Bennett v. Dunn

504 F. Supp. 981, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15486
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedDecember 16, 1980
DocketCiv. LV 80-136 RDF
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 504 F. Supp. 981 (Bennett v. Dunn) 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
Bennett v. Dunn, 504 F. Supp. 981, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15486 (D. Nev. 1980).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

ROGER D. FOLEY, District Judge.

Pursuant to Rule 65, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, plaintiffs have moved for a preliminary injunction enjoining the execution sale until a trial can be had on the merits. Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), FRCP, defendants have moved for an order dismissing the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On September 4, 1974, a default judgment was entered in the Central District of California in favor of John Riley Kennedy and against Newport Securities Corporation, a corporation; A. Gurdon Wolfson; Martin Sussqn; Roy O. Dawson; and Rex Richard Reno. John Riley Kennedy caused a writ of execution to be issued by the Clerk of the Central District of California upon said judgment and levied upon the California property of the defendant therein, Roy O. Dawson. To avoid an execution sale of his property, Roy O. Dawson paid Kennedy $20,000. Rather than have satisfaction of judgment entered, Roy O. Dawson attempted to keep the judgment alive by obtaining an assignment from Kennedy to his wife, June G. Dawson, who is not a defendant in the action in the Central District Court of California. This assignment was made on March 27, 1978, and contained a release by Kennedy of Roy O. Dawson.

On June 29, 1979, attorneys for June G. Dawson mailed a certified copy of the said judgment to the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada asking that the same be filed therein. A copy of the judgment received by the Clerk of this Court contained a certification of the General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Center, and not the certification stamp of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, because the file had been transferred by the Clerk of the Central District of California to the General Services Administration Records Center. A copy of the GSA certificate is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

On July 6, 1979, the Clerk of this district filed the certified copy of the judgment in Miscellaneous Civil File No. 781. On July 17, 1979, the attorneys for June G. Dawson requested that a copy of the said judgment, on file with the Clerk of this Court, be sent to the First American Title Company of Las Vegas for recording. A copy of the judgment was certified by the Clerk of this Court on July 25,1979, and was recorded on July 31, 1979, in the office of the County Recorder of Clark County, Nevada, in Book 1094, Instrument No. 1053213. The recorded instrument does not contain a certifica *983 tion by the General Services Administration, National Archives and Record Center, nor a certification by the Clerk of the Central District of California. The recorded instrument contains only the certification stamp of the Clerk of this district, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit B.

If the recording was made according to law, and if the judgment was still valid, the judgment would constitute a judgment lien upon the Nevada real property of A. Gurdon Wolfson, defendant in the action in the Central District.

On October 22, 1979, plaintiffs John and Patricia Bennett purchased a condominium from A. Gurdon Wolfson located at 3111 Bel Aire Drive, Unit 4-D, Las Vegas, Nevada.

For some unapparent reason, counsel for June G. Dawson submitted to the Clerk of this Court another identical copy of the judgment entered in the Central District, again certified by the General Services Administration, the certification being identical with Exhibit A hereto, and on January 15, 1980, the Clerk of this Court did again file the Central District judgment, as certified by GSA, in the records of this Court, this time as Miscellaneous Civil No. 873. Again, there was no certification by the Clerk of the Central District of California, only the certification of the GSA.

Proceeding further in Miscellaneous Civil No. 873, and not in Miscellaneous Civil No. 781, counsel for June G. Dawson caused the Clerk of this Court to issue a writ of execution on the judgment entered in this Court on July 6, 1979 (Miscellaneous Civil No. 781). The writ of execution was issued by the Clerk of this Court on February 26, 1980, and apparently levied upon the condominium on Bel Aire Drive that, as stated aforesaid, had been sold by A. Gurdon Wolfson on October 22, 1979, to the plaintiffs.

The United States Marshal gave notice of execution sale by publication, scheduling a sale at public auction for May 12, 1980, at 10:00 A.M. (The notice of sale and the writ of execution were filed in Miscellaneous Civil File No. 873 on September 5, 1980.)

On May 7, 1980, the Bennetts filed their complaint in this action against the Marshal, Roy O. Dawson and June G. Dawson and on the same date applied for a temporary restraining order and for a motion for preliminary injunction. On May 8, 1980, this Court entered a temporary restraining order enjoining the execution sale of the property at 3111 Bel Aire Drive, Unit 4-D, Las Vegas, Nevada. On May 13, 1980, the temporary restraining order was extended to June 23, 1980, by stipulation of counsel; on June 5, 1980, to September 8, 1980; and on September 5, 1980, further extended to November 3, 1980, all by stipulation of counsel. This Court heard plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction on November 3, 1980, and took the same under submission, obtaining the further stipulation of counsel that the temporary restraining order remain in full force and effect until the Court decided the motion for preliminary injunction and a motion to dismiss on behalf of the defendants Roy O. Dawson and June G. Dawson that was also heard on November 3, 1980.

PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

Plaintiffs’ first contention is that the defendants failed to properly file and record the judgment from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Plaintiffs also argue that since the judgment which was executed upon was filed in January of 1980, there could be no valid lien in effect at the time the plaintiffs acquired the property in October of 1979. Plaintiffs further argue that even if the judgment was properly filed in July of 1979, the recording in the county records was insufficient to create a valid lien under Nevada law because it was not certified by the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

*984 The federal scheme for enforcement of judgments and the creation of liens on real property with judgments is contained in Title 28 U.S.C. §§ 1962 and 1963. Title 28 U.S.C. § 1962 provides as follows:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
504 F. Supp. 981, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bennett-v-dunn-nvd-1980.