Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Nordby

District Court, D. Nevada

Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Nordby

Trial Court Opinion

1

2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 * * * 5 Farmers Insurance Exchange; et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-02013-RFB-DJA 6 Plaintiffs, 7 Order v. 8 Christopher Nordby, 9 Defendant. 10 11 Before the Court is the law firm of Hayes Wakayama’s (“Judgment Creditor”) motion for 12 a judgment debtor exam of Christopher Nordby (“Debtor”) under Fed. R. Civ. P. 69 and Nev. 13 Rev. Stat. 21.270. (ECF No. 59). Debtor did not respond. Because the Court finds that 14 Judgment Creditor is entitled to a judgment debtor exam, but that the Judgment Creditor does not 15 support its request for service by mail, the Court grants Judgment Creditor’s motion in part and 16 denies it in part. 17 Fed. R. Civ. P. 69 governs execution of money judgments and obtaining discovery in aid 18 of the judgment or execution. Fed. R. Civ. P. 69(a)(2) provides that, “[i]n aid of the judgment or 19 execution, the judgment creditor or a successor in interest whose interest appears of record may 20 obtain discovery from any person—including the judgment debtor—as provided in these rules or 21 by the procedure of the state where the court is located.” In Nevada, Nev. Rev. Stat. 21.270 22 governs the examination of a judgment debtor. That rule provides that, “[a] judgment creditor, at 23 any time after the judgment is entered, is entitled to an order from the judge of the court requiring 24 the judgment debtor to appear and answer upon oath or affirmation concerning his or her 25 property…at a time and place specified in the order.” Nev. Rev. Stat. 21.270(1). “No judgment 26 debtor may be required to appear outside the county in which the judgment debtor resides.” Id. 27 Under Local Rule 7-2(d), the failure of an opposing party to file points and authorities in response 1 Here, Judgment Creditor has received a judgment on attorneys fees. (ECF No. 58). From 2 Judgment Creditor’s certificate of service, it appears that Debtor lives in Clark County, where 3 Judgment Creditor proposed the examination to take place. (ECF No. 59 at 3, 5). And despite 4 Judgment Creditor sending the motion to Debtor, Debtor has not responded to the motion, 5 constituting his consent to the granting of it. 6 However, Judgment Creditor requests “that it be allowed to additionally serve the order 7 approving this Motion by certified mail, return receipt requested.” (Id. at 4). But Judgment 8 Creditor does not cite any authority or make further arguments for this relief. Without more, the 9 Court is not inclined to grant this request, especially because it is unclear whether Debtor is on 10 notice of the motion. 11 When confronted with the question of whether Nev. Rev. Stat. 21.270 required personal 12 service, the district court in GW Grundbesitz AG v. A Investments LLC found that service through 13 any of the methods provided by Fed. R. Civ. P. 5 were appropriate. GW Grundbesitz AG v. A 14 Investments LLC, No. 2:20-cv-00572-JAD-BNW,

2021 WL 5500483

, at *1 (D. Nev. Nov. 22, 15 2021). It pointed out, however, that the debtor had responded to the motion to be exempted from 16 service and was thus on notice of the judgment debtor exam.

Id.

The Court also noted that, 17 “[w]hile [Nev. Rev. Stat. 21.270] does not specify the type of service beyond ‘regular service,’ 18 this Court and others have required personal service.”

Id.

19 Here, although Judgment Creditor explains that there is “a regular communication by mail 20 between the place of mailing and the place so addressed,” Debtor has not responded to the motion 21 for judgment debtor exam. (ECF No. 59 at 5). It is thus unclear whether he is on notice of the 22 motion. Additionally, the consequence for failing to appear at the judgment debtor exam can be 23 serious. See Nev. Rev. Stat. 21.270(3) (providing that a judgment debtor who is served with an 24 order for a judgment debtor exam and fails to appear may be punished for contempt). In an 25 abundance of caution, the Court will thus require the Judgment Creditor to personally serve 26 Debtor. 27 /// 1 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the motion for judgment debtor examination (ECF 2 No. 59) is granted in part regarding the judgment debtor exam and denied in part regarding 3 service by mail. The Judgment Creditor shall submit a revised proposed order to the Court on or 4 before May 26, 2023 specifying a time and place for the exam. The Judgment Creditor shall 5 personally serve on Debtor: (1) a copy of the motion for judgment debtor exam (ECF No. 59); 6 (2) this order; and (3) the revised proposed order once approved by the Court. 7 8 DATED: April 26, 2023 9 DANIEL J. ALBREGTS 10 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Reference

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