Bobick v. Community & Southern Bank

743 S.E.2d 518, 321 Ga. App. 855, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1613, 2013 WL 2233949, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 425
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMay 22, 2013
DocketA13A0175
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 743 S.E.2d 518 (Bobick v. Community & Southern Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bobick v. Community & Southern Bank, 743 S.E.2d 518, 321 Ga. App. 855, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1613, 2013 WL 2233949, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 425 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

BARNES, Presiding Judge.

This appeal arises out of a dispute over a promissory note executed by appellant Sally Bobick in favor of First National Bank of Georgia (“First National”). Contending that Bobick had defaulted on her loan obligations, First National filed the present action against her for breach of the note, and she answered and asserted several counterclaims against the bank and its CEO. First National failed while the litigation was pending, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) was appointed as receiver for the bank. The FDIC assigned and transferred certain assets of First National to appellee Community & Southern Bank (“CSB”). The trial court subsequently granted summary judgment to CSB on the claims for breach of the note, dismissed Bobick’s counterclaims, and entered final judgment in favor of CSB.

On appeal, Bobick contends that the trial court erred in granting CSB’s motions to dismiss and for summary judgment because CSB was never properly substituted as the plaintiff and thus was never made a proper party to the suit. Bobick further contends that the trial court erred in granting CSB’s motion for summary judgment on the claim for breach of the promissory note because CSB was not a party to or an assignee of the note. Lastly, Bobick contends that the trial court erred in dismissing her counterclaims pursuant to the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”), Pub. L. No. 101-73, 103 Stat. 183 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 12 USC). For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the trial court’s rulings.

Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings and evidence “show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that [856]*856the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” OCGA § 9-11-56 (c). On appeal from a trial court’s grant of summary judgment, we “conduct a de novo review, construing all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Bank of North Ga. v. Windermere Dev., 316 Ga. App. 33, 34 (728 SE2d 714) (2012).

We also review de novo a trial court’s grant of a motion to dismiss. Ga. Dept. of Community Health v. Datalnquiry, 313 Ga. App. 683 (722 SE2d 403) (2012). We construe the pleadings in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party with any doubts resolved in that party’s favor. Id.

The record reflects that on January 15, 2008, First National made a loan to Bobick in the principal amount of $2,200,250. Bobick signed a promissory note for the principal sum of the loan plus interest with a maturity date of January 15, 2009. The note was secured by property that “include [d], but [was] not limited to,” 185,394 shares of stock that Bobick owned in WGNB Corporation, as reflected in a security agreement included with the note.

Bobick failed to fully pay the amount owed on the promissory note by the maturity date. On July 22, 2009, First National filed the present suit against Bobick for breach of the note in the State Court of Carroll County. First National sought to recover unpaid principal, interest, late fees, and attorney fees.

In January 2010, First National failed and was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC was appointed as receiver for the failed bank. On January 29, 2010, the FDIC in its capacity as receiver transferred certain categories of assets of First National, including “Loans” owed to or held by the bank, to CSB pursuant to a “Purchase and Assumption Agreement.” The FDIC as receiver later executed an “Assignment of Security Instruments and other Loan Documents” (the “Assignment Agreement”) under which it assigned and transferred to CSB all

rights, title, and interests in and to all those certain Mortgages, Security Deeds, Deeds to Secure Debt, Deeds of Trust, Assignments of Rents and Leases, UCC-1 financing statements, judgment liens, and all such other instruments and security agreements securing loans ownedby First National... and held of record by First National... as of January 29, 2010 ... and all modifications, extensions, amendments and renewals thereto (collectively, the “Security Instruments”) [,] TOGETHER with all of the underlying debts described in such Security Instruments.

[857]*857The FDIC further assigned and transferred to CSB all

rights, title and interests in and to the promissory notes, loan documents and all other indebtedness secured by the Security Instruments, as evidenced by related promissory notes, any and all loan agreements, pledges, security agreements and UCC financing statements and all modifications, extensions, amendments and renewals to said documents and instruments together with any and all other loan documents, title policies and casualty insurance policies evidencing, securing or relating to any of the foregoing all of which have been delivered to . . . [CSB].

Based on these agreements that it had entered into with the FDIC, CSB came into possession of the promissory note and security agreement that had been executed by Bobick in favor of First National.

On March 8, 2010, Bobick answered the complaint filed by First National,1 raised several affirmative defenses, and asserted counterclaims for declaratory judgment, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, attorney fees, and punitive damages. Bobick also successfully moved to add as a counterclaim defendant H. B. “Rocky” Lipham III, who had served as a director of First National and its CEO and president.

Bobick alleged in her counterclaims that First National’s failure was a direct and proximate result of mismanagement by Lipham and other bank officials, and that, as a result of the failure of the bank, her stock in WGNB Corporation, which she alleged was the “holding company” of First National, had been rendered worthless. Bobick further alleged that Lipham and other bank officials had represented to her that the promissory note would continue to be renewed in one-year increments until she was able to repay her loan to First National, and that her stock in WGNB Corporation would be sufficient collateral and would be adequate by itself to secure the loan’s repayment. Bobick alleged that despite these representations, when the note matured on January 15, 2009, First National requested additional collateral for the loan and refused to renew the note without additional collateral.

According to CSB, after Bobick filed her answer and counterclaims, First National filed a motion to substitute CSB as the plaintiff [858]*858on March 25, 2011, but the state court did not rule on the motion.2 On November 10,2011, the case was transferred to the Superior Court of Carroll County with the case style of the transfer order still listing First National as the plaintiff.

On May 25, 2012, CSB moved for summary judgment on the claim for breach of the promissory note. CSB argued that it had established its prima facie right to recover and that the burden then had shifted to Bobick to establish any affirmative defenses. CSB further argued that Bobick had failed to come forward with any evidence in support of her affirmative defenses or to raise a question of fact challenging the bank’s right to recover unpaid principal, interest, late fees, and attorney fees under the promissory note.

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743 S.E.2d 518, 321 Ga. App. 855, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1613, 2013 WL 2233949, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bobick-v-community-southern-bank-gactapp-2013.