Opinion
Case No. 2:17-cv-02451-APG-PAL
04-19-2018
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., et al., Plaintiffs, v. GDS FINANCIAL SERVICES, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
(Motion Stay Disc - ECF No. 29)
Before the court is plaintiffs' Motion for Stay Pending Decision of Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 29). The Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No 28). No opposition has been filed, and the time for filing an opposition has expired.
This is a quiet title/declaratory relief action arising out of an HOA foreclosure sale in which the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") claims and interest. JPMorgan Chase ("Chase") is the record beneficiary of the deed of trust for the property at issue. The motion for summary judgment is based on the federal foreclosure bar codified at 12 U.S.C. § 4617(j)(3) which preempts the Nevada HOA foreclosure statute from extinguishing an interest held by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, ("the Enterprises") even if the servicer is named as the record deed of trust beneficiary.
The Ninth Circuit has thrice held that a Freddie Mac protected property interest survives an HOA sale when a servicer or nominee acting on behalf of Freddie Mac appears as record deed-of-trust beneficiary. See Berezovsky v. Moniz, 869 F.3d 923 (9th Cir. 2017); Elmer v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., 707 F. App'x 426 (9th Cir. 2017); Saticoy Bay, LLC v. Flagstar Bank, FSB, 699 F. App'x 658 (9th Cir. 2017). The Ninth Circuit has also found that materially identical evidence that Chase and Freddie Mac have produced in support of their pending summary judgment motion—business records and declaration testimony of the Enterprises—are sufficient for a district court to find that the Enterprise has a protected property interest and grant summary judgment. In reaching its decision, the Ninth Circuit specifically stated that its Berezovsky decision should resolve "the outcome[]" of "multiple lawsuits" in Nevada arising out of HOA Sales. Berezovsky, 869 F.3d at 929.
Having reviewed and considered the matter, the court will grant the stay as requested.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiffs' Motion for Stay Pending Decision of Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 29) is GRANTED.
2. The parties shall have 14 days from the entry of the motion for summary judgment to submit an amended proposed discovery plan and scheduling order to get this case ready for trial should any claim survive.
DATED this 19th day of April, 2018.
/s/_________
PEGGY A. LEEN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE