW REMIC Trust 2015-1 c/o Seneca Mortgage Servicing LLC 611 Jamison Road, Elma, NY 14059 v. Casoleil Homeowners Association et al

Filing 35

ORDER - S. Bank National Association, Thunder Properties, Inc., and LVDG LLC's Joint Motion to Stay (ECF No. 27 ) is granted. This action is temporarily stayed until resolution of the certiorari proceedings before the United States Supreme Co urt in Bourne Valley and/or Saticoy Bay. The parties must file a status report within 15 days from such resolution. The pending Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 19 ) is denied without prejudice and may be refiled within 30 days after the stay is lifted. Signed by Judge Miranda M. Du on 6/22/2017. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DRM)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,
NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT
SOLELY AS TRUSTEE OF SW REMIC
TRUST 2015-1 C/O SENECA
MORTGAGE SERVICING LLC 611
JAMISON ROAD, ELMA, NY 14059,

Case No. 3:16-cv-00307-MMD-GWF
(Order re Joint Motion to Stay —
ECF No. 27)

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Plaintiff,
v.
CASOLEIL HOMEOWNERS
ASSOCIATION; LVDG, LLC d/b/a LVDG
SERIES 109; THUNDER PROPERTIES,
INC.; and ALESSI & KOENIG, LLC.,

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Defendants.

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This case arises out of a homeowner’s association (“HOA”) foreclosure and

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involves a constitutional due process challenge to Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 116’s

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notice provisions. Before the Court is a Joint Motion to Stay filed by U.S. Bank National

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Association, Thunder Properties, Inc., and LVDG LLC. (ECF No. 27.) The Court gave the

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parties ten (10) days to filed any response to the joint motion. (ECF No. 29.) No party filed

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an opposition. For the reasons below the Court agrees with the moving parties and finds

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that a stay is prudent.

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The Court had sua sponte imposed a temporary stay because of the potential

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impact of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Bourne Valley, where the court

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found that Chapter 116’s notice provisions as applied to a nonjudicial foreclosure of an

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HOA lien before the 2015 amendment were facially unconstitutional. 832 F.3d at 1157-

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60. The Court subsequently lifted the stay after the Ninth Circuit issued the mandate in

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Bourne Valley. (ECF No. 6.) The Court reasoned that Bourne Valley’s holding is binding

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precedent unless and until it is reversed, though such finality may not occur for months.

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(Id.) Within days, the Nevada Supreme Court in Saticoy Bay LLC Series 350 Durango

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104 v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a Division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 388 P.3d 970

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(Nev. 2017), reached the opposite conclusion, finding that Nevada’s superpriority lien

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statutes are not facially unconstitutional. The nonprevailing parties in Bourne Valley and

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Satico Bay are seeking review of both decisions in the United States Supreme Court. In

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light of this latest development, the Court finds that a stay is warranted.

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A district court has discretionary power to stay proceedings in its own court. Landis

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v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254-55 (1936); see also Lockyer v. Mirant Corp., 398 F.3d

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1098, 1109 (9th Cir. 2005). “A trial court may, with propriety, find it is efficient for its own

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docket and the fairest course for the parties to enter a stay of an action before it, pending

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resolution of independent proceedings which bear upon the case.” Leyva v. Certified

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Grocers of Cal., Ltd., 593 F.2d 857, 863 (9th Cir. 1979). “When considering a motion to

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stay, the district court should consider three factors: (1) potential prejudice to the non-

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moving party; (2) hardship and inequity to the moving party if the action is not stayed; and

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(3) the judicial resources that would be saved by avoiding duplicative litigation if the cases

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are in fact consolidated.” Pate v. Depuy Orthopaedics, Inc., No. 2:12-cv-01168-MMD-

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CWH, 2012 WL 3532780, at *2 (D. Nev. Aug. 14, 2012) (quoting Rivers v. Walt Disney

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Co., 980 F. Supp. 1358, 1360 (C.D. Cal. 1997)) (internal quotation marks omitted). See

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also Dependable Highway Exp., Inc. v. Navigators Ins. Co., 498 F.3d 1059, 1067 (9th Cir.

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2007).

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These three factors weigh in favor of a temporary stay in this case, though the

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duration of the stay may be extended depending on whether the Supreme Court will grant

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Bourne Valley and Well Fargo’s petitions for a writ of certiorari. Any damage to the parties

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from a stay will be outweighed by the fees that all parties will surely incur from continued
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litigation because a decision by the Court could be rendered moot by a decision in the

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certiorari proceedings before the Supreme Court. Until there is finality on the issue of

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whether Nevada’s superpriority lien statutes are constitutional, a stay will benefit the

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parties and conserve judicial resources.

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It is therefore ordered that U.S. Bank National Association, Thunder Properties,

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Inc., and LVDG LLC’s Joint Motion to Stay (ECF No. 27) is granted. This action is

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temporarily stayed until resolution of the certiorari proceedings before the United States

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Supreme Court in Bourne Valley and/or Saticoy Bay. The parties must file a status report

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within fifteen (15) days from such resolution. The pending Motion to Dismiss (ECF No.

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19) is denied without prejudice and may be refiled within thirty (30) days after the stay is

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lifted.

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DATED THIS 22nd day of June 2017.

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MIRANDA M. DU
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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