Rocktop Partners, LLC, et al., v. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC et al, No. 2:2017cv00604 - Document 400 (D. Nev. 2021)
Court Description: ORDER granting 398 Motion to Extend Time; Discovery due by 12/22/2021. Motions due by 1/21/2022. Signed by Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler on 10/20/2021. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DRS)
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Rocktop Partners, LLC, et al., v. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC et al Doc. 400 Case 2:17-cv-00604-RFB-BNW Document 398 Filed 10/19/21 Page 1 of 7 1 DAVID A. HUBBERT Acting Assistant Attorney General 2 8 E. CARMEN RAMIREZ TY HALASZ Trial Attorneys, Tax Division U.S. Department of Justice P.O. Box 683 Washington, D.C. 20044 T: (202) 616-2885 (Ramirez) T: (202) 307-6484 (Halasz) F: (202) 307-0054 E.Carmen.Ramirez@usdoj.gov Ty.Halasz@usdoj.gov Western.Taxcivil@usedoj.gov 9 Counsel for the United States of America 3 4 5 6 7 10 WRIGHT, FINLAY & ZAK, LLP 11 Darren T. Brenner (Nev. Bar 8386) Jory C. Garabedian (Nev. Bar 10352) 7785 W. Sahara Ave, Suite 200 Las Vegas, NV 89117 (702) 475-7964; Fax: (702) 946-1345 dbrenner@wrightlegal.net 12 13 14 15 20 21 22 23 24 25 LIPSON NEILSON, COLE, SELTZER & GARIN, P.C. J. WILLIAM EBERT (Nev. Bar 2697) JANEEN V. ISAACSON (Nev. Bar 6429) 9900 Covington Cross Dr., Ste. 120 Las Vegas, Nevada 89144 Counsel for Anthem Country Club Community Association IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEVADA 17 19 DIANA S. EBRON (Nev. Bar 10580) JACQUELINE GILBERT (Nev. Bar 10593) 7625 Dean Martin Drive, Ste. 110 Las Vegas, Nevada 89139 Counsel for SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC Counsel for Rocktop Partners, LLC; and Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, as Trustee of Stanwich Mortgage Loan Trust A 16 18 KIM GILBERT EBRON ROCKTOP PARTNERS, LLC; and WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, as Trustee of Stanwich Mortgage Loan Trust A, Plaintiffs, v. SFR INVESTMENTS POOL 1, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company; and ANTHEM COUNTRY CLUB COMMUNITY, ASSOCIATION, a Nevada nonprofit corporation, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 2:17-cv-00604-RFB-BNW consolidated with Case No. 2:17-cv-00916-KJD-BNW JOINT MOTION BY THE ACTIVELY LITIGATING PARTIES TO EXTEND COURT’S DEADLINES TO FACILITATE EFFORTS TO COMPROMISE AND [PROPOSED] ORDER (FOURTH JOINT REQUEST UNDER CURRENT SCHEDULING ORDER) 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:17-cv-00604-RFB-BNW Document 398 Filed 10/19/21 Page 2 of 7 1 2 Defendants. _______________________________________ 3 _______________________________________ 4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 5 Plaintiff, 6 v. 7 8 9 10 11 LEON BENZER; SFR INVESTMENTS POOL 1, LLC; ROCKTOP PARTNERS, LLC; WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, as Trustee of Stanwich Mortgage Loan Trust A; ANTHEM COUNTRY CLUB COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION; REPUBLIC SILVER STATE DISPOSAL INC., and INDEMNITY COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA, 12 13 Defendants. _______________________________________ 14 15 16 17 ROCKTOP PARTNERS, LLC; and WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, as Trustee of Stanwich Mortgage Loan Trust A, Cross-Claimants, Counter-Claimants, 18 v. 19 20 21 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; LEON BENZER, an individual; SFR INVESTMENTS POOL 1, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company; and ANTHEM COUNTRY CLUB ASSOCIATION, a Nevada corporation, 22 23 Cross-Defendants, Counter-Defendants. _______________________________________ 24 25 2 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case 2:17-cv-00604-RFB-BNW Document 398 Filed 10/19/21 Page 3 of 7 The Court has permitted discovery to be re-opened for a limited purpose and set an 1 2 expedited briefing schedule to resolve any discovery disputes. The litigating parties have been 3 discussing a settlement. The parties are continuing to negotiate and have made progress in their 4 settlement talks, but there are several logistical issues that must be worked through. Therefore, Anthem Country Club Community Association (“Anthem”), SFR Investments 5 6 Pool 1, LLC (“SFR”), Rocktop Partners LLC (“Rocktop”) and Wilmington Savings Fund 7 Society, FSB, as Trustee of Stanwich Mortgage Loan Trust A (“Wilmington”, the Rocktop, “the 8 loan holders”) and the United States1 jointly move the Court for an order extending the discovery 9 deadline, including the deadlines for bringing discovery motions, from November 22, 2021, to 10 December 22, 2021, and to extend the deadline dispositive motions from December 22, 2021, to 11 January 21, 2022, i.e., 30 days for each. 12 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES On December 20, 2020, the Court ordered that discovery be re-opened, in light of new 13 14 issues that arose after most discovery had closed. (ECF No. 342 at 19.) Discovery is currently 15 set to close November 22, 2021. (ECF No. 391.) At present, the open discovery primarily 16 concerns: 1) disputes over the loan holders’ written responses to the United States’ most recent 17 discovery requests; and 2) a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition that the United States seeks to take of the 18 loan holders. The United States had planned to take the deposition after the written discovery 19 responses were completed and issues resolved. However, the United States and the loan holders 20 were attempting to resolve discovery disputes without further motions practice. These 21 discussions grew into more global settlement discussions with the other litigating parties, and all 22 23 24 1 25 None of the other named parties are actively litigating. 3 Case 2:17-cv-00604-RFB-BNW Document 398 Filed 10/19/21 Page 4 of 7 1 litigating parties believe their resources are best directed to fully exploring a resolution to the 2 overall dispute. 3 There are of course many issues to be resolved in reaching a global settlement among 4 five litigating parties, especially when the dispute centers on seven-figure property. As the 5 parties previously reported (ECF No. 390), they had been exploring an agreement under which 6 the property would be sold and the proceeds allocated among them. The loan holders and SFR 7 used the time granted under previous extensions to interview a number of real estate 8 agents/brokers about listing and marketing the property and their initial opinions on estimated 9 value. They had narrowed down the list of agents/brokers to one leading candidate, who 10 recommended some moderate repairs to maximize the property’s estimated value. The parties 11 had also been discussing how to allocate the sales proceeds. They were also investigating the 12 presence of other potential liens on the property and negotiating how such liens might be 13 resolved, as might be required to convey clean title to a third party. 14 Since the prior extension was granted, SFR has continued to seek additional broker price 15 opinions (aka “BPOs”). Due to uncertainties in the market, concerns about the price of repairs to 16 the property, and other factors, the parties are now discussing a settlement where the property 17 would not be sold to a third party, and the parties would instead settle their disputes with each 18 other for cash payments. Negotiations have been extended in part because one of the parties is 19 working with a new insurance company that may ultimately be responsible for a portion of the 20 payments, and counsel has not had prior dealings with the company. 21 While there is still more than a month before the discovery cutoff, the parties would need 22 to use that time to prepare any motions regarding the discovery objections, and take the 23 outstanding Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of the loan holders. Preparing a representative from the 24 loan holders and conducting a multi-party deposition are time consuming and costly enterprises, 25 and the parties wish to spend the time focused on a resolution if at all possible. 4 Case 2:17-cv-00604-RFB-BNW Document 398 Filed 10/19/21 Page 5 of 7 1 The parties continue to believe a resolution is possible, and thus request a further 2 extension of 30 days to work through these and other issues. The request is not to create undue 3 delay, but to explore settlement of their title disputes more globally and, if a resolution is not 4 possible, allow the parties to streamline the potential discovery disputes, and narrow the scope of 5 the previously-noticed deposition. 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 // 12 // 13 // 14 // 15 // 16 // 17 // 18 // 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 5 Case 2:17-cv-00604-RFB-BNW Document 398 Filed 10/19/21 Page 6 of 7 1 WHEREFORE, the undersigned respectfully request that the Court extend discovery 2 deadlines, including the deadlines for bringing motions concerning the pending objections to the 3 United States’ written discovery requests, as well as the dispositive motion deadline, by 30 days. 4 5 DATED October 19, 2021 6 Respectfully submitted, 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 LIPSON, NEILSON, COLE, SELTZER & GARIN, P.C. KIM GILBERT EBRON By: /s/ Janeen V. Isaacson J. William Ebert (Nev. Bar No. 2697) Janeen V. Isaacson (Nev. Bar No. 6429) 9900 Covington Cross Dr., Ste. 120 Las Vegas, Nevada 89144 By: /s/ Diana S. Ebron Diana S. Ebron (Nev. Bar No. 10580) Jacqueline Gilbert (Nev. Bar No. 10593) 7625 Dean Martin Drive, Ste. 110 Las Vegas, Nevada 89139 Counsel for Anthem Country Club Community Association DAVID A. HUBBERT Acting Assistant Attorney General By: /s/ E. Carmen Ramirez E. Carmen Ramirez Trial Attorney, Tax Division U.S. Department of Justice P.O. Box 683 Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for the United States 18 WRIGHT, FINLAY & ZAK, LLP 19 By: /s/ Jory C. Garabedian Darren T. Brenner (Nev. Bar 8386) Jory C. Garabedian (Nev. Bar 10352) 7785 W. Sahara Ave, Suite 200 Las Vegas, NV 89117 (702) 475-7964; Fax: (702) 946-1345 dbrenner@wrightlegal.net 20 21 22 23 24 Counsel for SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC IT IS SO ORDERED: _____________________________ UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE or UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE Signed the 20th of October, 2021 Counsel for Rocktop Partners, LLC; and Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, as Trustee of Stanwich Mortgage Loan Trust A 25 6 Case 2:17-cv-00604-RFB-BNW Document 398 Filed 10/19/21 Page 7 of 7 1 2 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that service of the foregoing is made this October 19, 2021, 3 via the Court’s ECF system to all current parties who have appeared electronically. Defendant 4 Leon Benzer has defaulted. However, the United States is sending this filing to his last known 5 address. Such mailing may take two business days to complete, due to in-office staffing 6 limitations during the present pandemic. 7 8 9 10 11 Leon Benzer, RN # 47521-048 United States Penitentiary P.O. BOX 24550 TUCSON, AZ 85734 /s/ E. Carmen Ramirez E. CARMEN RAMIREZ Trial Attorney, Tax Division U.S. Department of Justice 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 7
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