Thornton v. Portola Del Sol Operator, LLC et al, No. 2:2021cv01123 - Document 35 (D. Nev. 2023)

Court Description: ORDER granting 29 Motion to Extend Time. IT IS ORDERED that time within which to serve Defendant Rene Richardson with the Summonses and Complaint is extended to 5/9/2023. Signed by Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler on 3/8/2023. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - HAM)

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Thornton v. Portola Del Sol Operator, LLC et al Doc. 35 Case 2:21-cv-01123-APG-BNW Document 35 29 Filed 03/08/23 03/07/23 Page 1 of 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ELIZABETH S. CARMONA, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 14687 KRISTOPHER S. PRE, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 14106 NEVADA LEGAL SERVICES, INC. 530 South 6th Street Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 Telephone: (702) 386-0404, ext. 128 ecarmona@nevadalegalservices.org kpre@nevadalegalservices.org Attorneys for Peggy Thornton 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA 9 10 11 12 13 14 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex rel. PEGGY THORNTON, Relator, No.: 2:21-CV-01123 MOTION TO ENLARGE TIME TO SERVE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT – 4th REQUEST and PEGGY THORNTON, Plaintiff, 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 v. PORTOLA DEL SOL OPERATOR, LLC, a foreign limited-liability company; TMIF II PORTOLA, LLC, a foreign limited-liability company; APARTMENT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS, LLC, a foreign limited liability company, and RENE RICHARDSON, as AGENT of PORTOLA DEL SOL OPERATOR, LLC. Defendants. 23 24 25 COMES NOW, Plaintiff, Peggy Thornton, by and through her attorneys, Elizabeth S. 26 Carmona, Esq., and Kristopher S. Pre, Esq., of Nevada Legal Services, Inc., moves this Court for 27 an Order extending time to serve the Summons and Complaint on the Defendant Rene 28 Richardson. 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:21-cv-01123-APG-BNW Document 35 29 Filed 03/08/23 03/07/23 Page 2 of 6 7 1 POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 2 I. STATEMENT OF FACTS 3 On June 14, 2021, Plaintiff filed her qui tam Complaint under seal. This Court previously 4 granted three Motions to Enlarge Time to Serve Summons and Complaint based on an extensive 5 1.5 year-long investigation by the Department of Justice while the Complaint was under seal. 6 Once the Department of Justice concluded its investigation and elected not to intervene, the 7 Court unsealed the Complaint and set a service deadline for March 9, 2023. Plaintiff then, 8 diligently, began service. 9 As of today’s date, Plaintiff has successfully served Defendants Portola Del Sol Operator, 10 LLC, TMIF II Portola, LLC and Apartment Management Consultants, LLC; however, Plaintiff 11 has experienced significant challenges surrounding the service of Defendant Rene Richardson. 12 Plaintiff hired Junes Legal Services, Inc., to serve Defendant Rene Richardson on December 27, 13 2022, but the initial attempt was unsuccessful. See Exhibit 1. Plaintiff then began conducting 14 significant research regarding the whereabouts of Defendant Rene Richardson, but had to enlist 15 the assistance of Junes to perform a “skip trace” when internal research failed to produce any 16 helpful information. Id. The Junes skip trace also proved to be inconclusive based on Plaintiff’s 17 limited knowledge of her demographics and the common nature of her name. Id. Plaintiff is still 18 working on attempting service on Defendant Rene Richardson and plans to attempt service at 19 three, additional addresses within the next week. Id. 20 II. ARGUMENT 21 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m), if a plaintiff shows good cause for the 22 failure to serve a defendant within 90 days, the court must extend the time for service for an 23 appropriate period. Plaintiff has continuously attempted to serve Defendant Rene Richardson, 24 but has been unable to presently do so based on the difficulties described above. Therefore, 25 Plaintiff requests that this Court issue an Order to Enlarge Time to Serve Summons and 26 Complaint on Defendant Rene Richardson in this matter. 27 /// 28 /// 2 Case 2:21-cv-01123-APG-BNW Document 35 29 Filed 03/08/23 03/07/23 Page 3 of 6 7 1 CONCLUSION 2 Wherefore, based on the above points and authorities and the attached Declaration of 3 Elizabeth S. Carmona, Esq., Plaintiff respectfully requests an Order enlarging time for service in 4 regards to Defendant Rene Richardson. 5 DATED this 7th day of March, 2023. 6 Respectfully Submitted, NEVADA LEGAL SERVICES, INC. 7 8 9 10 ____________________________ ELIZABETH S. CARMONA, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 14687 KRISTOPHER S. PRE, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 14106 530 South 6th Street Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 Telephone: (702) 386-0404, ext. 128 ecarmona@nlslaw.net Attorneys for Peggy Thornton 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3 Case 2:21-cv-01123-APG-BNW Document 35 29 Filed 03/08/23 03/07/23 Page 4 of 6 7 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA 2 3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex rel. PEGGY THORNTON, Relator, FILED UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(2) 4 5 and 6 PEGGY THORNTON, 7 Plaintiff, 8 No.: 2:21-CV-01123 ORDER TO ENLARGE TIME TO SERVE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT – 4th REQUEST v. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 PORTOLA DEL SOL OPERATOR, LLC, a foreign limited-liability company; TMIF II PORTOLA, LLC, a foreign limited-liability company; APARTMENT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS, LLC, a foreign limited liability company, and RENE RICHARDSON, as AGENT of PORTOLA DEL SOL OPERATOR, LLC. Defendants. Upon consideration of the declaration of Plaintiff and good cause appearing, 17 18 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that time within which to serve Defendant Rene 19 9, 2023. day of Richardson with the Summonses and Complaint is extended to May the _________ 20 ________________, 2023. 21 DATED: March 8, 2023. DATED this ______ day of ____________, 2023. 22 23 ____________________________________ DISTRICT COURT JUDGE 24 25 26 Respectfully Submitted, NEVADA LEGAL SERVICES, INC. 27 28 4 Case 2:21-cv-01123-APG-BNW Document 35 29 Filed 03/08/23 03/07/23 Page 5 6 of 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 EXHIBIT 1 Case 2:21-cv-01123-APG-BNW Document 35 29 Filed 03/08/23 03/07/23 Page 6 7 of 6 7 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct: 1. On December 27, 2022, Junes Legal Service, Inc. (“Junes”), attempted service of Defendant Rene Richardson. This attempt was unsuccessful. 2. I then began researching Defendant Rene Richardson’s whereabouts online, but was unable to find out any helpful information that would aid in service. 3. In February 2023, I requested that Junes conduct a “skip trace” on Defendant Rene Richardson. 4. Junes responded to my request and informed me that they experienced “84 hits by the name Rene Richardson in Las Vegas.” 5. We are currently in the process of requesting that Junes attempt service at three, additional addresses. 6. We have been diligent in our efforts to attempt service of Defendant Rene Richardson. Executed on this 7th day of March, 2023. __________________________________________ ELIZABETH S. CARMONA, ESQ.

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