FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
JUL 11 2019
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE No. 18-15562
ASSOCIATION,
DC No. CV 16-0203 JCM
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
MEMORANDUM*
LN MANAGEMENT LLC SERIES 3085
CASEY 201,
Defendant-Appellant,
and
CANYON WILLOW OWNERS
ASSOCIATION,
Defendant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Nevada
James C. Mahan, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted July 9, 2019**
Portland, Oregon
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without
oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2)(C).
Before: FERNANDEZ, TASHIMA, and OWENS, Circuit Judges.
LN Management LLC, Series 3085 Casey 201 (“LN Management”), appeals
the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the Federal National Mortgage
Association (“Fannie Mae”) in a case concerning a foreclosure on a property which
Fannie Mae claims it owns. Fannie Mae filed this lawsuit seeking declaratory
relief and quiet title after a homeowners’ association (“HOA”) made a foreclosure
sale on the property without Fannie Mae’s consent, allegedly in violation of the
Federal Foreclosure Bar. See 12 U.S.C. § 4617(j)(3) (“No property of the Agency
shall be subject to levy, attachment, garnishment, foreclosure, or sale without the
consent of the Agency, nor shall any involuntary lien attach to the property of the
Agency.”).
The district court granted summary judgment for Fannie Mae on its
declaratory relief and quiet title claims. LN Management argues that the district
court erred because Fannie Mae did not have an ownership interest in the property
at the time of the foreclosure sale, in which case the Federal Foreclosure Bar would
not apply. A district court’s decision to grant summary judgment is reviewed de
novo. Berezovsky v. Moniz, 869 F.3d 923, 927 (9th Cir. 2017).
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There was no genuine dispute as to whether Fannie Mae had an ownership
interest in the property at the time of the HOA foreclosure sale. The Trustee’s
Deed Upon Sale clearly states that Fannie Mae purchased the property on
November 28, 2012, prior to the HOA foreclosure sale. The Trustee’s Deed Upon
Sale also identifies Fannie Mae, who was the highest bidder at the sale, as the
“Grantee” and the “Beneficiary” of the sale. This is straightforward evidence of
Fannie Mae’s ownership interest in the property on November 28, 2012, well
before the HOA foreclosure on February 2, 2013.
LN Management did not point to any evidence that creates a genuine factual
issue regarding Fannie Mae’s ownership. LN Management is incorrect in arguing
that documents show that Green Tree Servicing (“GTS”) instead owned the
property. GTS was Fannie Mae’s servicer and agent, and Fannie Mae does not
need to be listed on the Notice of Default as the “beneficiary of record of the Deed
of Trust” or the “holder of the note secured by the Deed of Trust” in order to have
an ownership interest in the property. See id. at 932. Furthermore, the Declaration
of Sale to Beneficiary that LN Management introduced provides no support for the
theory that GTS, not Fannie Mae, took ownership of the property at the auction
When read together with the description of Fannie Mae as the “Beneficiary” in the
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Trustee’s Deed Upon Sale, it reinforces that Fannie Mae took ownership of the
property at the November 28 auction.
AFFIRMED.
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