Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_09-cv-01314/USCOURTS-azd-2_09-cv-01314-6/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 371
Nature of Suit: Truth in Lending
Cause of Action: 15:1601 Truth in Lending

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Holly Martenson, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

RG Financing, et al., 

Defendants. 

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No. CV-09-01314-PHX-NVW

ORDER

Before the Court is Defendant RG Financing’s and Defendant JL Financing’s “Motion

for Attorneys’ Fees” (Doc. 115). Defendants, however, have foreclosed on a residential

parcel of less than 2.5 acres through a non-judicial trustee’s sale. Accordingly, “no action

may be maintained to recover any difference between the amount obtained by sale and the

amount of the indebtedness and any interest, costs and expenses.” A.R.S. § 33-814(G).

“Costs and expenses” in this context includes attorneys fees. Sec. Sav. & Loan Ass’n v.

Milton, 171 Ariz. 75, 77, 828 P.2d 1216, 1218 (Ct. App. 1991). Technically speaking,

Defendants are not asking for the “difference between the amount obtained by sale and the

amount of the indebtedness and any interest, costs and expenses” — Defendants are only

seeking “costs and expenses.” However, the Court does not believe that a trust deed

beneficiary can avoid § 33-814(G) simply by seeking only a subset of everything it might

have otherwise sought, but for the statute. Accordingly, Defendants cannot recover their

Case 2:09-cv-01314-NVW Document 123 Filed 03/10/11 Page 1 of 2
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attorneys fees with respect to Plaintiff’s state law claims or by virtue of attorneys fees

provisions in the promissory note.

RESPA, on the other hand, is a federal statute which gives this Court discretion to

award attorneys fees. 12 U.S.C. § 2607(d)(5). This Court does not believe that A.R.S. § 33-

814(G) shields Plaintiff from RESPA’s attorneys fees provision — otherwise, Arizona would

be upsetting federal policy regarding such fee awards. Nonetheless, Defendants must satisfy

the “frivolous, unreasonable or without foundation” standard to receive fees. See Lane v.

Residential Funding Corp., 323 F.3d 739, 746–48 (9th Cir. 2003) (holding that the standard

for defendants’ recovery under fee-shifting provisions in civil rights statutes also applies to

fee-shifting provision in RESPA). The Court will not say, on this record, that Plaintiff’s

RESPA claim was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation. The Court never reached

the merits of this claim, but dismissed it for failure to satisfy the statute of limitations. (See

Doc. 98 at 2.) Therefore, the Court will not award attorneys fees to Defendants under

RESPA.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendants’ “Motion for Attorneys’ Fees” (Doc.

115) is DENIED.

DATED this 10th day of March, 2011.

Case 2:09-cv-01314-NVW Document 123 Filed 03/10/11 Page 2 of 2