Titus Tjalas, et al. v. Kevin Reese Ruark, et al.

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided March 26, 2026·No. 2:24-cv-01641·Unknown

Opinion

WO

Titus Tjalas, et al., No. CV-24-01641-PHX-MTL

Plaintiffs, ORDER

v.

Kevin Reese Ruark, et al.,

Defendants. This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Amended Motion to Appoint Receiver. (Doc. 93.) The motion is fully briefed. (Docs. 93, 103, 106.) The Court finds it appropriate to decide the motion without oral argument or an evidentiary hearing. For the following reasons, the Court grants the motion in part and will appoint a receiver over Atlantic Home Health Care LLC and Atlantic Home Health Care LLC dba Haven Home Health Care LLC. This is a Civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) case “predicated on mail fraud, wire fraud, and financial institution fraud.” 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq.; (Doc. 90 at 1). Plaintiffs Act Now Management LLC, Act Now Health Care Solutions LLC, Atlantic Home Health Care LLC, Atlantic Home Health Care LLC dba Haven Home Health Care LLC, and Titus Tjalas (formerly known as Kirk Tjalas) allege that a slew of defendants engaged in a several years’ long pattern and practice of unlawfully sweeping funds from the bank account(s) of Plaintiff[s] Atlantic Home Health Care, LLC (“AHHC 1”) and/or Atlantic Home Health Care, LLC dba Haven Home Health Care, LLC (“AHHC 2”) into the bank accounts of multiple other insider entities to deplete the funds of AHHC 1 and AHHC2 simultaneously leaving Plaintiffs with significant tax liabilities and tax liens and with a loss of millions of dollars in income. (Doc. 90 at 1.) Plaintiffs commenced this action on July 3, 2024. (Doc. 1.) On September 18, 2025, this Court granted Defendant Brian Friedberg’s Motion to Adopt the Motion to Strike and Motion to Adopt Reply to Motion to Strike (Docs. 53, 69), granted the other Defendants’ Motion to Strike (Doc. 51), and struck Plaintiffs’ first amended complaint (Doc. 17). (Doc. 88.) On October 24, 2025, Plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint (“SAC”). (Doc. 90.) Plaintiffs also filed an Amended Motion to Appoint Receiver (Doc. 93) on October 30, 2025. Plaintiffs request that a receiver be appointed for AHHC 1 and AHHC 2 (collectively, the “Atlantic Companies”), and Defendant Haven EEOI Holdings, LLC (“Haven EEOI”). (Doc. 93 at 1-2.) On December 1, 2025, Defendants Jamin Ruark, Lauren Ratiani, Haven Holdings MI LLC, Haven EEOI, and Charis Healthcare Holdings LLC (the “Haven Defendants”) and Defendants Kevin Ruark, Janice Ruark, the Charis Foundation Inc., Matthew and Breeana Saagman, and Absolutely Haven LLC (the “Charis Defendants”) jointly responded in opposition. (Doc. 103.) On December 8, 2025, Plaintiffs filed their reply. (Doc. 106.) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 66 “governs the appointment of a receiver in federal court.” Off. Depot Inc. v. Zuccarini, 596 F.3d 696, 701 (9th Cir. 2010); see also Can. Life Assurance Co. v. LaPeter, 563 F.3d 837, 843 (9th Cir. 2009). Rule 66 provides: These rules govern an action in which the appointment of a receiver is sought or a receiver sues or is sued. But the practice in administering an estate by a receiver or a similar court-appointed officer must accord with the historical practice in federal courts or with a local rule. An action in which a receiver has been appointed may be dismissed only by court order. Fed. R. Civ. P. 66. Appointment of “a receiver is an extraordinary equitable remedy, which should be applied with caution.” Can. Life, 563 F.3d at 844 (quotation marks omitted). A motion for appointment of a receiver should be “granted only in cases of clear necessity to protect plaintiff’s interests in the property.” Solis v. Matheson, 563 F.3d 425, 437 (9th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). A district court has “broad powers and wide discretion” in deciding whether to appoint a receiver. See SEC v. Lincoln Thrift Ass’n, 577 F.2d 600, 606 (9th Cir. 1978); see also Can. Life, 563 F.3d at 845. And the “power of a district court to impose a receivership or grant other forms of ancillary relief does not in the first instance depend on a statutory grant of power . . . . [but] derives from the inherent power of a court of equity to fashion effective relief.” SEC v. Wencke, 622 F.2d 1363, 1369 (9th Cir. 1980). Although “there is no precise formula for determining when a receiver may be appointed,” the Ninth Circuit directs courts to consider: (1) whether [the party] seeking the appointment has a valid claim; (2) whether there is fraudulent conduct or the probability of fraudulent conduct, by the defendant; (3) whether the property is in imminent danger of being lost, concealed, injured, diminished in value, or squandered; (4) whether legal remedies are inadequate; (5) whether the harm to plaintiff by denial of the appointment would outweigh injury to the party opposing appointment; (6) the plaintiff’s probable success in the action and the possibility of irreparable injury to plaintiff’s interest in the property; and, (7) whether [the] plaintiff’s interests sought to be protected will in fact be well-served by receivership. Can. Life, 563 F.3d at 844 (alterations in original) (citation and quotation marks omitted). No single factor is dispositive, and courts may “consider a host of relevant factors.” Id. at 845. Applying the Canada Life Factors, the Court evaluates whether Plaintiffs have demonstrated that appointment of a receiver is appropriate in this case. A. Valid Claim The first factor is whether Plaintiffs have a valid claim. Id. at 844. The Court previously held in its Order denying Defendants’ motions to strike the SAC that Plaintiffs state a plausible claim for relief that satisfies Rule 9’s heightened pleading standard. (Doc. 108 at 5); Fed. R. Civ. P. 9; see Magma Holding, Inc. v. Au-Yeung, No. 2:20-cv-00406- RFB-BNW, 2020 WL 2025365, at *9 (D. Nev. Apr. 26, 2020) (finding first factor weighed in favor of appointing receiver where court determined that the movant “pled legally plausible claims for civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment, alter ego, and injunctive relief for an accounting of the property at issue”).* But the mere fact of a valid claim in this lawsuit is not enough to appoint a receiver with managerial authority. “Because a receivership is a serious interference with the opposing party’s property rights, including possession or control, the party seeking the receivership must show . . . ‘some legally recognized right in that property that amounts to more than a mere claim against [the opponent].’” Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Gicana, No. CV 16-08317-RSWL (RAOx), 2019 WL 4316515, at *3 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 2, 2019) (second alteration in original) (quoting 12 Wright & Miller, Fed. Prac. & Proc. Civ. § 2383 (3d ed., Apr. 2019 update)), report and recommendation adopted, 2019 WL 5102461 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 11, 2019). Here, Plaintiffs Act Now Management LLC, Act Now Health Care Solutions LLC, and Tjalas allege a 50% membership interest in AHHC 1, and Act Now Health Care Solutions LLC and Tjalas allege a 50% membership interest in AHHC 2. (Doc. 90 ¶¶ 8, 11.) The Charis Defendants and the Haven Defendants do not dispute that at least one of these plaintiffs has a membership interest in the Atlantic Companies. (See Doc. 109 ¶¶ 8, 11; Doc. 110 ¶¶ 8, 11.) Plaintiffs do not appear to have alleged a similar interest in

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Titus Tjalas, et al. v. Kevin Reese Ruark, et al., (D. Ariz. 2026).

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Related

Solis v. Matheson
563 F.3d 425 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
Canada Life Assurance Co. v. LaPeter
563 F.3d 837 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
Office Depot, Inc. v. Zuccarini
596 F.3d 696 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)