Nationstar Mortgage LLC v. Saticoy Bay LLC Series 6132 ( 2021 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS APR 15 2021
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC, No. 20-15212
Plaintiff-counter- D.C. No.
defendant-Appellee, 2:16-cv-01834-APG-EJY
v.
MEMORANDUM*
SATICOY BAY LLC SERIES 6132
PEGGOTTY,
Defendant-counter-
claimant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Nevada
Andrew P. Gordon, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted April 13, 2021**
Pasadena, California
Before: PAEZ and VANDYKE, Circuit Judges, and GLEASON,*** District Judge.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as
provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral
argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
***
The Honorable Sharon L. Gleason, United States District Judge for the District
of Alaska, sitting by designation.
Saticoy Bay LLC Series 6132 Peggotty (“Saticoy Bay”) appeals the district
court’s order granting summary judgment to Nationstar Mortgage LLC
(“Nationstar”) finding that Nationstar’s predecessor preserved its deed of trust by
tendering the superpriority amount prior to the Copperfield Homeowners
Association’s (“HOA”) foreclosure sale of a residential property. We have
jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we review the district court’s order
granting summary judgment and its interpretation of state law de novo. Tabares v.
City of Huntington Beach, 988 F.3d 1119, 1124 (9th Cir. 2021). We affirm.
Nationstar has sufficiently established that prior to the foreclosure sale, its
predecessor tendered nine months of unpaid HOA assessments totaling $324.00 to
the HOA’s agent, who rejected the payment.1 Thus, the superpriority portion of the
HOA’s lien was extinguished and Saticoy Bay took ownership of the property
subject to the deed of trust. Bank of Am., N.A. v. Arlington W. Twilight Homeowners
Ass’n, 920 F.3d 620, 623 (9th Cir. 2019) (Arlington West) (Under Nevada law, “the
holder of the first deed of trust can establish the superiority of its interest by showing
that its tender satisfied the superpriority portion of the HOA’s lien.”).2
1
The tender was made through counsel for Nationstar’s predecessor to the HOA’s
agent, Red Rock Financial Services.
2
At the time of the tender and prior to a 2015 amendment, the superpriority portion
of an HOA lien under NRS 116.3116 included “only charges for maintenance and
nuisance abatement, and nine months of unpaid assessments.” Bank of Am., N.A.
2
Saticoy Bay does not dispute that Nationstar’s predecessor tendered the full
superpriority amount. Instead, Saticoy Bay pursues several arguments that are
squarely foreclosed by binding precedent. For example, Saticoy Bay’s status as a
bona fide purchaser is immaterial. See Diamond Spur, 427 P.3d at 119 (“Tendering
the superpriority portion of an HOA lien . . . does not require recording.”). Likewise,
Saticoy Bay’s assertion that the tender was rejected in good faith is irrelevant.
Saticoy Bay LLC Series 133 McLaren v. Green Tree Serv. LLC, 478 P.3d 376, 379
(Nev. 2020) (en banc) (“An alleged good-faith basis for rejecting a timely, complete
tender is not relevant because . . . the tender itself cures the default ‘by operation of
law.’”). And Nationstar’s predecessor was entitled to insist on the condition that
acceptance would satisfy the full amount of the superpriority lien without
invalidating the tender. Arlington West, 920 F.3d at 623.
Saticoy Bay also provides a lengthy argument for why it should prevail based
on the equities, relying heavily on Shadow Wood Homeowners Association, Inc. v.
New York Community Bancorp, Inc., 366 P.3d 1105 (Nev. 2016). But the Supreme
Court of Nevada recently rejected this very argument based on Shadow Wood
because tender cures the default “by operation of law” and “without regard to
equitable concerns.” Green Tree Serv. LLC, 478 P.3d at 379.
v. SFR Invests. Pool 1, LLC, 427 P.3d 113, 117 (Nev. 2018) (en banc), as amended
on denial of reh’g (Nov. 13, 2018) (Diamond Spur).
3
Because we find that the deed of trust was preserved, we do not reach
Nationstar’s due process arguments.
AFFIRMED.
4