Caffero v. Specialized Loan Servicing, LLC ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 ----oo0oo---- 11 12 ADREANNA CAFFERO, No. 2:20-cv-01945 WBS KJN 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. 15 SPECIALIZED LOAN SERVICING, LLC, a business entity; FAY 16 SERVICING, LLC, a business entity; and DOES 1-25, 17 inclusive, 18 Defendants. 19 20 ----oo0oo---- 21 STATUS (PRETRIAL SCHEDULING) ORDER 22 After reviewing the parties’ Joint Status Report, the 23 court hereby vacates the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Conference 24 scheduled for July 5, 2022, and makes the following findings and 25 orders without needing to consult with the parties any further. 26 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 27 All named defendants have been served, and no further 28 service is permitted without leave of court, good cause having 1 been shown under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b). 2 II. JOINDER OF PARTIES/AMENDMENTS 3 No further joinder of parties or amendments to 4 pleadings will be permitted except with leave of court, good 5 cause having been shown under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6 16(b). See Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604 7 (9th Cir. 1992). 8 III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 9 Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C §§ 1331, 1332, 10 and 1441, because plaintiff brings a federal claim under the Real 11 Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 2601-2617, and 12 there is complete diversity between the parties and the amount in 13 controversy is met. Venue is undisputed and hereby found to be 14 proper. 15 IV. DISCOVERY 16 The parties have met and conferred and agree to waive 17 initial disclosures required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 18 26(a)(1). 19 The parties shall disclose experts and produce reports 20 in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) by no 21 later than November 4, 2022. With regard to expert testimony 22 intended solely for rebuttal, those experts shall be disclosed 23 and reports produced in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil 24 Procedure 26(a)(2) on or before December 2, 2022. 25 All discovery, including depositions for preservation 26 of testimony, is left open, save and except that it shall be so 27 conducted as to be completed by December 30, 2022. The word 28 “completed” means that all discovery shall have been conducted so 1 that all depositions have been taken and any disputes relevant to 2 discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order if 3 necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has 4 been obeyed. All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on 5 the magistrate judge’s calendar in accordance with the local 6 rules of this court and so that such motions may be heard (and 7 any resulting orders obeyed) not later than December 30, 2022. 8 V. MOTION HEARING SCHEDULE 9 All motions, except motions for continuances, temporary 10 restraining orders, or other emergency applications, shall be 11 filed on or before January 27, 2023. All motions shall be 12 noticed for the next available hearing date. Counsel are 13 cautioned to refer to the local rules regarding the requirements 14 for noticing and opposing such motions on the court’s regularly 15 scheduled law and motion calendar. 16 VI. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 17 The Final Pretrial Conference is set for April 10, 18 2023, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom No. 5 or via videoconference. 19 The Courtroom Deputy will notify the parties prior to the 20 Conference whether the Conference will be in person or via 21 videoconference. The Conference shall be attended by at least 22 one of the attorneys who will conduct the trial for each of the 23 parties and by any unrepresented parties. 24 Counsel for all parties are to be fully prepared for 25 trial at the time of the Pretrial Conference, with no matters 26 remaining to be accomplished except production of witnesses for 27 oral testimony. Counsel shall file separate pretrial statements, 28 and are referred to Local Rules 281 and 282 relating to the 1 contents of and time for filing those statements. In addition to 2 those subjects listed in Local Rule 281(b), the parties are to 3 provide the court with: (1) a plain, concise statement which 4 identifies every non-discovery motion which has been made to the 5 court, and its resolution; (2) a list of the remaining claims as 6 against each defendant; and (3) the estimated number of trial 7 days. 8 In providing the plain, concise statements of 9 undisputed facts and disputed factual issues contemplated by 10 Local Rule 281(b)(3)-(4), the parties shall emphasize the claims 11 that remain at issue, and any remaining affirmatively pled 12 defenses thereto. If the case is to be tried to a jury, the 13 parties shall also prepare a succinct statement of the case, 14 which is appropriate for the court to read to the jury. 15 VII. TRIAL SETTING 16 The trial is set for May 31, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. The 17 parties estimate that the trial will last three to four days. In 18 their Complaint, plaintiffs seek both equitable relief, including 19 injunctive relief, declaratory relief and rescission of the 20 Notice of Trustee’s Sale, which presumably will have to be 21 determined by the court, and damages which will presumably be 22 determined by the jury. Defendants state that they state that 23 they “reserve their right to challenge the propriety of a jury 24 trial.” Accordingly, in their trial briefs the parties shall 25 address the question of which issues shall be determined by the 26 jury and which shall be determined by the court. 27 VIII. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 28 The parties have completed two VDRP mediation sessions, nen ee en mene ne nn nn en nn ED OE 1 which were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the parties state that 2 they are amenable to VDRP or consent to a settlement conference 3 | with a Magistrate Judge. Upon being contacted by the Clerk, 4 however, counsel appear to disagree about how and if to proceed 5 forward with settlement discussions. Accordingly, the court will 6 not require further VDRP or settlement proceedings at this time. 7 | A Settlement Conference with a magistrate judge will be set at 8 the time of the Pretrial Conference. Counsel are instructed to 9 | have a principal with full settlement authority present at the 10 Settlement Conference or to be fully authorized to settle the 11 matter on any terms. At least seven calendar days before the 12 Settlement Conference counsel for each party shall submit a 13 confidential Settlement Conference Statement for review by the 14 settlement judge. The Settlement Conference Statements shall not 15 | be filed and will not otherwise be disclosed to the trial judge. 16 IX. MODIFICATIONS TO SCHEDULING ORDER 17 Any requests to modify the dates or terms of this 18 Scheduling Order, except requests to change the date of the 19 trial, may be heard and decided by the assigned Magistrate Judge. 20 All requests to change the trial date shall be heard and decided 21 only by the undersigned judge. 22 IT IS SO ORDERED. 23 | Dated: June 28, 2022 dete . 4p. AZ k 24 WILLIAM B. SHUBB UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 26 27 28