WILLIAMS v. PRK FUNDING SERVICES INC (2020)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Damon Charles WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PRK FUNDING SERVICES, INC.; et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 19-35746

Decided: August 24, 2020

Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, and HAWKINS and McKEOWN, Circuit Judges. Damon Charles Williams, Pro Se Michael T. Callan, Attorney, Peterson Russell Kelly Livengood PLLC, Michael Steven DeLeo, Esquire, Attorney, Peterson Russell Kelly, PLLC, Bellevue, WA, for Defendants-Appellees PRK Funding Services, Inc., Jeffrey Pyatt, Michael James Warren, Eric S. Carlson, Jonathan Dreitzler, Pyatt Broadmark Management LLC, PLG Fund I, Inc., Private Lending Group LLC, Private Asset Management, Inc., Michael Lawrence Thayer, Richard Beselin, Joanne Van Sickle Jessica Kozma, Sr. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Seattle, WA, for Defendant-Appellee King County, Thomas Mackenzie Brown Christopher MacMillan, Demco Law Firm, P.S., Seattle, WA, for Defendants-Appellees Kathryn Hinds, Windermere Services Company Ghazal Sharifi, Seattle City Attorney's Office Civil, Seattle, WA, for Defendants-Appellees Ronald Campbell, Melvin Britt, Jr., City of Seattle Richard A. Fraser, III, AGWA - Office of the Washington Attorney General, Seattle, WA, for Defendants-Appellees Daniel Jensen, Ricci Frisk, Donald R. Capp Wendy E. Lyon, Attorney, Fox Rothschild LLP, Seattle, WA, for Defendants-Appellees Kirill Gavrylyuk, Chandrika Shankarnarayan Dallas William Jolley, Jr., Esquire, Tacoma, WA, for Defendant-Appellee Dallas William Jolley, Jr. Gregory Blase, K & L Gates LLP, Boston, MA, Peter Talevich, K & L Gates LLP, Seattle, WA, for Defendant-Appellee Wells Fargo

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiff Damon Charles Williams appeals pro se from district court orders granting motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment in favor of defendants. Because the parties are familiar with the facts of the case we need not recount them here. We review de novo the district court's rulings on the motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment. See Price v. State of Hawaii, 939 F.2d 702, 706 (9th Cir. 1991). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

1. The district court did not err in finding that the sale of the property did not violate the automatic bankruptcy stay effected by the filing of Williams's personal bankruptcy petition. State law determines what property interests are protected by the automatic stay created by the filing of a bankruptcy petition. See 11 U.S.C. § 362(a); Butner v. United States, 440 U.S. 48, 54-55, 99 S.Ct. 914, 59 L.Ed.2d 136 (1979). “Under Washington law, an LLC member has no ownership interest in specific LLC property and an LLC's assets ․ are not part of the [personal] estate.” In re Disciplinary Proceeding Against McGrath, 178 Wash.2d 280, 308 P.3d 615, 625-26 (2013). Because Williams transferred all his ownership interest in the property to Williams Family Holding, LLC in 2005, the property was not part of his personal estate and the stay effected by his personal bankruptcy filing did not protect the property.

2. The district court also did not err in finding that Williams's state law claims are time barred. Williams knew about the actions giving rise to his claims by at least 2010 and did not file suit until 2018. The longest statute of limitations applicable to his claims is six years, and most are three years. See RCW 4.16.080 (providing a three year statute of limitations for claims based on non-written contracts, trespass, negligence, tortious interference, general torts, and fraud); id. 4.16.040 (providing a six year statute of limitations for claims based on a contract in writing); Hudson v. Condon, 101 Wash.App. 866, 6 P.3d 615, 619 (2000) (holding that a three year statute of limitations applies to breach of fiduciary duty claims sounding in tort). In addition, the delayed discovery rule does not apply to toll Williams's claims because he knew of his injury when he lost the property and was ordered evicted. See Matter of Estates of Hibbard, 118 Wash.2d 737, 826 P.2d 690, 696 (1992) (discovery rule “limited to claims in which the plaintiffs could not have immediately known of their injuries” or “the cause of their injuries”).

3. The district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants Daniel Jensen, Ricci Frisk, and Donald Capp. There was no state action for these state employees to review, so Williams was not injured by any alleged failure to act. See WAC 458-20-100(1); RCW 34.12.020. His 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim also fails because he was not deprived of any liberty or property interest. See Portman v. County of Santa Clara, 995 F.2d 898, 904 (9th Cir. 1993).

AFFIRMED.