Couturier v. American Invsco Corp.

10 F. Supp. 3d 1143, 2014 WL 1305813
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedMarch 31, 2014
DocketCase Nos. 2:12-cv-01104-APG-NJK, 2:12-cv-01106-APG-NJK, 2:12-cv-01107-APG-NJK, 2:12-cv-01108-APG-NJK, 2:12-cv-01110-APG-NJK, 2:12-cv-01111-APG-NJK
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 10 F. Supp. 3d 1143 (Couturier v. American Invsco Corp.) 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
Couturier v. American Invsco Corp., 10 F. Supp. 3d 1143, 2014 WL 1305813 (D. Nev. 2014).

Opinion

Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Motion to Dismiss and Denying Request for Hearing1

ANDREW P. GORDON, United States Magistrate Judge.

Defendant Koval Flamingo, LLC (“Koval”) filed a motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 64), which was joined by American Invsco [1147]*1147Corporation (“Invsco”), Condominium Rental Services, Inc. (“CRS”), Nicholas Gouletas (“Gouletas”), Meridian Private Residences CH, LLC (“Private Residences”), and Rebekah Desmet (“Desmet”). (Dkt. Nos. 65, 68, 69.) For the reasons set forth below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part. In addition, Plaintiffs rogue motion entitled “Motion for Oral Hearing on Order Shortening Time on All Motions Pending Longer than 60 Days” (Dkt. No. 112) is denied as improper.

1. BACKGROUND

This case arises from the purchase of a condominium (the “Condo”) in the Meridian complex in May 2005, pursuant to a Purchase Agreement between buyers Bruce and Eleanor Couturier (the “Couturiers” or “Plaintiffs”) and seller Koval.2 Immediately prior to the purchase, the Meridian complex had been converted from apartments into condominiums. Nearly simultaneous with the purchase in May 2005,3 the Couturiers leased the Condo to CRS, an entity distinct from Koval. The Couturiers gave CRS the authority to sublease. In essence, they hired CRS as a rental/property manager, but instead of directly contracting for that purpose they leased the Condo to CRS with the concurrent right to sublease.

At the termination of CRS’s two-year lease in May 2007, the Couturiers agreed to a three-year lease extension with CRS that would run through March 2010. CRS agreed to the extension on the condition that the Couturiers contract with Koval for approximately $30,000 in new furniture and other unspecified upgrades to the Condo. At the beginning of 2008, CRS informed the Couturiers that it could no longer perform under the lease. In February 2008, the Couturiers signed a new “Condominium Resort Lease” with Private Residences. This lease similarly Private Residences (as the tenant) the authority to sublease. The arrangement apparently fell apart when, among other things, Private Residences defaulted.

• The Couturiers now claim that Koval and Invsco breached the May 2005 Purchase Agreement. The Couturiers assert that Invsco was the developer of the condominium conversion, was involved in the sales and management of the condo units, and was Koval’s agent in the purchase transaction. The Couturiers also claim that CRS and Koval breached the May 2007 lease extension and that Private Residences breached its February 2008 lease. The Couturiers next claim that CRS, Private Residences, and Koval (in its own capacity and as Invsco’s principal) breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The Couturiers further claim that Invsco, Koval, CRS, and Desmet (an alleged employee or agent of at least one of the Defendants), committed conversion by not providing the upgraded furniture as contracted. Finally, the Couturiers claim that Koyal, Invsco (as Koval’s agent), and Gouletas (an alleged owner and developer of the Meridian condominiums), fraudulently concealed the fact that the floor coverings installed during the apartment-to-condominium conversion exceeded the building’s load-bearing capacity.

[1148]*1148Defendants seek to dismiss the Couturiers’ First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) for a variety of reasons.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Legal Standard — Motion to Dismiss

A properly pleaded complaint must provide a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). While Rule 8 does not require detailed factual allegations, it demands more than “labels and conclusions” or a “formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “Factual allegations must be enough to rise above the speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must “contain[] enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 696, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

District courts must apply a two-step approach when considering motions to dismiss. Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. First, the court must accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations and draw all reasonable inferences from the complaint in the plaintiffs favor. Id.; Brown v. Elec. Arts, Inc., 724 F.3d 1235, 1247-48 (9th Cir.2013). Legal conclusions, however, are not entitled to the same assumption of truth even if cast in the form of factual allegations. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937; Brown, 724 F.3d at 1248. Mere recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported only by conclusory statements, do not suffice. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

Second, the court must consider whether the factual allegations in the complaint allege a plausible claim for relief. Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. A claim is facially plausible when the complaint alleges facts that allow the court to draw a reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. Id. at 663, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Where the complaint does not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has “alleged- — but it has not shown — that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). When the claims have not crossed the line from conceivable to plausible, the complaint must be dismissed. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will ... be a context-specific task that requires the [district] court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

On a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), courts ordinarily consider documents incorporated into the complaint by reference and matters of which a court may take judicial notice. Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues &, Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308, 322, 127 S.Ct. 2499, 168 L.Ed.2d 179 (2007).

B. Vicarious Liability (Agency)/Alter Ego Liability

The Couturiers have sufficiently pleaded that Invsco acted as Koval’s agent for the sales transaction. The following allegations are sufficient to give rise to a reasonable inference that Invsco was Ko-val’s agent: (i) the Couturiers met with two Invsco employees, Josette Culverwell and Amber Morelli, during the initial sales meeting at the Meridian offices; (ii) Invsco informed the Couturiers that although Meridian was owned by Koval (presumably referring to title ownership), Invsco and [1149]

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Bluebook (online)
10 F. Supp. 3d 1143, 2014 WL 1305813, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/couturier-v-american-invsco-corp-nvd-2014.