Dominguez v. Selene Finance, LP

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California grants Plaintiff Rick S. Dominguez’s motion for partial summary judgment and denies Selene Finance, LP’s cross-motion. The court holds that Selene is not an “assign” of the lender under the deed of trust because the servicing agreement and limited power of attorney delegated servicing tasks without transferring servicing rights. The ruling resolves only the assign-status issue relevant to the deed of trust’s notice-and-cure provision.

Holdings

1. An “assign” ordinarily means a person or entity that receives a transfer of title or ownership of property; an assignment requires the owner to manifest an intent to make a present transfer of rights.
2. Selene was not an assign under the deed of trust because the base servicing agreement and limited power of attorney did not manifest an intent to transfer servicing rights to Selene; they delegated servicing functions while preserving the owner’s ownership of those rights.
3. The summary-judgment record established as a matter of law that U.S. Bank did not manifest an intent to assign its servicing rights to Selene, and every reasonable juror would reach that conclusion.
4. Selene established compelling reasons to seal portions of the servicing agreement containing compensation structures, proprietary protocols, and servicing procedures, but not to seal the entire agreement or Sections 8.01, 8.02, and 9.10.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Selene Finance, LP was an “assign” of the lender within the meaning of Section 13 of Dominguez’s deed of trust.
2. Whether the base servicing agreement and limited power of attorney manifested an intent to transfer servicing rights to Selene under California assignment law.
3. Whether the summary-judgment record contained a genuine dispute of material fact concerning Selene’s status as an assign.

Disposition

other