Bank of N.Y. v. S. Highlands Cmty. Ass'n

329 F. Supp. 3d 1208
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedSeptember 7, 2018
DocketCase No.: 2:17-cv-02699-APG-PAL
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 329 F. Supp. 3d 1208 (Bank of N.Y. v. S. Highlands Cmty. 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. S. Highlands Cmty. Ass'n, 329 F. Supp. 3d 1208 (D. Nev. 2018).

Opinion

ANDREW P. GORDON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Bank of New York (BONY) sues to determine whether a non-judicial foreclosure sale conducted by defendant Southern Highlands Community Association (Southern Highlands) extinguished BONY's deed of trust that encumbered property located at 10995 Calcedonian Street in Las Vegas, 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 Southern Highlands and its foreclosure agent, defendant Alessi & Koenig, LLC (Alessi), for equitable indemnification and wrongful foreclosure in the event that BONY's deed of trust was extinguished by the HOA sale.

SFR and Southern Highlands separately move to dismiss, contending BONY's claims are untimely. 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 limitation 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 and Southern Highlands oppose certification.

The parties are familiar with the facts, and I will not repeat them here except where necessary to resolve the motions. I grant in part Southern Highlands' motion, grant SFR's motion, deny the motion to certify, and grant BONY leave to amend.

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 *1213formulaic 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 limitation 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 known, 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 September 19, 2012, the trustee's deed upon sale was recorded on October 9, 2012, and BONY filed the original complaint in this matter on October 20, 2017. ECF Nos. 1 at 1; 17 at 6. Consequently, claims that are governed by a limitation period of five 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. 17 at 6-8. Southern Highlands argues this claim is essentially one to quiet title so a five-year limitation period applies. SFR argues that this claim alleges statutory violations under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 116 and generally challenges Southern Highlands' authority to foreclose as it did, and thus a three-year limitation period applies under Nevada Revised Statutes § 11.190(3)(a). Alternatively, SFR argues 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 1208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bank-of-ny-v-s-highlands-cmty-assn-nvd-2018.