United States v. Persaud

420 F. Supp. 2d 1263, 97 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1084, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6464, 2006 WL 598184
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 18, 2006
Docket6:02-cv-01528
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 420 F. Supp. 2d 1263 (United States v. Persaud) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Persaud, 420 F. Supp. 2d 1263, 97 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1084, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6464, 2006 WL 598184 (M.D. Fla. 2006).

Opinion

ORDER

CONWAY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This cause comes before the Court for consideration of Defendant Sabeta Per-saud’s “Objections to Opposed [sic] Amended Final Judgment of Foreclosure, Amended Decree of Foreclosure and Order of Sale and Notices of Sale of Real Property With Verification” (Doc. 203) and the United States’ Response (Doc. 206) thereto.

II. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

To reiterate in abbreviated form what the Court stated in a prior order, the principal thrust of the United States’ initial claims in this case was that Sabeta Persaud’s husband, Krishnalalla (“Kris”) Persaud, owed back taxes and that he fraudulently conveyed his interests in several real properties to third parties, including Sabeta. In addition to Kris, the United States sued Sabeta, entities alleged to be nominees, and others who might claim an interest in the subject real properties.

Among other things, the Government alleged that Kris had fraudulently conveyed to Sabeta his interest in real property located at 8236 Conroy-Windermere Road (“Parcel I”). Prior to the conveyance, the property had been jointly owned by Kris and Sabeta; 1 following the transaction, the property was titled in Sabeta’s name only. The United States sought to set aside that transaction as a fraudulent conveyance.

The United States also sought to set aside a transaction involving property located at 1137 31st Street (“Parcel V’). The Government alleged that Kris and Sabeta fraudulently conveyed the parcel, which had previously been held in both their names, to a third party.

Sabeta was defaulted by the Clerk for failure to respond to the Complaint. See Doc. 28. On December 8, 2003, the United States filed a motion seeking a default judgment against Sabeta. See Doc. 86. Therein, the United States requested entry of a judgment providing that Sabeta had “no enforceable lien upon or interest in the real property subject of this action.” Id. On December 17, 2003, the Court granted that motion, stating that it would enter a judgment at the conclusion of this case holding that Sabeta and other defaulted defendants, “do not have enforceable liens upon or interests in the real property subject of this action.” Doc. 101 at 3.

*1266 On July 1, 2005, the Court entered an Order granting the United States’ motion for summary judgment against Kris. See Doc. 157. That Order required the United States to submit a proposed form of final judgment addressing its claims against all parties in the case. The United States complied with that directive. Accordingly, on August 19, 2005, the Court entered a Final Judgment of Foreclosure (Doc. 165) and a separate Decree of Foreclosure and Order of Sale (Doc. 166). The effect of the final judgment was to completely extinguish any interest Sabeta Persaud had in the real properties subject to suit, including Parcels I and V.

On September 2, 2005, Sabeta filed motions pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59(e), 60(b)(4) and 60(b)(6), seeking relief from the August 19th final judgment. See Docs. 172, 176 & 177. She did not seek to “undo” her default status, or to alter the disposition of the properties other than Parcels I and V, or to vacate the Court’s determination that the conveyances of Parcels I and V were fraudulent. Rather, she attacked only those portions of the final judgment that completely extinguished her interests in Parcels I and V. Essentially, Sabeta contended that undoing the fraudulent conveyances restored to her an undivided one-half interest in the properties, rather than completely divesting her of her interest in the parcels. 2 However, she conceded that the United States might be able to force a partition and sale of her interest.

On November 8, 2005, following an evi-dentiary hearing, the Court entered an Order granting Sabeta’s post-judgment motions on the basis that it was erroneous to completely divest Sabeta of her interests in Parcels I and V. See Doc. 196. The Court specifically found that the Government had overreached in this case and obtained relief against Sabeta that it was not entitled to. Id. The Court directed the United States to submit a proposed judgment and foreclosure papers consistent with the rulings set forth in the Order, and granted Sabeta a window of time to object to such submissions. Id.

On November 18, 2005, the United States submitted a proposed Amended Final Judgment of Foreclosure, a proposed Amended Decree of Foreclosure and Order of Sale, and proposed notices of sale. See Doc. 200 & attachments. Those documents acknowledged Sabeta’s undivided one-half interest in Parcels I and V.

On December 7, 2005, Sabeta filed the instant “Objections to Opposed [sic] Amended Final Judgment of Foreclosure, Amended Decree of Foreclosure and Order of Sale and Notices of Sale of Real Property With Verification” (Doc. 203). The United States filed a Response (Doc. 206) to that document on December 29, 2005.

III. THE PARTIES’ POSITIONS

At the outset, Sabeta again concedes “that the Court does, indeed, have the power to order a sale of the complete interests in the subject property, pursuant to the provisions of [26] U.S.C. § 7403 and the decision of the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. Rodgers, 461 U.S. 677, 103 S.Ct. 2132, 76 L.Ed.2d 236 (1983).” Doc. 203 at 2 (parallel case citation omitted). However, she notes that Rodgers recognizes that a forced sale is not mandatory, and that a district court enjoys some dis *1267 cretion in the matter. She maintains that when the factors identified in Rodgers are applied to her circumstances, equitable considerations warrant relief from the usual requirement of forced partition and sale as to the two parcels in which she has an undivided one-half interest. She asks the Court to order the sale of all of the other properties first, before compelling the sale of Parcels I and V, asserting that the other properties should be of sufficient worth to satisfy Kris’s tax liability. 3 If the sale of the other properties yields a shortfall, Sabeta argues that only then should the Court order the sale of Parcels I and V (with Parcel I being sold last), and that, in any event, only Kris’s undivided one-half interest in those two parcels be ordered sold. In other words, Sabeta asks that her interests in the two parcels not be sold at all.

In response, the United States contests the assertion that the properties other than Parcels I and V are valuable enough to satisfy Kris Persaud’s indebtedness. 4 To support its position, the Government has filed an affidavit of an IRS official regarding the properties’ estimated worth.

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Bluebook (online)
420 F. Supp. 2d 1263, 97 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1084, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6464, 2006 WL 598184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-persaud-flmd-2006.