Doral Bank v. Federal Deposit Insurance

59 F. Supp. 3d 358, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127741, 2014 WL 4520719
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedSeptember 11, 2014
DocketCivil No. 14-1570 (PAD)
StatusPublished

This text of 59 F. Supp. 3d 358 (Doral Bank v. Federal Deposit Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doral Bank v. Federal Deposit Insurance, 59 F. Supp. 3d 358, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127741, 2014 WL 4520719 (prd 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PEDRO A. DELGADO-HERNÁNDEZ, District Judge.

Doral Bank initiated this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against enforcement of a final and non-appealable Judgment and orders of the Fajardo Part of the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico (Docket No. 1 at ¶¶ 8 and 32).1 Careful examination of applicable authority confirms this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to entertain the action. Judicial intervention would exceed the scope of the Court’s authority under federal banking laws.2 Therefore, the case must be dismissed.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. State Judicial Proceedings3

Doral is a federally insured banking institution dully organized and authorized to do business in Puerto Rico. In 2005, it granted certain credit facilities to Social Interest Growth Associates Corporation (“SIGA”) collateralized by, among other things, mortgages on certain real estate owned by SIGA. SIGA operated a waste-water treatment plant in one of the properties that served as collateral.

In November 2008, after SIGA defaulted on its obligations, Doral sued SIGA in state court for collection of monies and foreclosure. In June 2009, it obtained a Judgment in its favor. SIGA, however, failed to pay Doral the monies owed. Doral did not foreclose its mortgage on the property. Upon or immediately after SIGA’s default, SIGA abandoned the property and failed to maintain or continue operation of the wastewater treatment plant. The unattended plant began to re[361]*361lease untreated sewage water onto the property, which then flowed into adjacent land.

In February 2011, Doral initiated a different but related action against SIGA in state court, seeking entry of a preliminary and permanent injunction to avoid the deterioration of the mortgaged property.4 To that end, it asked the court to order SIGA to maintain and operate the waste-water treatment plant and to take all necessary measures to avoid or remedy the environmental harm it was causing or, alternatively, for the designation by the court of an administrator to take possession and protect the mortgaged property.

In April 2012, the state court entered Judgment in favor of Doral, ordering SIGA, inter alia, to correct all deficiencies in the treatment plant within sixty (60) days; to operate the wastewater treatment plant; and to file periodic reports with the court stating its compliance with the terms of the Judgment (Docket No. 1, Exh. 3). Further, it stated that in the event SIGA failed to comply with the orders that were made part of the Judgment, the court would place the wastewater treatment plant under receivership and order Doral to cover the costs and expenses necessary for the implementation of the Judgment, and allow Doral to recover those expenses from SIGA. Id.

Doral did not seek review of the Judgment, which subsequently became final and nonappealable. Approximately four (4) months later, in August 2012, it entered into a Consent Order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) under 12 U.S.C. § 1818(b). See, In the Matter of Doral Bank San Juan, Puerto Rico (Insured State Nonmember bank), FDIC-12-134b (Docket No. 1, Exh. D). Among other things, the Consent Order prohibits Doral from extending, directly or indirectly, any additional credit to, or for the benefit of, any borrower whose loan or other credit is more than 90 days delinquent or has been classified as “Substandard,” “Doubtful,” or is listed for “Special Mention” in the FDIC’s Report of examination. Id.

In December 2012, after SIGA notified the state court that it lacked the financial resources to comply with the Judgment, the court placed the wastewater treatment plant under receivership. As anticipated in the April 2012 Judgment, the court ordered Doral to employ a court-appointed administrator, and to perform all work necessary to ensure the operation of the wastewater treatment plant in compliance with applicable law and regulations (Docket No. 1, Exh. E). Additionally, it required Doral to disburse the monies necessary to complete all repair and maintenance work at the wastewater treatment plant.

On January 8, 2013, Doral requested reconsideration of the Order (Docket No. 41, Exh. 2), which the state court denied on January 10, 2013. Doral then sought discretionary review of the Order with the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals and the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, but neither [362]*362court granted the relief requested.5

On March 21, 2014, the Environmental Quality Board of Puerto Rico (“EQB”) moved to intervene, and requested sanctions against Doral for Doral’s failure to assume financial responsibility for the operation of the wastewater treatment plant. The court ordered Doral to comply with the 2012 Order or face a daily penalty of $1,000.00 from the date it was first ordered to rehabilitate the wastewater treatment plant in 2012 (Docket No. 2 at p. 4).

On April 15, 2014, Doral filed an Urgent Motion for Relief of Judgment under Rule 49.2 of the Puerto Rico Rules of Civil Procedure and a separate Informative Motion. . In these motions it informed the state court, for the first time, of the Consent Order it had entered into with the FDIC, arguing that the Consent Order barred Doral from complying with the state court’s Order. In Doral’s view, requiring it to disburse funds to operate the wastewater treatment plant would subject Doral to substantial monetary penalties from the FDIC for noncomplianee with the Consent Order. '

On May 15, 2014, the state court denied Doral’s request, characterizing it as legally “inappropriate, since it was not filed within the final term of six months provided by Rule 49.2 of Civil Procedure, and in the alternative, since there [were] no legal grounds that would justify it” (Docket No. 33 at p. 23). The court stated that the Judgment untimely challenged by Doral was “final and unappealable;” noted that the Consent Order submitted by Doral in support of its motion (only a portion of which was submitted to the court) did not prohibit Doral from disbursing funds to comply with a “final and unappealable court decision;” and expressed that:

The foregoing [portion' of the Consent Order] reveals that what is being prohibited under the above-referenced clause is the extension or issuance of additional credit to SIGA, which is not taking place by way of the Order for Court Administration. This case merely deals with a disbursement of funds tocomply with a court decision. Therefore, Doral is not in any way prevented from complying, once and for all, with the order of the Court.
We should also clarify that, during the Hearing held on April 1, 2014, Doral Bank accepted the request made by the [EQB] and did not raise the argument that it is now belatedly raising.
Id. at pp. 25-26.

Finally, the court reasserted Doral’s obligation to comply with its order within five (5) days, warning Doral that failure to comply with the order would result in a daily penalty of $1,000.00 for each day retroactive to December 21, 2012. Id. Doral, however, failed to comply with the court’s Order.

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Bluebook (online)
59 F. Supp. 3d 358, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127741, 2014 WL 4520719, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doral-bank-v-federal-deposit-insurance-prd-2014.