FDIC/Manager Fund v. Larsen

793 S.W.2d 37, 1990 WL 94106
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 17, 1990
Docket05-88-00137-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 793 S.W.2d 37 (FDIC/Manager Fund v. Larsen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
FDIC/Manager Fund v. Larsen, 793 S.W.2d 37, 1990 WL 94106 (Tex. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

*38 OPINION

ROWE, Justice.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as manager of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation Resolution Fund and as successor in interest to American Savings Bank, appeals the judgment entered against American Savings and Broadmoor Villas, Inc. and in favor of Max Larsen as trustee for the Max Larsen Trust. The FDIC asserts certain federal law defenses to Larsen’s claims of fraud and misrepresentation. We hold that the federal defenses bar Larsen’s claim as a matter of law, and we reverse the judgment of the trial court and render judgment in favor of the FDIC.

In 1981, the Larsen Trust sold five undeveloped acres in Irving, Texas, to Broadmoor Villas for development of a condominium project. The sale was expressly contingent on Broadmoor Villas’s ability to obtain a construction loan. Commonwealth Savings Association made the loan in the amount of $5,472,000 secured by a deed of trust granting Commonwealth the first priority lien on the property.

At the closing of the transaction, Broadmoor Villas paid Larsen $300,000 cash and delivered two notes in the amount of $217,630.55 and $400,000. The $400,000 note was to become due in sixty days. Larsen retained a vendor’s lien on the property which was expressly subordinate to Commonwealth’s lien. Broadmoor Villas did not pay the $400,000 note when it matured in March 1982. The $217,630.55 note was to be paid no later than March 16, 1984.

Late in 1982, Broadmoor Villas obtained refinancing from Congressional Mortgage Corporation to repay the Commonwealth loan and to complete construction of a condominium. Congressional lent $5,600,000 to Broadmoor Villas, and Broadmoor Villas assigned Commonwealth’s first deed of trust lien to Congressional. Early in 1983, Larry Thompson, the attorney who represented Broadmoor Villas in the refinancing transaction, delivered copies of the Congressional loan agreement, a subordination of the vendor’s lien agreement and deed of trust, and a release agreement to L.W. Gray, Larsen’s attorney, along with two checks representing payment in full of the $217,630.55 note with interest and $40,000 in interest on the $400,000 note. Larsen executed the subordination agreement in which he agreed that the deed of trust securing the $400,000 note would be subordinate to the lien created by the deed of trust given to Congressional. In addition, Larsen executed the release agreement in which he agreed to release portions of his second lien pro rata if and when he received partial payment of the $400,000 note. Larsen contended in his pleadings that he executed the subordination and release agreement based on representations made by Thompson, including representations that arrangements had been made for Congressional to handle the mortgage on the sale of condominium units being constructed, that the project was substantially completed with the first unit ready for sale, that Congressional was an experienced lender and had audited and appraised the project before getting involved, that Congressional would administer funds and draws, and that the Congressional financing was sufficient to complete the proposed improvements.

Congressional assigned to American Savings the note received from Broadmoor Villas in the refinancing transaction and its first lien security interest under the deed of trust thereby vesting American Savings with the first lien on the property. American Savings had the decision-making authority with respect to the disposition of the loan, such as the decision to foreclose. Congressional was responsible for servicing Broadmoor Villas’s loan.

On January 5, 1983, the president of Broadmoor Villas, Robert Gilliam, died. Charles Hagen, a mortgage banker who assisted Broadmoor Villas in closing the Congressional loan, inspected the books and records of Broadmoor Villas and evaluated the status of the project and feasibility of completing it. He discovered that Gilliam had misappropriated funds lent by Commonwealth and that substantial amounts were owed to subcontractors. *39 Congressional asked Hagen to oversee completion of the project. In addition, Broadmoor Villas, with the consent of Gilliam’s widow, entered into an agreement with a newly formed group called Tri-T, consisting of Hagen, Thompson, the attorney who represented Broadmoor Villas in the Congressional closing, and Frank Nusb-aum, Broadmoor Villas’s construction superintendent. Tri-T undertook responsibility for managing and operating Broadmoor Villas’s project, including financing, marketing, and construction.

Later in January, Hagen called a meeting of the project’s subcontractors for the purpose of requesting that they complete the project even though they had not been paid for past work. Henry Kaspar, a builder, attended the meeting at Larsen’s request. Kaspar reported to Larsen that Ha-gen stated at the meeting that the project was continuing under his supervision, that Broadmoor Villas did not have the money to pay outstanding bills, that Congressional would advance funds to pay for new work, and that the unpaid amount on past work would be paid if the project were completed and sold for a profit.

Broadmoor Villas defaulted under terms of the loan agreement, and American Savings gave notice of foreclosure in June or July 1983. This notice was withdrawn and a second notice issued the following month. By the time the second notice issued, American Savings had advanced $5,444,692.11. Despite default, American Savings advanced additional loan disbursements through October 1983. By August 1983, work on the project had ceased. The project was ninety percent complete. Six weeks and $500,000 were needed to complete the project, but Broadmoor Villas did not have the ability to obtain the funds. On August 2, 1983, two of Broadmoor Villas’s creditors filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against it. The petition delayed the foreclosure sale until April 1984 when American Savings bought the property at public auction for $4,800,000. Since the sale proceeds were less than the amount owed American Savings, Larsen’s second lien was extinguished by the foreclosure.

Larsen sued Broadmoor Villas and Congressional, alleging that:

(1) he was induced by false and material misrepresentations to execute the subordination agreement and refrain from foreclosing on the deed of trust;
(2) alternatively, the misrepresentations constituted agreements that were breached by Congressional and Broadmoor Villas;
(3) Broadmoor Villas was an agent of American Savings, and therefore American Savings is liable for all claims against Broadmoor Villas;
(4) he was fraudulently induced to execute the subordination agreement;
(5) Congressional and Broadmoor Villas negligently made the misrepresentations which proximately damaged Larsen;
(6) Congressional and American Savings were the alter ego of Broadmoor Villas;
(7) Congressional and Broadmoor Villas willfully, intentionally, and maliciously defrauded Larsen, and therefore Larsen is entitled to punitive damages; and
(8) Larsen is entitled to attorney fees, prejudgment interest, and actual damages.

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Bluebook (online)
793 S.W.2d 37, 1990 WL 94106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fdicmanager-fund-v-larsen-texapp-1990.