DUSTIN B. PEAD, Magistrate Judge.
This matter is before the court pursuant to a 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) referral from District Court Judge Robert Shelby (doc. 25). Currently before the court is Kim R. Wilson's ("Mr. Wilson") motion to intervene, on behalf of himself and the Kim R. Wilson IRA, as interested parties in the pending receivership proceeding (doc. 251). After careful review of the parties' memoranda and related documents, the Court concludes that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this matter. See DUCivR 7-1(f). Accordingly, the court now rules as set forth herein.
The relevant facts are as follows. On April 24, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission initiated the above entitled action against Defendants American Pension Services Inc. ("APS") and Curtis DeYoung ("DeYoung") (collectively "Defendants"), alleging that DeYoung misappropriated approximately $24 million of APS client assets (doc. 1). That same day, the court appointed Diana A. Thompson as the Receiver (the "Receiver") to, among other things, "manage, control, operate and maintain the Receivership Estates" (doc. 9, p.5).
Mr. Wilson and his deceased wife Vicky S. Wilson ("Ms. Wilson") maintained individual retirement accounts with APS for over twenty five (25) years, the assets of which consist solely of ownership of a single parcel of unimproved real property (doc. 251); see also APS Account Statements (doc. 346, exhibits A and B). Upon the death of Ms. Wilson, Mr. Wilson succeeded to the interests of his wife and such assets became part of the holdings of Kim R. Wilson IRA.
On October 20, 2014, Mr. Wilson filed his pending motion to intervene (doc. 251). Shortly thereafter, on November 6, 2014, the Receiver filed her opposition asserting that intervention should be denied because Mr Wilson failed to include a pleading as required under rule 24(c) and failed to meet the requirements for intervention of right pursuant to rule 24(a)(2) (doc. 325).
As an initial matter, the Receiver contends that Mr. Wilson's motion should be denied because he failed, in conjunction with his motion, to either file a pleading or adopt a pleading of an existing party. Mr Wilson counters that his response and objection to the Receiver's Proposed Plan of Liquidation constitutes "a substantially sufficient `pleading' for [purposes of] intervention" (doc. 346, p.3).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(c) states:
See Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(c).
Here, the court concludes that Mr. Wilson's motion adequately provides notice of the specific legal and factual basis for his claim. Consequently, the court waives any procedural defect related to Mr. Wilson's failure to file a pleading in conjunction with his motion and shall proceed to the merits of his request for intervention.
Mr. Wilson moves to intervene as a matter of right pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) states,
On timely motion, the court must permit anyone to intervene who:
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2). The Tenth Circuit "generally follows a liberal view in allowing intervention under Rule 24(a)." Elliot Indus. Ltd. P'ship v. BP Am. Prod. Co., 407 F.3d 1091, 1103 (10
Id. at 1103; see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2). The court examines each of these factors as they apply to Mr. Wilson.
The timeliness of an application for a motion to intervene "is assessed in light of all the circumstances, including the length of time since the applicant knew of his interest in the case, prejudice to the existing parties, prejudice to the applicant, and the existence of any unusual circumstances." Utah Ass'n. of Counties v. Clinton, 255 F.3d 1246, 1250 (10
The Receiver does not dispute the timeliness of Mr. Wilson's application and the court, finding no prejudice to any of the parties based thereon, concludes that Mr. Wilson's application for intervention was timely filed.
Due to the inherent difficulty in defining a specific type of interest necessary for intervention,
Here Mr. Wilson contends, and the Receiver does not dispute, that he is the owner of assets held in an APS account currently administered by the Receiver. Based thereon, the court concludes that Mr. Wilson has demonstrated a sufficient interest in the underlying litigation to meet this requirement for intervention.
Next, in order to intervene under Rule 24(a)(2), Mr. Wilson must "demonstrate that the disposition of this action may as a practical matter impair or impede [his] ability to protect [his] interest." Utah Ass'n. of Counties v. Clinton, 255 F.3d 1246, 1253 (10
Upon review, the Court concludes that Mr. Wilson has not provided the court with sufficient evidence of an impairment to his legal interests to justify intervention. While Mr. Wilson may disagree with the Receiver's liquidation plan, his conflict with the Receiver's proposal for loss allocation and assessments do not correlate with an impairment of his legal interests.
Accordingly for these reasons, the court concludes that Mr. Wilson's interests are not impaired by the Receivership.
Under the fourth requirement for intervention, Mr. Wilson must establish that his interests are not adequately represented by the existing parties. See Utah Ass'n of Counties v. Clinton, 255 F.3d at 1246, 1254 (10
Upon review, the court finds that Mr. Wilson fails to establish that his interests are not represented by the Receiver. Other than a generalized claims of discomfort, Mr. Wilson provides no specific evidence of the Receiver's adversity, collusion or nonfeasance. See Moosehead Sanitary Dist. v. S.G. Phillips Corp., 610 F.2d 49, 54 (1
Ultimately, the goal of the Receiver is to protect the interests of all APS clients, including Mr. Wilson. Understandably, Mr. Wilson advocates for an asset distribution strategy that provides him with absolute satisfaction. The Receiver, however, has been charged with the duty of providing a fair and equitable distribution of the assets for all APS clients. Thus, the Receiver's obligation to protect the interests of all APS clients cannot be used to support a claim of inadequate representation with respect to Mr. Wilson's own individual interests.
For the reasons stated, the court finds that Mr. Wilson fails to meet all four requirements for intervention of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2). A failure to satisfy any one of the requirements is grounds for denial of the application. See Utah v. Kennecott Corp., 232 F.R.D. 392, 395 (D. Utah 2005) (citing, U.S. v. Pitney Bowes, Inc., 25 F.3d 66, 70 ) (2nd Cir. 1994)).
Accordingly, Mr. Wilson's motion to intervene is hereby denied.