Almeida-Leon v. WM Capital Management, Inc.

236 F. Supp. 3d 524, 2017 WL 655447, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23343
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedFebruary 17, 2017
DocketCivil No. 16-1394 (SEC)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 236 F. Supp. 3d 524 (Almeida-Leon v. WM Capital Management, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Almeida-Leon v. WM Capital Management, Inc., 236 F. Supp. 3d 524, 2017 WL 655447, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23343 (prd 2017).

Opinion

Opinion & Ordek

SALVADOR E. CASELLAS, U.S. Senior District Judge

Before the Court stands a motion to dismiss filed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). See Docket # 23. The motion is granted.

I. Background

In order to clarify the complicated series of events that give rise to this action, the Court has incorporated allegations drawn from the complaints filed in other cases between the parties. Nevertheless, for purposes of resolving the motion to dismiss, the Court takes as true only the facts alleged in the complaint at bar.

Nearly a decade ago, Plaintiffs Juan Al-meida and his brother Francisco (jointly, the Almeidas) obtained a credit line of approximately $2.6 million from RG Premier Bank of Puerto Rico (RG). Through that loan, the Almeidas facilitated financing for a third party, Emérito Estrada (Estrada), who had not been able to obtain financing for his car dealership business directly from RG. See Almeida-León, et al. v. R-G Premiere Bank of Puerto Rico, Civil No. 10-2209 (JAG), Amended Coplaint at ¶ 4.11, Docket # 56. In exchange for their financial assistance, an RG executive promised to help the Almeidas in fast-tracking a construction loan application. As an added bonus, the Almeidas would receive interest on the loan. Id. For his part, Estrada secured the credit line through various mortgage notes (guaranteed by deeds) for properties located in Puerto Rico. Id. at ¶ 4.13.

The Almeidas would later explain that they felt pressured to lend to Estrada since it was the only way to obtain the [527]*527fast-track approval of their construction loan. See Id. at ¶ 4.12. The FDIC, on the other hand, maintains that this arrangement was a “highly questionable” straw borrower scheme perpetrated by the Al-meida brothers. See Docket #18, p. 3, Whatever the case, Estrada ended up defaulting on his obligations shortly after the transaction took place. And from the default, a lengthy series of lawsuits ensued.

RG failed in early 2010, and had its assets and deposits seized by the FDIC, Acting as RG’s receiver, the FDIC filed a lawsuit against Juan Almeida in December 2012 seeking to recover on the default, and to execute the mortgage notes that served as collateral (the “Federal Suit”). Juan never answered the complaint, and so the district court entered a default judgment in favor of the FDIC in September 2013. See FDIC v. Almeida-León, Civil No. 12-2025 (FAB), Docket # 25. The FDIC thus became judgment creditor of Juan Almeida in the amount of $2,828,850 (hereinafter referred to, as the “Judgment Credit”). The district court also ordered the execution of the mortgage notes.

Meanwhile, another lawsuit brewed in state court. Francisco Almeida and his wife Wanda Cruz sued Estrada for collection of monies based on Estrada’s default.1 In October 2011, the state court rendered Judgment against Estrada (the “State Court Judgment”). See Docket # 21, ¶ 6; According to Plaintiffs, Juan Almeida later received “an undivided co-ownership” .with respect to half of the assets obtained through the State Court Judgment. Id at ¶ 7.

Several months after the entry of judgment in the Federal Suit, the FDIC discovered that Juan had divested his interest in the aforementioned mortgage notes to Francisco and an entity under his control, Tenerife LLC. See Docket # 18 at p. 3. These were the same notes that secured the Judgment Credit and that formed the basis' of Francisco and Wanda’s suit against Estrada in state court. The FDIC also found out that the properties subject to the notes were scheduled to be auctioned off later that month pursuant to the State Court Judgment obtained by Francisco and Wanda.

Realizing that the collateral securing its judgment was in jeopardy, the FDIC quickly petitioned the district court for a temporary restraining order to halt the auction. The FDIC argued that Juan had fraudulently transferred those assets to his brother in an effort to. place them beyond the FDIC’s reach. The district court immediately granted the TRO and ordered the cancellation of the auction. See FDIC v. Almeida-León, Civil No. 12-2025 (FAB), Docket ## 27, 28, After weeks of negotiations, the FDIC reached an agreement with the Almeidas and Tenerife LLC (the “Agreement”). In a nutshell, the FDIC was assigned Juan Almeida’s 50% interest in the State Court Judgment for the purpose of paying off his debt pursuant to the Federal Judgment. The parties also agreed to execute the State Court Judgment through the public sale of the mortgaged property.

Under the Agreement, the FDIC bound itself to conduct an environmental study of the properties. See Docket # 21, ¶ 19-22. Once the study was completed, the auction would proceed. The Almeidas, interested in maximizing the proceeds, of the properties so as to pay off the FDIC in full, obtained various buyers and tenants for the properties subject to auction. Three months went by, however, without the FDIC conducting the promised study. In October 2014, the Almeidas sent a letter admonishing the [528]*528FDIC for excessive delays and demanding that the study proceed immediately. Still, the FDIC remained silent, failed to complete the study, and further obstructed the execution of the judgment. That was the status quo for nearly a year. For that period, Plaintiffs allege they were deprived by-the FDIC from> receiving the substantial arrears of the property, which they estimate to be more than $10,000 per month. Id.

In January 2016, Francisco Almeida sent a letter to the FDIC reiterating 'that the latter had breached the Agreement for failure to perform the environmental study. See id., ¶¶ 27-32. Counsel for the FDIC contacted the Almeidas and informed them that the FDIC had sold its Judgment Credit and the 50% participation in the State Court Judgment acquired through the assignment. However, since the FDIC’s counsel also represented the buyer, he informed the Almeidas that they could proceed with their claims through him.

Initially, the FDIC’s counsel refused to disclose the identity of the third party who had purchased the.assets from the FDIC. After some digging, the third party was identified as WM Capital Management, Inc. (“WM Capital”). See id., ¶ 33-40. Plaintiffs estimate that WM Capital paid around $92,840,71 to acquire the assets in question from' the FDIC. The Almeidas then told the FDIC’s counsel that" they were invoking their right to redeem the sale under the theories of co-owner and litigious credit redemption.

The Almeidas .formalized their grievances by filing a proof of claim with the FDIC. Also, because WM Capital agreed to “assume all of [the FDIC’s] duties, obligations and liabilities]” under the purchase agreement, Plaintiffs filed suit against WM Capital in state court, The latter promptly removed-the case to this Court.

WM Capital now moves to dismiss Plaintiffs’ co-owner and litigious credit re-, demption claims, but leaves the breach of contract claim for summary,judgment. In response to WM Capital’s motion, Plaintiffs concede that the litigious redemption claim has no merit.2 The same shall therefore be dismissed with prejudiced And, for the reasons that follow, the Court agrees with WM Capital that the co-owner redemption claim shares the same fate.

II. Standard of Review

Review of pleadings under Rule 12(b)(6) entails a two-step process.

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236 F. Supp. 3d 524, 2017 WL 655447, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/almeida-leon-v-wm-capital-management-inc-prd-2017.