Capital One, N.A. v. Nicoll

113 So. 3d 1158, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 644, 2013 WL 1287351, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 617
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 27, 2013
DocketNo. 12-CA-644
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 113 So. 3d 1158 (Capital One, N.A. v. Nicoll) 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
Capital One, N.A. v. Nicoll, 113 So. 3d 1158, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 644, 2013 WL 1287351, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 617 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

JUDE G. GRAVOIS, Judge.

l2Pefendant, Michael Nicoll, appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in plaintiffs favor in this deficiency judgment proceeding instituted after a foreclosure sale. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The facts of this case are not in dispute. Plaintiff, Capital One, N.A., formerly known as Hibernia National Bank (“Capital One”), was the holder of a promissory note executed by defendant on January 29, 2004 in the principal amount of $285,044.26, secured by a multiple indebtedness mortgage on immovable property (Lot 109 of Gabriel Subdivision in Kenner, Louisiana). Defendant defaulted on the loan. On March 30, 2010, plaintiff filed a Petition for Executory Process against defendant, alleging that the amount due on the note included the principal sum of $244,595.69, plus accrued interest, late charges, and attorney’s fees. Defendant was served with a notice of ^seizure and a notice to appoint an appraiser. When defendant did not appoint an appraiser, the sheriff appointed appraisers for both plaintiff and defendant. The appraisals came in at $115,000 and $120,000, respectively. Pursuant to La. R.S. 13:4365(B), since the appraisals were less than 10 per cent apart, the appraised value was deemed to be $117,500, the average of the two appraisals. On September 8, 2010, the property was sold at public auction to plaintiff for $78,334. This amount represented two-thirds of the appraised value, thereby allowing plaintiff to proceed for a deficiency judgment against defendant pursuant to La. R.S. 13:4106. On May 5, 2011, plaintiff sold the property to a third party for $135,000.

On July 22, 2011, plaintiff filed a Supplemental Petition for Deficiency, seeking a deficiency judgment against defendant for the full amount due under the note, subject to a credit for the sum realized at the sheriffs sale ($78,334). Defendant filed an answer to the supplemental petition, claiming that since plaintiff purchased the property at the sheriffs sale and then later resold the property for an amount greater than it had paid at the sheriffs sale, he was entitled to a credit for the full amount paid to plaintiff when it later resold the property ($135,000).1

[1160]*1160On February 24, 2012, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that defendant was not entitled to a credit for the resale value of the property by plaintiff, and that plaintiff was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Defendant filed an opposition to plaintiffs motion for summary judgment, arguing that plaintiff is not entitled to double recovery, citing Louisiana Civil Code articles pertaining to damages available to an obligee for an obligor’s failure to perform an obligation. Defendant argued that damages for failure to perform on a contract are | ¿measured by the amount of the loss sustained by the obligee and the profit of which he has been deprived. Defendant contended that plaintiff is accordingly only entitled to the amount of damages that will put plaintiff in the same position as it would have been in had defendant performed his obligation, and that plaintiff is not entitled to be put in a better position.

These arguments were repeated at the hearing on the motion. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court granted plaintiffs motion for summary judgment. This timely appeal followed.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

On appeal, defendant has assigned the following errors, to-wit:

1. The trial court erred as a matter of law by rendering judgment in favor of Capital One based on the $78,3kk paid through the sheriff’s sale rather than the $135,000 paid to Capital One following the May 2011 sale of the Gabriel lot, resulting in a $56,000 windfall to the bank that is not based on the loan documents or allowed by Louisiana law.
2. The trial court error [sic] by relying on two Louisiana appeals court decisions that are based on the common law and by failing to apply Louisiana Civil Code articles 199k, 1995 and 2002, and other Louisiana civil law principals [sic] and provisions.

Since defendant’s assignments of error are interrelated, we will consider them together.

In his assignments, defendant argues that the loan documents in question are devoid of any provision that allows plaintiff to recover any damages in excess of the outstanding principal, plus interest, attorney’s fees, and costs. Defendant reasons that contract-based claims are defined by and limited to the provisions of the contract. Defendant argues that La. C.C. arts. 19942 and 19953 provide the framework for damages for breach of contract: the recoverable damages are those | .^caused by the failure to perform a conventional obligation as measured by the loss sustained by the obligee and the profit of which he has been deprived. Defendant recognizes that La. C.C. art. 2005 provides that the parties may create a secondary obligation for the damages to be recovered in the event of nonperformance. Defendant contends that the trial court’s ruling is contrary to these codal articles in that it allows plaintiff to make a double recovery [1161]*1161to the extent of the gain realized by the bank from the resale of the property.

Plaintiff responds that the codal articles relied on by defendant are not applicable because defendant’s obligation is based on a promissory note, which is governed by La. R.S. 10:3-101 et seq. Plaintiff argues that upon presentation of the note, plaintiff is entitled to recover the face amount of the note unless defendant has supplied proof that a lesser amount is due. Plaintiff notes that in its original petition, it admitted that defendant had made payments and provided the current amount due. In its supplemental petition, plaintiff admitted that defendant was due a credit for the amount it paid for the property at the sheriffs sale. Plaintiff contends that the laws regulating negotiable instruments and deficiency judgments do not contain any provisions whereby the debtor is entitled to a credit for the price the creditor obtains upon a later resale of the property. Plaintiff argues that defendant’s credit is limited to the amount received at the sheriffs sale.

Defendant’s obligation on the promissory note forming the basis of this action is governed by La. R.S. 10:3-101 et seq. Plaintiffs rebanee on the civil code articles governing conventional obligations is misplaced. It is well settled that where two statutory provisions are seemingly in conflict, the statute that is more specific must prevail as an exception to the general statute. Medine v. Roniger, 03-3436 (La.7/2/04), 879 So.2d 706, 714. It is likewise established in Louisiana that a creditor seeking to obtain a deficiency judgment has the burden of ^establishing compliance with two criteria: (1) insufficiency of the sale proceeds to satisfy the underlying debt; and (2) sale of the seized property after appraisal in accordance with the codal and statutory requirements for executory proceedings. Williams v. Perkins-Siegen P’ship, 93-2131 (La.1/27/95), 649 So.2d 367, 369.

In this case, defendant never presented any defenses on the note. The property was seized and sold in conformity with plaintiffs rights granted in the mortgage due to defendant’s default and in accordance with the codal and statutory requirements for executory proceedings.

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Bluebook (online)
113 So. 3d 1158, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 644, 2013 WL 1287351, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 617, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/capital-one-na-v-nicoll-lactapp-2013.