First Horizon Home Loans v. the Entrust Grp., Inc.
First Horizon Home Loans v. the Entrust Grp., Inc.
Opinion
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA
FIRST HORIZON HOME LOANS, No. 72995 Appellant, vs. FILED THE ENTRUST GROUP, INC., F/B/O PAUL U. PAWLIK, JUL 2 0 2018 Respondent. ELIZABETH A. BROWN CLERK F S PREME COURT BY • DEPUTY CLERK ORDER OF AFFIRMANCE This is an appeal from a district court summary judgment in an action to quiet title to real property. Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; Ronald J. Israel, Judge. Reviewing the summary judgment de novo, Wood v. Safeway, Inc., 121 Nev. 724, 729, 121 P.3d 1026, 1029 (2005), we affirm Appellant argues that the district court erred in granting summary judgment because the homeowners' association (HOA) promised in its CC&Rs that it would protect a first deed of trust if a homeowner defaulted on her obligations to the HOA and thus the HOA necessarily foreclosed on only the subpriority portion of its lien. As support, appellant refers to § 5.3.11 in the CC&Rs, which is entitled "Security Interest" and states, Any breach or amendment of this Declaration shall not affect or impair the lien or charge of any Security Interest made in good faith and for value on any Unit. . .; provided, however, that any subsequent Unit Owner of such property shall be bound hereby whether such Unit Owner's title was acquitted by foreclosure, in a trustee's sale or otherwise. According to appellant, this provision constituted a "promise to enforce [the HOA's] superpriority lien in a manner that would not impair lenders' SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA
0 1937A e 27 7 31 llil - security," but it did not waive any of the HOA's rights in violation of NRS 116.1104 because the HOA "retained a superpriority lien and a variety of procedures for enforcing it." We are not convinced that the cited provision in the CC&Rs reflects an election to foreclose only on the subpriority portion of the HOA's liens for unpaid assessments for three reasons.' First, since the CC&Rs contemplate a homeowner defaulting on assessments, it does not appear that such a default is a "breach . . . of [the] Declaration." Second, the language does not mention NRS chapter 116 or expressly state the election appellant attributes to it. Finally, such an election would be inconsistent with other provisions in the CC&Rs that reflect a clear intent to follow NRS chapter 116 without any deviations. As examples, § 5.3.5 states that the CC&Rs "are intended to comply with the requirements of [NRS chapter 116]" and that in the event of any conflict "the statutes shall control," and § 5.3.16 provides that the CC &Rs are "subject to [NRS chapter 1161" and that if any applicable changes to those statutes conflict with the CC&Rs, then the CC&Rs "shall be considered modified to the extent of such applicable change to the Act, including the removal of any provisions rendered unenforceable by virtue of a change in the Act." For these reasons, we cannot credit appellant's interpretation of § 5.3.11. Accordingly, we do not address appellant's argument that its interpretation of § 5.3.11 would not run afoul of NRS 116.1104.
W‘re note that appellant indicates in its opening brief that it intended to include a copy of the CC&Rs as an exhibit to its motion for summary judgment but mistakenly omitted it. The CC&Rs were included elsewhere in the record as an attachment to appellant's motion to dismiss filed in June 2014. SUPREME Count OF NEVADA
KO) 1947A a Alternatively, appellant argues that the district court erred in rejecting its argument that the foreclosure sale should be set aside based on equitable grounds. First, appellant argues that the district court improperly concluded that the deed recitals alone defeated appellant's request for equitable relief. We disagree as the district court also considered whether appellant had produced any evidence that the sale price was affected by fraud, unfairness, or oppression, which is the relevant inquiry under this court's decisions both before and after Shadow Wood Homeowners Ass'n v. New York Community Bancorp, Inc., 132 Nev. 49, 366 P.3d 1105
2 This case also is distinguishable from ZYZZX2 v. Dizon, No. 2:13-CV- 1307 JCM (PAL), 2016 WL 1181666, at *5 (D. Nev. March 25, 2016) (concluding that bank showed "unfairness" in foreclosure based on
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ri is no evidence that appellant even offered to pay the superpriority amount, so how the HOA's agent might have responded to such an offer does not constitute unfairness affecting the sale. Because appellant did not produce evidence that the sale was affected by fraud, unfairness, or oppression, we need not consider the arguments as to respondent's putative status as a bona fide purchaser. Consistent with SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, 130 Nev. 742, 334 P.3d 408 (2014), the HOA's foreclosure on its superpriority lien extinguished appellant's interest in the subject property. Because appellant did not produce evidence to warrant equitable relief, see Shadow Wood, 132 Nev. at 55, 366 P.3d at 1109, we ORDER the judgment of the district court AFFIRMED.
,J Pickering
is4A Gibbons Hardesty
cc: Hon. Ronald J. Israel, District Judge Akerman LLP/Las Vegas Noggle Law PLLC Eighth District Court Clerk
mortgage protection clause in CC&Rs and HOA letter to bank and other interested parties stating that foreclosure would not affect the first deed of trust). See Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC v. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC, No. 2:14- CV-1875 JCM (GWF), 2017 WL 1100955, at *9 (D. Nev. Mar. 22, 2017) (explaining that ZYZZX2 "was rendered in light of the combination of the mortgage protection clause and the HOA's misleading mailings"). SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA
(0) 1947A ega 4
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished