Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston v. OneUnited Bank (In re Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston)

574 B.R. 402
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJuly 19, 2017
DocketCase No. 12-12292-FJB; Adversary Proceeding No. 14-1138
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 574 B.R. 402 (Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston v. OneUnited Bank (In re Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston v. OneUnited Bank (In re Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston), 574 B.R. 402 (Mass. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON REMAND

Frank J. Bailey, United States Bankruptcy Judge

Background

On November 2, 2016, this Court entered judgment in the above-captioned adversary proceeding, overruling the objections of plaintiff and chapter 11 debtor Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston (“the Church”) to the proof of claim of OneUnited Bank (“the Bank”) and dismissing the Church’s counterclaim against the Bank on its merits. The Church appealed from the judgment to the United States District Court. For reasons it set forth in a Memorandum and Order of May 19, 2017 (“Memorandum and Order”), the District Court has now vacated in part the order overruling the Church’s objection to OneUnited’s proof of claim and remanded the matter to this Court for the limited purpose of explaining the relationship of the Court’s findings to one of two theories underlying the Church’s wrongful underwriting count: that the Bank’s underwriting of the Construction Loan was unfair under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, § 2(a) because the Bank made the loan in reckless disregard of facts showing that .the loan would or was likely to fail.1 In its Memorandum and Order, the District Court articulated, to an extent, the standard for making this determination and then charged this Court as follows: “[0]n remand, the Bankruptcy Court need only apply the standard articulated above to determine whether OneUn-ited acted unfairly by making this loan ■with reckless disregard for facts which made it likely that the loan would fail. It can do so, in part, by clarifying the relationship between its detailed historical findings and the reckless disregard standard.” Memorandum and Order, p. 22. And the Court may make “any additional factual findings it deems necessary.” Id.

The District Court has indicated that it is assuming without deciding (i) that section 9 of Chapter 93A governs and (ii) that the Supreme Judicial Court would, in an appropriate case, extend Fremont2 to lending transactions outside the home mortgage context. Memorandum and Order, p. 13. I understand that, for purposes of the above charge on remand, this Court too may, at least initially, proceed on the basis of these assumptions. On remand, the Court is required to address these issues—that is, determine whether the conduct in question is subject to section 9 and'not section 11 of Chapter 93A, and determine whether the Supreme Judicial Court would extend the rule of Fremont beyond the residential mortgage context— only if it concludes that the Church has made out a claim under the reckless disregard theory. Memorandum and Order, p. 22 fn. 10.

Regarding the standard to be applied, the District Court made the follow-[405]*405mg observations. First, Fremont and its successor cases establish that Chapter 93A prohibits “the origination of a home mortgage loan that the lender should recognize at the outset that the borrower is not likely to be able to repay.” Drakopoulos v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 465 Mass. 775, 786, 991 N.E.2d 1086 (2013) quoting Fremont, 452 Mass. at 749, 897 N.E.2d 548; see also Frappier v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 645 F.3d 51, 56 (1st Cir. 2011) (“The holding of Fremont was that Chapter 93A prohibits ‘the origination of a home mortgage loan that the lender should recognize at the outset the borrower is not likely to be able to repay.’ ”). Second, loans of this sort fall within the penumbra of the concept of unfairness established in the Massachusetts Predatory Home Loan Practices Act because of their fundamentally predatory nature. See Fremont, 452 Mass. at 748-749, 897 N.E.2d 548.

Third, “Chapter 93A usually requires a level of fault going beyond mere negligence.” Frappier, 645 F.3d at 59; see, e.g., Darviris v. Petros, 442 Mass. 274, 278, 812 N.E.2d 1188 (2004) (“[A] violation of Ch. 93A requires, at the very least, more than a finding of mere negligence .... ”). Fremont and Drakopoulos evince no departure from this background principle, and the Church adopted it at trial. Although the Massachusetts courts have not defined recklessness in the Chapter 93A context, it suffices for these purposes to emphasize that reckless conduct embodies a “substantially greater” degree of culpability than mere negligence. Boyd v. Nat’l R.R. Passenger Corp., 446 Mass. 540, 546, 845 N.E.2d 356 (2006), quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 500.

Fourth, under Massachusetts law, “[a] ruling that conduct violates [Chapter] 93A is a legal, not a factual, determination.” Klairmont v. Gainsboro Rest., Inc., 465 Mass. 165, 171, 987 N.E.2d 1247 (2013), quoting Casavant v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd., 460 Mass. 500, 503, 952 N.E.2d 908 (2011). At the same time, “whether a particular set of acts, in their factual setting, is unfair or deceptive is a question of fact.” Klairmont, 465 Mass. at 171, 987 N.E.2d 1247, quoting Casavant, 460 Mass. at 503, 952 N.E.2d 908 (“Although whether a particular set of acts, in their factual setting, is unfair or deceptive is a question of fact ... the boundaries of what may qualify for consideration as a [G.L.] c. 93A violation is a question of law ...”). Even receiving a loan with the four “presumptively unfair” characteristics present in Fremont does not relieve a borrower of the obligation to prove that the loan was unfair or deceptive in the specific circumstances in which it was made. Fremont, 452 Mass. at 740-741, 752, 897 N.E.2d 548. This factual inquiry is made with reference to “the circumstances of each case.” Klairmont, 465 Mass, at 174, 987 N.E.2d 1247, quoting Kattar v. Demoulas, 433 Mass. 1, 14, 739 N.E.2d 246 (2000).

And fifth, the factfinder is permitted to take into account the borrower’s representations to the lender as part of the mosaic of facts in determining whether this particular loan was unfair. See Klairmont, 465 Mass. at 174, 987 N.E.2d 1247. In the specific context of fundraising in the present case, the Bankruptcy Court may consider the Church’s one-sided knowledge of its underperforming but crucial fund-raising campaign, created in part by the incomplete answer it gave when OneUnit-ed inquired about the progress of that campaign, just as it may consider OneUn-ited’s failure to further delve into the details.

Discussion

a. Reckless Disregard in Massachusetts Law

Using these observations as a point of departure, this Court is charged with spec[406]

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