Bank of N.Y. v. Foothills at MacDonald Ranch Master Ass'n

329 F. Supp. 3d 1221
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedSeptember 7, 2018
DocketCase No.: 2:17-cv-01195-APG-PAL
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 329 F. Supp. 3d 1221 (Bank of N.Y. v. Foothills at MacDonald Ranch Master Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bank of N.Y. v. Foothills at MacDonald Ranch Master Ass'n, 329 F. Supp. 3d 1221 (D. Nev. 2018).

Opinion

ANDREW P. GORDON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Bank of New York (BONY) sues to determine whether a non-judicial *1226foreclosure sale conducted by defendant Foothills at MacDonald Ranch Master Association (Foothills) extinguished BONY's deed of trust that encumbered property located at 1680 Liege Drive in Henderson, Nevada. Defendant SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC (SFR) purchased the property at the homeowners association (HOA) foreclosure sale.

BONY sues for declarations that its deed of trust remains as an encumbrance against the property and that it may enforce the deed of trust through either a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure sale. BONY also sues Foothills and its foreclosure agent, defendant Nevada Association Services, Inc. (NAS), for equitable indemnification and wrongful foreclosure in the event that BONY's deed of trust was extinguished by the HOA sale.

SFR and Foothills separately move to dismiss, contending BONY's claims are untimely. Foothills alternatively contends that the amended complaint fails to state a claim for equitable indemnification because Foothills owed no duty to BONY and there is no contract between the parties. After briefing on the motions to dismiss was completed, I issued a decision in another case in which I held that the four-year catchall was the applicable limitations period for similar quiet title claims by lienholders. See Bank of Am., N.A. v. Country Garden Owners Ass'n , No. 2:17-cv-01850-APG-CWH, 2018 WL 1336721, at *2 (D. Nev. Mar. 14, 2018). Following that ruling, BONY requested that I certify to the Supreme Court of Nevada the question of which statute of limitations applies. SFR opposes certification.

The parties are familiar with the facts and I will not repeat them here except where necessary to resolve the motions. I grant SFR's motion and grant in part Foothills' motion.

II. ANALYSIS

In considering a motion to dismiss, "all well-pleaded allegations of material fact are taken as true and construed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party." Wyler Summit P'ship v. Turner Broad. Sys., Inc. , 135 F.3d 658, 661 (9th Cir. 1998). However, I do not necessarily assume the truth of legal conclusions merely because they are cast in the form of factual allegations in the complaint. See Clegg v. Cult Awareness Network , 18 F.3d 752, 754-55 (9th Cir. 1994). A plaintiff must make sufficient factual allegations to establish a plausible entitlement to relief. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Such allegations must amount to "more than labels and conclusions, [or] a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action." Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

"A claim may be dismissed as untimely pursuant to a 12(b)(6) motion only when the running of the statute of limitations is apparent on the face of the complaint." United States ex rel. Air Control Techs., Inc. v. Pre Con Indus., Inc. , 720 F.3d 1174, 1178 (9th Cir. 2013) (alteration and quotation omitted). A limitations period begins to run "from the day the cause of action accrued." Clark v. Robison , 113 Nev. 949, 944 P.2d 788, 789 (1997). A cause of action generally accrues "when the wrong occurs and a party sustains injuries for which relief could be sought." Petersen v. Bruen , 106 Nev. 271, 792 P.2d 18, 20 (1990) ; see also State ex rel. Dep't of Transp. v. Pub. Emps.' Ret. Sys. of Nev. , 120 Nev. 19, 83 P.3d 815, 817 (2004) (en banc) ("A cause of action 'accrues' when a suit may be maintained thereon." (quotation omitted) ). Nevada has adopted the discovery rule, and thus time limits generally "do not commence and the cause of action does not 'accrue' until the aggrieved party knew, or reasonably should have *1227known, of the facts giving rise to the damage or injury." G & H Assocs. v. Ernest W. Hahn, Inc. , 113 Nev. 265, 934 P.2d 229, 233 (1997).

The HOA foreclosure sale took place on July 27, 2012, the trustee's deed upon sale was recorded on August 1, 2012, and BONY filed the original complaint in this matter on April 27, 2017. ECF Nos. 1 at 1; 24 at 7. Consequently, claims that are governed by a limitation period of four years or less are untimely.

A. Declaratory Relief (Count One)

Count one of the amended complaint seeks a declaration that the deed of trust still encumbers the property or that the HOA sale was void. ECF No. 24 at 7-10. SFR and Foothills contend that this claim alleges statutory violations under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 116 and generally challenges Foothills' authority to foreclose as it did, and thus a three-year limitation period applies under Nevada Revised Statutes § 11.190(3)(a). Alternatively, they argue the four-year catchall provision in § 11.220 applies.

BONY responds that no limitation period applies because the sale was conducted pursuant to an unconstitutional statute and thus is void as a matter of law.

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Bluebook (online)
329 F. Supp. 3d 1221, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bank-of-ny-v-foothills-at-macdonald-ranch-master-assn-nvd-2018.