Bank of America v. Travata & Montage Hoa

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
FEB 4 2020
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
BANK OF AMERICA, NA, FKA No. 17-16718
Countrywide Home Loans Servicing, LP,
Successor by Merger to BAC Home Loans D.C. No. 2:16-cv-00345-JCM-GWF
Servicing, LP,
Plaintiff-counter-
defendant-Appellant,
v.
MEMORANDUM*
TRAVATA AND MONTAGE AT
SUMMERLIN CENTRE
HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION; et al.,
Defendants-Appellees,
NV EAGLES, LLC,
Defendant-counter-claimant-
Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Nevada
James C. Mahan, District Judge, Presiding
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
Submitted January 23, 2020**
San Francisco, California
Before: W. FLETCHER and R. NELSON, Circuit Judges, and SESSIONS,***
District Judge.
Plaintiff-Appellant Bank of America, N.A. (“BANA”) appeals the district
court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellees Travata and
Montage at Summerlin Centre Homeowners’ Association (“Travata”), Nevada
Association Services, Inc. (“NAS”), Underwood Partners, LLC (“Underwood”),
and NV Eagles, LLC (“NV Eagles”) on claims to quiet title to a property in the
Summerlin Village common interest community in Las Vegas, Nevada. We
reverse.
The district court erred in rejecting BANA’s argument that its tender of nine
months of unpaid homeowners’ association assessments satisfied the superpriority
portion of Travata’s lien on the property and preserved BANA’s first security
interest. BANA tendered a check for $594, which the notice of delinquency reflects
was the correct calculation of nine months of unpaid assessments. The notice of
delinquency does not reflect any charges for maintenance or nuisance abatement.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
***
The Honorable William K. Sessions III, United States District Judge
for the District of Vermont, sitting by designation.
2
Under Nevada law, made clear after the decision by the district court, the
superpriority portion of a homeowners’ association lien under Nev. Rev. Stat. §
116.3116 includes only charges for maintenance or nuisance abatement and nine
months’ worth of delinquent assessments. See Bank of Am., N.A. v. Arlington W.
Twilight Homeowners Ass’n, 920 F.3d 620, 623 (2019) (citing Bank of Am., N.A. v.
SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC, 427 P.3d 113, 117–18 (Nev. 2018) (“Diamond Spur”)).
BANA’s valid tender discharged the superpriority portion of Travata’s lien. See
Diamond Spur, 427 P.3d at 117.
Defendants-Appellees argue that BANA’s tender included improper
conditions and that NAS had a good-faith basis for rejecting it. The Supreme Court
of Nevada rejected these arguments on nearly identical facts in Diamond Spur. A
party offering tender may insist that acceptance constitutes payment in full of its
obligations, and a homeowners’ association does not act in good faith when it
rejects tender of the superpriority portion of a lien and demands payment of the
entire lien. See id. at 118–19.
BANA’s tender of the superpriority portion of Travata’s lien discharged that
portion of the lien and preserved BANA’s first security interest. This holding fully
resolves this appeal and provides BANA all the relief it seeks. We therefore decline
to address BANA’s constitutional and equitable claims.
REVERSED.
3