Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in Its Corporate Capacity, a Corporate Agency of the United States Government v. Richard J. Nanula

898 F.2d 545, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 4479, 1990 WL 32801
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 27, 1990
Docket88-3255
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 898 F.2d 545 (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in Its Corporate Capacity, a Corporate Agency of the United States Government v. Richard J. Nanula) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in Its Corporate Capacity, a Corporate Agency of the United States Government v. Richard J. Nanula, 898 F.2d 545, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 4479, 1990 WL 32801 (7th Cir. 1990).

Opinion

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant Richard J. Nanula appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff-ap-pellee, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). The district court found Nanula liable to the FDIC in the amount of $148,545.19 based on a loan assumption agreement and a limited partnership agreement Nanula executed while a limited partner in the Wellspring Barge Limited Partnership (“WBLP”), which subsequently assigned the contracts to the FDIC. We affirm.

I.

The WBLP partnership, whose business consisted of the operation of grain barges on the United States’ inland waterway system, became operational on December 9, 1981. Nanula was one of 75 Type A limited partners in WBLP, owning one of 99 limited partnership units. Pursuant to the limited partnership agreement, Nanula made an initial capital contribution of $50,-000 and executed a “Subscription Note” obligating him to make an additional payment of $25,000 in the future, as well as a “Promissory Note” to WBLP in the amount of $75,000. Nanula also agreed to make additional capital contributions at the request of WBLP’s general partner 1 if and when WBLP was unable to pay current debt service on the partnership’s long-term financing. 2 The limited partnership agreement also required that Nanula and the other limited partners execute “assumption agreements” — essentially loan guaranties — obligating each limited partner to assume a pro rata share — Vtath in Nanula’s case — of the principal of and interest on various loans made to the limited partnership, one of which was an $18 million short-term loan from Equitable Shipyards, Inc. (“Equitable”).

On October 5,1982, WBLP entered into a loan agreement with Continental Illinois National Bank (“Continental”) obligating Continental to make a $16,575,000 loan to the partnership to retire the majority of WBLP’s debt to Equitable. 3 As security for the loan, the Continental loan agreement provided that as a condition precedent to advancing the loan to WBLP, all Type A limited partners were required to execute assumption agreements guaranteeing their respective pro rata shares of the principal of and interest on the Continental loan. Nanula and 71 other limited partners, representing 96 of the 99 limited partnership units, executed assumption agreements dated October 5, 1982. The other three limited partners declined to execute similar assumption agreements.

Closing for the Continental loan took place on November 16, 1982. Because assumption agreements were received from only 96 of the 99 limited partnership units, Continental, in accordance with its commit *547 ment letter of September 15,1982, 4 reduced its funding of the loan by $502,273, representing %9ths of the original loan amount. Nonetheless, the principal amount of the loan remained fixed at $16,575,000 since Equitable agreed to carry this portion of the loan (through a %9ths participation in the loan) based on its previous loan to the partnership. Under the terms of the loan agreement, the limited partners executing assumption agreements on the Continental loan, including Nanula, were relieved of their obligations under their prior assumption agreements executed as security for the Equitable loan. However, the three limited partners who refused to execute Continental assumption agreements remained liable under their Equitable assumption agreements based on Equitable’s %9ths participation in the Continental loan. Nanula was notified of the circumstances surrounding the closing of the Continental loan and his release from his Equitable assumption agreement on February 1, 1983.

On September 26, 1984, as part of a multi-billion dollar assistance package to Continental, the FDIC purchased all of Continental’s rights, claims and interests in the loan agreement with WBLP and all documents executed in connection therewith, including Nanula’s assumption agreement. An officer of Continental acted as the FDIC administrator in the collection of the loan payments from WBLP.

In connection with WBLP’s long-term financing, i.e., the Continental loan, the general partner made several demands on the limited partners to contribute additional capital because WBLP was unable to make its quarterly loan payments due to cash flow problems. Many of the limited partners, including Nanula, failed to make the additional capital contributions. On November 13, 1986, the general partner made a written demand of Nanula for payment of his outstanding capital contributions to-talling $51,000 as of that date. Despite this demand, Nanula failed to make the required capital contributions per his obligations under the limited partnership agreement.

Due to the failure of many limited partners to make the required capital contributions, WBLP defaulted on its loan with Continental. The FDIC, through its administrator at Continental, declared the loan in default on December 10,1986, and demanded that WBLP pay the remaining loan balance immediately. On that date, the loan had an unpaid principal balance of $14,116,-325. On January 26, 1987, WBLP, in an effort to reduce the outstanding principal balance on the Continental loan, assigned its rights under the limited partnership agreement to recover unpaid capital contributions from the Type A limited partners to the FDIC. In a letter of February 20, 1987, the FDIC informed Nanula that under his Continental assumption agreement, he was liable for VsEith of the outstanding principal of and interest on the Continental loan, and that under the limited partnership agreement he was liable for all unpaid capital contributions plus the interest accruing thereon. Despite the FDIC’s demand for immediate payment, Nanula refused to honor his obligations under the agreements.

The FDIC filed suit against Nanula on May 22, 1987. In Count I of its complaint, the FDIC, as assignee of Continental, sought to recover $142,589 (Vtath of the $14,116,325 outstanding principal balance on the Continental loan) and V99th of the interest accruing thereon, representing Na-nula’s liability under the Continental assumption agreement. In Count II, the FDIC, as assignee of WBLP, sought to recover Nanula’s $51,000 in unpaid capital contributions and the interest accruing thereon. On February 8, 1988, Nanula *548 filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Count I because his assumption agreement was subject to the condition precedent that Continental obtain similar agreements from each Type A limited partner, which Continental failed to do, thus rendering his assumption agreement unenforceable. With regard to Count II, Nanula claimed that summary judgment was appropriate as the limited partnership agreement placed a $150,000 ceiling on his personal liability to WBLP, which had been fully satisfied, thus extinguishing his liability for the $51,000 in unpaid capital contributions.

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898 F.2d 545, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 4479, 1990 WL 32801, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federal-deposit-insurance-corporation-in-its-corporate-capacity-a-ca7-1990.