Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Hemmerle

592 So. 2d 1110, 1991 WL 211416
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 23, 1991
Docket89-3286
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 592 So. 2d 1110 (Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Hemmerle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Hemmerle, 592 So. 2d 1110, 1991 WL 211416 (Fla. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

592 So.2d 1110 (1991)

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION, As Receiver for Sunrise Savings and Loan Association, Appellant,
v.
Kenneth HEMMERLE and Sun-Island Realty, Inc., Appellees.

No. 89-3286.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

October 23, 1991.
Rehearing Denied February 25, 1992.

*1111 Suzanne H. Youmans, Eben G. Crawford, Anne Talbot and Alan L. Briggs of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, Palm Beach, for appellant.

Edna L. Caruso of Edna L. Caruso, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Jeffrey Bergens, Fort Lauderdale, for appellees.

PER CURIAM.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC], as Manager of the Federal Savings and Loan Resolution Fund and as receiver for Sunrise Savings and Loan Association [Sunrise], appeals the final judgments entered in favor of appellees Kenneth Hemmerle [Hemmerle] and Sun-Island Realty, Inc. [Sun-Island]. FDIC also appeals the trial court's rulings and orders that denied its motions for directed verdict, judgment notwithstanding the verdict, a new trial and remittitur.[1]

*1112 We reverse the final judgments entered in favor of appellees and remand with directions to the trial court to enter directed verdicts and final judgments in favor of appellant on appellees' counterclaims. We affirm the trial court's rulings that denied appellant's motions for directed verdict on its complaint.

In 1983, Sunrise agreed to loan Acquisition Corp. of America [ACA] almost sixteen million dollars to construct a condominium project in Boca Raton. ACA gave Sunrise a promissory note secured by a mortgage on the project. Hemmerle and Sun-Island unconditionally guaranteed [First Guaranty] repayment of the loan.

In 1986, ACA defaulted on the loan. When Sunrise demanded payment of all sums due, ACA, Hemmerle and Sun-Island sued Sunrise and alleged that they had been fraudulently induced to execute the loan documents.

Thereafter, FDIC was appointed the receiver for Sunrise and sued ACA, Hemmerle, Sun-Island and others to foreclose the mortgage and enforce the terms of the note and the First Guaranty. Appellees answered the complaint and filed affirmative defenses and counterclaims that repeated the allegations contained in their fraudulent inducement action.

The parties engaged in negotiations and settled the foreclosure action in September of 1987. FDIC agreed to abate the foreclosure action and further agreed to dismiss the foreclosure action if on or before December 31, 1987, ACA paid FDIC a reduced amount as full satisfaction of all sums then due under the note. The settlement agreement specifically provided that time was of the essence and required ACA, Hemmerle and Sun-Island to stipulate that they: (1) waived their defenses and counterclaims asserted in the foreclosure action and (2) consented to entry of judgment without notice and hearing in the foreclosure notice and hearing in the foreclosure action for all sums then due if ACA failed to pay FDIC the reduced amount on or before the December 31, 1987. The settlement agreement also contained a comprehensive "merger clause" which provided that the settlement agreement contained the entire agreement between the parties.

In January of 1988, FDIC filed an affidavit in the foreclosure action which stated that ACA failed to timely pay the reduced amount. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, the trial court entered judgment against appellees. Hemmerle then filed a motion to vacate the judgment and argued, inter alia, that FDIC had orally agreed to extend the loan payment deadline if he so requested. The trial court denied Hemmerle's motion to vacate and ruled that evidence of the oral agreement was inadmissible. Hemmerle appealed and a central issue of that appeal was whether he could assert FDIC's breach of the oral agreement as a defense in the foreclosure action given (1) the merger clause in the settlement agreement and (2) the parol evidence rule. This court in Hemmerle v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., 556 So.2d 457 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990), issued a per curiam affirmance of the foreclosure judgment.

Also as part of the settlement agreement, Hemmerle and Sun-Island gave FDIC a Conditional Guaranty of Payment [Second Guaranty] which guaranteed full payment of ACA's indebtedness to FDIC in the event ACA filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy. The day before the loan payment deadline, Hemmerle caused ACA to file for protection under the bankruptcy code. As a result, FDIC filed a second action suing Hemmerle and Sun-Island to enforce its rights under the Second Guaranty. Hemmerle and Sun-Island again asserted affirmative defenses and counterclaims based on FDIC's breach of the oral agreement — the same claims which were asserted and rejected by the trial court and this court in the foreclosure action.

FDIC filed motions for summary judgment on the grounds that appellees' defenses and counterclaims were barred by the doctrines of res judicata and estoppel by judgment. FDIC also filed a motion in limine based on the doctrine of merger and the parol evidence rule to exclude evidence and argument regarding the oral agreement. *1113 The trial court denied FDIC's motions.

Sub judice, at trial FDIC presented uncontradicted evidence establishing each element of its claims against appellees on the Second Guaranty. Appellees offered evidence that on or before the date they executed the settlement agreement, FDIC orally agreed to extend the loan payment deadline if appellees so requested; that in mid-December 1987, Hemmerle asked a representative of FDIC to extend the payment deadline to February 11, 1988; that the representative told Hemmerle the extension would be "no problem," which confirmed the oral agreement, but that the representative's superior later stated that FDIC would not extend the loan payment deadline.[2] Appellees argued that FDIC made the oral agreement to fraudulently induce them to sign the settlement agreement.[3] FDIC's witnesses denied that any oral agreement to extend the payment deadline was ever made. At the conclusion of the evidence, FDIC moved for directed verdicts on its claims and appellees' counterclaims on the ground that appellees' evidence regarding the alleged oral agreement was barred by the doctrines of merger, res judicata and estoppel by judgment and the parol evidence rule. FDIC's motions were denied.

In its verdict, the jury specifically found that (1) the settlement agreement was valid and (2) FDIC had not fraudulently induced appellees to execute the settlement agreement. However, the jury also found that FDIC's breach damaged Hemmerle and Sun-Island in the amounts of twenty-five million dollars and one million nine hundred thousand dollars, respectively. FDIC filed post-trial motions for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, a new trial and remittitur. The trial court denied those motions.

We hold that the trial court erred when it allowed appellees to present evidence about the oral agreement to extend the loan payment deadline. Settlement agreements are governed by rules of contract interpretation. Robbie v. City of Miami, 469 So.2d 1384 (Fla. 1985). Because the clear and unambiguous terms of the settlement agreement established December 31, 1987 as the payment deadline, the doctrine of merger and the parol evidence rule barred the admission of such evidence. The doctrine and the rule preclude the introduction of evidence of any prior or contemporaneous oral agreement which varies, alters or contradicts the terms of a written agreement.

DOCTRINE OF MERGER

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592 So. 2d 1110, 1991 WL 211416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federal-deposit-ins-corp-v-hemmerle-fladistctapp-1991.