Amegy Bank National Ass'n v. Deutsche Bank Corp.

917 F. Supp. 2d 1228, 2013 WL 132581, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3996
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 10, 2013
DocketCase No. 2:12-cv-243-UA-SPC
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 917 F. Supp. 2d 1228 (Amegy Bank National Ass'n v. Deutsche Bank Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amegy Bank National Ass'n v. Deutsche Bank Corp., 917 F. Supp. 2d 1228, 2013 WL 132581, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3996 (M.D. Fla. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

ROY B. DALTON JR., District Judge.

This cause is before the Court on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and Incorporated Memorandum of Law (“Defendants’ Motion”), filed on October 23, 2012 (Doc. No. 31), Plaintiffs Response, filed on November 06, 2012 (Doc. No. 32), and Defendants’ Reply in Support of their Motion to Dismiss (“Defendants’ Reply”), filed on December 10, 2012. (Doc. No. 35.) After a careful review of the parties’ submissions and the applicable law, the Court finds the Motion due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, Amegy Bank National Association (“Amegy”) seeks relief from the unlawful conversion of its security interest held in the partnership stock of a hotel. (Doc. No. 30, pp. 9-10.) In early 2008, Amegy loaned William B. Johnson (“Johnson”) and his single member limited liability company, Monarch Flight II, LLC (“Monarch Flight”) Fifteen Million Dollars to purchase a 1983 Gulfstream Jet, to complete a development project in the Bahamas, known as Orchid Bay, and for other purposes. (Id., p. 2.) Johnson executed a Promissory Note obligating Monarch Flight to pay Amegy the loan amount plus interest in monthly payments by May 1, 2011. (Id., p. 3.) As collateral for the loan, Johnson assigned and granted to Amegy a security interest in 825,457 units of partnership interest in Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P., any shares of the Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. owned by Johnson as a result of the redemption or exchange of the partnership units, and all products and proceeds from the partnership units and/or related stock (“Hotel Stock” or “Hotel Proceeds”). (Id., p. 4.) The Security Agreement with Amegy forbade Johnson from selling, assigning, conveying, pledging, or otherwise disposing of the partnership units or the related stock without the prior written consent of Amegy. (Id.) Upon an “Event of Default” as defined in the Promissory Note, the Security Agreement granted Amegy all rights and remedies of a secured party under the Uniform Commercial Code (“U.C.C.”), including the ability to collect, receive, or take possession of the partnership units and related stock. (Id.) On May 7, 2008, Amegy filed a UCC-1 Financing Statement perfecting its security interest in Johnson’s partnership units and related stock. (Id., pp. 4-5.)

In October 2008, Monarch Flight defaulted on the loan. (Id., p. 5.) On December 10, 2009, Amegy sent a letter demanding that Monarch Flight and Johnson repay fifty percent of the loan by December 31, 2009. (Id., p. 5.) In response, Johnson’s attorney, John T. Bobo confirmed that Johnson retained and continued to pledge the 825,457 partnership units to Amegy. (Id., p. 6.) However, on January 5, 2010, Johnson redeemed his interest in the partnership units and liquidated the stock in violation of the Security Agreement. (Id.) Johnson then deposited the proceeds of the stock into an account opened with Defendant Alex.Brown, a division of Deutsche Bank Securities (collectively “DBS”). (Id.) As a prerequisite to opening the account with Alex.Brown, Johnson was required to grant to DBS and all its affiliates a security interest in all securities and other property in Johnson’s possession. (Id.)

[1232]*1232Despite pledging the stock proceeds to Amegy and without Amegy’s knowledge, Johnson paid at least $98,177.25 of the funds to Defendant, DB Private Wealth Mortgage (“PWM”) on a mortgage loan made on a real estate property, known as Spyglass. (Id.) In addition, Johnson paid $407,394.04 to non-party contractors to make improvements on the Spyglass property and an additional $81,849.39 to the Collier County Tax Collector to discharge tax obligations on the property. (Id., p. 8.) PWM holds a first-priority security interest and lien on the Spyglass property, which is otherwise unrelated to the Amegy transaction. (Doc. No. 31, p. 2.)1

Amegy maintains that DBS and PWM are working in concert with each other to convert its secured collateral in the Hotel stocks. (Doc. No. 30, p. 6.) On October 23, 2012, Defendants moved to dismiss. (Doc. No. 31.)

APPLICABLE STANDARDS

In deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court must accept all well pleaded factual allegations in a complaint as true and take them in the light most favorable to plaintiff. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007); Bingham v. Thomas, 654 F.3d 1171, 1175 (11th Cir.2011). “To survive dismissal, the complaint’s allegations must plausibly suggest that the plaintiff has a right to relief, raising that possibility above a speculative level; if they do not, the plaintiffs complaint should be dismissed.” James River Ins. Co. v. Ground Down Eng’g, Inc., 540 F.3d 1270, 1274 (11th Cir.2008) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)); see also Edwards v. Prime, Inc., 602 F.3d 1276, 1291 (11th Cir.2010). Therefore, courts must follow a two-step approach when considering a motion to dismiss: first, “eliminate any allegations in the complaint that are merely legal conclusions;” and second, “where there are well-pleaded factual allegations, ‘assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.’ ” Am. Dental Ass’n v. Cigna Corp., 605 F.3d 1283, 1290 (11th Cir.2010) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 664, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)). The standard “does not require ‘detailed factual allegations,’ but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me-accusation.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

DISCUSSION

A. Multiple Claims Combined into Count I

Prior to addressing the merits of Defendants’ Motion, the Court must resolve Defendants’ procedural argument (Doc. No. 31, p. 7) that Amegy has impermissibly combined two claims into one count — one for equitable subrogation and one for declaratory relief. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 10(b) requires parties to [1233]*1233limit claims “as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances,” and to state in a separate count or defense “each claim founded on a separate transaction or occurrence .... ” The separation of claims, however, is required by Rule 10(b) “only when necessary to facilitate a clear presentation.” 5A Fed. Prac. & Proc. Crv. § 1324 (3d ed.). Here, Count IV requests a declaratory judgment that Amegy is entitled to equitable subrogation to the collateral proceeds. The declaratory judgment claim is inextricably tied to the equitable subrogation claim and the two claims relate to a single set of circumstances.

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917 F. Supp. 2d 1228, 2013 WL 132581, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3996, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amegy-bank-national-assn-v-deutsche-bank-corp-flmd-2013.