Bryan v. Griggs

128 So. 3d 1255
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 20, 2013
DocketNo. 48,579-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 128 So. 3d 1255 (Bryan v. Griggs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bryan v. Griggs, 128 So. 3d 1255 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

GARRETT, J.

| ¶ This case arises from a short two-page letter agreement that was executed in connection with a project to build a hotel. L.H. Commercial Real Estate Services, Inc., d/b/a/ Lea Hall Properties (“LHP”), appeals from a judgment finding that Roy Griggs, Ravish V. Patwardhan, M.D., and IF Enterprise of Shreveport, LLC (“IF”), are not liable in solido to LHP for a financing fee of $54,000. Griggs, Patwar-dhan, and IF filed in this court an exception of no right of action against LHP. Griggs and Patwardhan also filed an answer to the appeal, claiming the trial court erred in ordering them to pay LHP $2,240 for a building permit fee waiver. For the following reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part the trial court judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Griggs, Patwardhan, and IF, a company formed by Griggs and Patwardhan, undertook to construct a Sleep Inn hotel in Shreveport near the LSU Health Sciences Center. Rex Bryan held himself out to be an expert in “economic development.” He was also a co-owner of LHP, which is a real estate company. An attorney for Griggs suggested that Bryan might be able to assist in the project which was being located in a low income area as Bryan had expertise in getting “tax credits, incentives, things like that.”

On September 25, 2007, Bryan prepared and sent a letter agreement to Griggs and Patwardhan which was captioned “Re: Enhancements Program Management” and specified in pertinent part:

Rex Bryan or his assigns will provide economic development services that may enhance the financial structure of [your] development in the area of LSU Medical Facility in Shreveport, La. These services may include financing of new facilities, renovation of building or properties, obtaining tax credits, tax exemptions, tax rebates, grants and/or any other enhancements |2provided by state, local, regional and federal programs. These services would also include the processing and/or monitoring of the financing and enhancement programs.
The fee payable to Rex Bryan or his assigns:
• 1% financing program utilized.
• 8% any tax credits, tax exemptions, tax rebates, grants and other enhancements utilized in project.
The total fee is due and payable at the closing or when funds are made available, which ever comes first, with one exception. It [sic] that the processing of enhancements involve a period of time, the enhancement programs total saving will be estimated, then 10% of those savings will be paid in 4 equal payments prior to formal approval of any of the enhancement programs. Then 90% of fee is due as stated above, when funds are made available or at closing, which ever comes first.
Nothing contained in this letter shall obligate you to pursue or utilize any financing program or enhancement we may suggest. Except for the four installment payments described above, no fee will be due to us unless you, in your sole discretion, elect to close or receive funds under a transaction involving a [1257]*1257financing program or enhancement which we have arranged.
The letter was written on the letterhead of Rex Bryan, CED, with a logo beside Bryan’s name reading “Economic Development.” 1 LHP was not mentioned anywhere in the letter.2
On November 27, 2007, Griggs and Pat-wardhan signed the letter acknowledging and accepting its terms. On November 28, 2007, Bryan signed the letter above a signature line that read “Mr. Rex Bryan R.B. Developments, LLC.” In May 2008, IF purchased the immovable property for the project. Neither Bryan nor LHP was involved in the real estate Rpurchase. On August 19, 2009, IF entered into a multiple indebtedness mortgage with Red River Bank (“RRB”) for $5.4 million to construct the hotel. The mortgage was executed by Griggs and Patwardhan as managers of IF.
Bryan claims he helped the defendants obtain the financing from RRB and that he secured a waiver of a building permit fee of $28,000. On September 3, 2009, Bryan sent an invoice to Griggs and Patwardhan for $54,000, representing a one percent fee for the RRB loan and $2,240, representing an eight percent fee for the waiver of the building permit fee. Griggs and Patwar-dhan refused to pay and this litigation ensued.
On December 9, 2009, Bryan filed suit entitled “Petition in Breach of Contract” against Griggs and Patwardhan for breach of the letter agreement and to collect the total fees of $56,240 and other damages. Paragraph three of the petition stated: Plaintiff shows that subsequent to entering into the contract executed by all of the parties on or before November 28, 2007, plaintiff faithfully undertook to provide the services to defendants for which he contracted to provide to the best of his ability and expended considerable hours in the contracted activities to the detriment of his obligations to his principle [sic] employer, Lea Hall Properties, which resulted in the parties subsequently agreeing that plaintiffs employer, Lea Hall Properties, would be compensated on an hourly basis, billed monthly, which subsequently occurred through all of plaintiffs activities under the contract through August 31, 2009, for which Lea Hall Properties was paid for plaintiffs hourly services.

Griggs and Patwardhan answered, asserting that the letter agreement was ambiguous and did not reflect the agreement of the parties. They claimed that Bryan represented to them that he could obtain specialized 14financing by governmental or other nontraditional entities and that they did not agree to pay Bryan to obtain traditional bank financing. The defendants also pointed out that, during their dealings with Bryan, the parties entered into another agreement providing that LHP would be compensated for Bryan’s time at $95 per hour, to be billed monthly and Bryan had already been paid for his work.

Griggs and Patwardhan also filed a supplemental and amended answer and recon-ventional demand. They claimed that the loan with RRB was obtained by IF and not Griggs and Patwardhan in their individual capacities. They alleged that Bryan failed to comply with the requirements of a li[1258]*1258censed loan broker under the Louisiana loan brokers’ statute found in La. R.S. 51:1910 et seq. and therefore, he was not entitled to recover a fee for obtaining financing.3

Bryan answered and claimed that the loan brokers’ statute did not apply to any person licensed by the Louisiana Real Estate Commission who arranges financing in the normal course of representing a client for the purchase, sale, lease, or rental of real estate. Although Bryan did not have a real estate license, he claimed that he conducted his business through LHP, which was a licensed real estate broker.

Griggs and Patwardhan then filed an exception of no right of action, claiming that if Bryan obtained financing, he did so as a loan broker. Because he did not comply with the licensing and registration requirements |sfor loan brokers, Griggs and Patwardhan argued that Bryan had no right of action to recover any fees.

Before this exception could be heard, Bryan filed a supplemental and amending petition adding LHP as a plaintiff and IF as a defendant.

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128 So. 3d 1255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bryan-v-griggs-lactapp-2013.