Country Club Associates Ltd. Partnership v. Federal Deposit Insurance

918 F. Supp. 429, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1870
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedFebruary 14, 1996
Docket93-1781
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 918 F. Supp. 429 (Country Club Associates Ltd. Partnership v. Federal Deposit Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Country Club Associates Ltd. Partnership v. Federal Deposit Insurance, 918 F. Supp. 429, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1870 (D.D.C. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

PAUL L. FRIEDMAN, District Judge.

Country Club Associates Limited Partnership was formed to construct a residential community with a Robert Trent Jones golf course, a tennis facility and a clubhouse, to be called Virginia Oaks. 1 To finance the project it entered into a $57 million Loan Agreement with Home Federal Savings and Loan Association (“HFSL”). After construction on Virginia Oaks had begun and Country Club had drawn down more than $23 million under the Loan, the Office of Thrift Supervision (“OTS”) declared HFSL insolvent. The OTS appointed the Resolution Trust Corporation (“RTC”) as Receiver for HFSL, chartered a new institution called HomeFed to purchase the assets and assume some of the liabilities of HFSL, and then appointed the RTC as Conservator of the newly-formed HomeFed. 2 After the RTC took over the management of HFSL and HomeFed and redistributed the two institutions’ financial obligations, the- RTC refused any further advances of Country Club Loan funds, and work on Virginia Oaks ceased.

*432 Country Club filed this action against the RTC as Receiver, the RTC as Conservator, and certain other defendants who have since been dismissed by stipulation. Country Club claims that the RTC breached the Loan Agreement, caused the Virginia Oaks project to fail and caused plaintiffs to suffer financial losses in the millions of dollars. Before the Court are cross motions for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

There is no dispute about many of the facts underlying this lawsuit. In May 1989, Country Club executed a Loan Agreement in the amount of $57 million with HFSL. Defendants’ Statement of Material Facts (“Defs.’ Statem.”) ¶ 1; Plaintiffs’ Statement of Material Facts (“Pis.’ Statem.”) ¶¶1, 3. The purpose of the Loan was to finance the acquisition and development of an upscale residential community in Virginia to be called Virginia Oaks. Defs.’ Statem. ¶ 2; Pis.’ Sta-tem. ¶¶2, 3. For its part, Country Club executed two promissory notes, one in the amount of $44 million and the other in the amount of $13 million, each of which it secured by a deed of trust. Defs.’ Statem. ¶ 3; Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 3. R-B and SBC, the sole general partners of Country Club Associates Limited Partnership, contributed $6 million of equity to,-the Country Club Partnership. Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 4. The $57 million Loan was at least partially guaranteed by Bressler & Reiner, Inc., which plaintiffs assert is a limited partner of Country Club and the corporate parent of one of Country Club’s general partners. Defs.’ Statem. ¶ 4.

After obtaining the Loan, Country Club acquired real estate and began to develop Virginia Oaks. It requested and received from HFSL extensions of the maturity date of the Loan until June 1, 1993. Defs.’ Sta-tem. ¶¶ 6, 7; Pis.’ Statem ¶¶ 5, 6. By the end of June 1992, HFSL had advanced $23 million to Country Club under the Loan Agreement. Defs.’ Statem. ¶ 8; Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 5.

On July 6, 1992, the Office of Thrift Supervision declared HFSL insolvent and placed it into receivership with the RTC as Receiver. Defs.’ Statem. ¶ 9; Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 7. On the same date, OTS chartered HomeFed, placed HomeFed into conservatorship and appointed the RTC as Conservator. Defs.’ Statem. ¶ 10; Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 7. The RTC as Receiver of HFSL and the RTC as Conservator of HomeFed entered into a Purchase and Assumption Agreement on July 6, 1992, which transferred certain HFSL assets, including some “loans,” from HFSL to HomeFed. Defs.’ Statem. ¶ 11; Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 8. The Assumption Agreement also obligated the RTC as Conservator of HomeFed to assume certain of HFSL’s existing liabilities. Defs.’ Statem. ¶ 13; Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 8.

Within 45 days of the institution of the HFSL receivership, Country Club submitted two requisitions for funds under the Loan Agreement. The RTC declined to provide the funds. Country Club followed up each draw request with a letter from its attorneys indicating that it viewed the RTC’s failure to honor the draw requests as a material breach of the Loan Agreement. Declaration of Burton Reiner (“Reiner Deck”), Exs. 14, 18. Without funds, all construction on the Virginia Oaks project soon ceased. Defs.’ Statem. ¶¶ 14, 15, 22; Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 9. Country Club was not in default at the time the RTC declined to make funds available under the Loan Agreement. Pis.’ Statem. ¶ 6; Defs.’ Reply Mem. in Support of Summ.J. at 5. 3

Country Club sued the RTC as Receiver of HFSL and as Conservator of HomeFed. Country Club moved for partial summary judgment on liability, claiming that the RTC is liable either for breach of contract or for statutory repudiation based on its refusal to honor the Country Club Loan. The RTC cross-moved for summary judgment, arguing principally that it had no continuing, obligation to disburse Loan- funds to Country Club and, even if such an obligation existed, it fell on the RTC as Receiver of HFSL rather than on the RTC as Conservator of *433 HomeFed. The practical result of such an allocation of liability would be that any judgment obtained by Country Club would be against an entity with empty pockets. The Court finds that there is no genuine dispute that the RTC improperly terminated the Loan Agreement without providing Country Club with notice and an opportunity to cure a possible budget imbalance. It concludes that Country Club is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the liability issue and that the RTC as Conservator of HomeFed is accountable for that breach of contract.

II. DISCUSSION

A The Breach of Contract Claim

When the RTC takes over an institution, either as Receiver or Conservator, it assumes the preexisting obligations • of the failed institution and thus is susceptible to claims that it breached those obligations. 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(2)(H); see Homeland Stores, Inc. v. Resolution Trust Corp., 17 F.3d 1269, 1274-75 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 317, 130 L.Ed.2d 279 (1994). The parties do not dispute that the RTC assumed the contractual obligations contained in the Country Club Loan Agreement, but the RTC disputes whether those obligations continued and in what capacity it took over any continuing obligations related to the Loan. See infra section II.D.

The elements of a breach of contract claim under Virginia law are (1) a legal obligation of a defendant to a plaintiff; (2) a violation or breach of that duty; and (3) consequential injury or damage to the plaintiff. Westminster Investing Corp. v. Lamps Unlimited, Inc., 237 Va. 543, 379 S.E.2d 316 (1989). 4

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918 F. Supp. 429, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/country-club-associates-ltd-partnership-v-federal-deposit-insurance-dcd-1996.