Beausejour Corp. v. Offshore Development Corp. (In Re Offshore Development Corp.)

37 B.R. 96, 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 6380
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 23, 1984
DocketBankruptcy No. 83-14, Adv. No. 83-442
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 37 B.R. 96 (Beausejour Corp. v. Offshore Development Corp. (In Re Offshore Development Corp.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy 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
Beausejour Corp. v. Offshore Development Corp. (In Re Offshore Development Corp.), 37 B.R. 96, 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 6380 (Fla. 1984).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER L. PASKAY, Chief Judge.

THIS IS an adversary proceeding and the matter under consideration is a Complaint filed by Beausejour Corporation (Beausej-our) against Offshore Development Corp. (Offshore), the Debtor in a Chapter 11 case presently pending before this Court. The Complaint sounds in two counts: Count I is an action for declaratory relief, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201, which seeks a declaration that the transaction entered into between Offshore and Beausejour was a bona fide sale and not a usurious financing transaction as defined by Florida law. Count II is also an action for declaratory relief and seeks a declaration, in the event this Court determines the instant transaction to be criminally usurious, that the transaction was purged from the taint of usury by notice sent by Beausejour in compliance with Fla.Stat. § 687.04(2).

Offshore filed a counterclaim and in Count I seeks a declaratory judgment finding the transaction with Beausejour to be criminally usurious and, therefore, an unenforceable obligation pursuant to Fla.Stat. § 687.071(7) which cannot be purged by sending a notice pursuant to Fla.Stat. § 687.04(2). In Count II, Offshore seeks a turnover of the sum of $250,000 which it paid to Beausejour in connection with the transaction.

The facts relevant to the issues under consideration as established at the trial can be summarized as follows:

Offshore is a Florida corporation which presently owns a 13 acre tract of land located in Clearwater, Florida, commonly known as the Duhme Road Project. This property was acquired for the purpose of building condominium units to be known as 5,000 Island Place. Michael Sedwick is president of Offshore. Beausejour is a Netherland Antilles corporation doing business in the State of Florida and presently managed by a director, Michael Brassuer, a French na *99 tional. A managing director under the laws of Netherland Antilles is the equivalent of a president of a domestic corporation. It appears that Brassuer was extensively involved in various projects in the United States representing European investors.

On November 22, 1980, Sedwick and one James A. Connell entered into an Agreement for Purchase and Sale of Real Estate whereby Sedwick and Connell agreed to purchase the Duhme Road Project from Sunland Properties (Sunland), for $728,000. This Agreement for Sale reflected the buyers to be “Michael Sedwick, James A. Con-nell and/or assigns.” The language “and/or assigns” was added to protect the anticipated assignment of this contract to a corporation which was to be formed by Sed-wick for the purpose of taking title to the Duhme Road Property. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement for Sale, Sedwick paid $10,000 as an earnest money deposit and agreed to execute a note and a purchase money mortgage in the amount of $500,000, bearing an annual rate of interest at 1214%. The balance of the purchase price was due at closing. At the time the property was purchased from Sunland, Sed-wick had already discussed with Brassuer the financing of this purchase and it agreed to provide the acquisition loan. It appears that Sedwick has been involved in two previous transactions in which Brassuer arranged for the funds needed for the acquisition of other properties.

The two earlier transactions involved projects known as Camelot Oaks and Gulf Beach, both of which were handled essentially in the same way and followed the following scenario. Brassuer and his attorney, Mr. Elliott Burko, formed a new entity which would loan money to a corporation formed by Mr. Sedwick which would take title to the property in question. Thereafter, Sedwick’s corporation would execute a mortgage in favor of the corporation formed by Brassuer for twice the amount of monies advanced. For example, if the corporation formed by Brassuer advanced $500,000 to Sedwick’s corporation, a mortgage would be recorded in the amount of $1,000,000. Although a mortgage was always recorded for the amount advanced, Sedwick did not know exactly how the transaction would be structured since he never saw the actual documents of transfer until the time of closing. The drafting of the documents was always the responsibility of Mr. Burko.

After the execution of the Agreement for Sale and Purchase and prior to the closing of the Duhme Road transaction on December 19, 1980, Sedwick met with Brassuer and Burko and discussed with them the problem of possible usury in connection with the proposed transaction because of the execution of a mortgage for twice the amount of the loan for the Duhme Road project. Burko assured Sedwick that the transaction could be structured in a fashion which would effectively avoid the appearance of usury. During this same time interval, Mr. Burko formed Beausejour which was to act as the lender in the Duhme Road transaction. At the time of the corporation’s formation and the real estate closing, Mr. Burko was both the managing director and the attorney for the corporation. Simultaneously, Mr. Sedwick formed Offshore Development Corporation for the purpose of taking title to the property. At closing, Mr. Burko, utilizing the staff of Lawyers’ Land Title Corporation, prepared several documents.

First, Sedwick and Connell executed an Assignment of the Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Real Estate to Beausejour. Parenthetically, it is interesting to note that the Assignment was not to Sedwick’s corporation, i.e. Offshore, as originally anticipated by Sedwick, but rather to Beausej-our. Sunland then executed a Warranty Deed to Beausejour. Although this Warranty Deed reflects a date of December 18, 1980, Sedwick testified that this document was, in fact, prepared on December 19,1980 in conjunction with the other closing documents. In fact, it was witnessed and notarized by the same witnesses and notary whose names appear on the other closing documents. Next, Beausejour, as seller, and Offshore, as buyer, entered into an *100 Agreement for Purchase and Sale whereby Beausejour agreed to convey to Offshore all of its right, title and interest in the Duhme Road property for the sum of $1,000,000. Beausejour then executed a warranty deed conveying the property to Offshore and a Mortgage and Note was executed by Offshore in favor of Beausejour in the sum of $1,000,000. In addition, Offshore executed a Mortgage Deed in favor of Sunland and W.J. White. At the same time, Offshore executed two promissory notes for $250,000 each in favor of Sunland and W.J. White. Mr. White’s relationship to Sunland, if any, was not revealed at trial. In any event, it is clear that the Mortgage Deed and Promissory Notes totalling $500,000 in favor of Sunland and White represented a purchase money mortgage on the property. At this juncture, it must be noted that, although Sedwick and Connell assigned the Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Real Estate to Beausejour and, thereafter, Sunland conveyed by warranty deed to Beausejour, Offshore executed the purchase money mortgage in the amount of $500,000 and not Beausejour as one might expect.

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Bluebook (online)
37 B.R. 96, 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 6380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beausejour-corp-v-offshore-development-corp-in-re-offshore-development-flmb-1984.