Fodale v. Waste Management of Michigan, Inc

718 N.W.2d 827, 271 Mich. App. 11
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 25, 2006
DocketDocket 253446
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 718 N.W.2d 827 (Fodale v. Waste Management of Michigan, Inc) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fodale v. Waste Management of Michigan, Inc, 718 N.W.2d 827, 271 Mich. App. 11 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff Samuel Fodale appeals as of right the trial court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of defendant Waste Management of Michigan, Inc., on his claims of violation of article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. We affirm.

I. FACTS

This case arises from a series of interrelated agreements between the parties and their predecessors in interest. In 1983, defendant1 and Eagle Valley, Ltd., of which plaintiff was a shareholder, entered into an agreement (1983 assignment) whereby Eagle Valley, Ltd., assigned all its rights in a proposed landfill to defendant; in return, defendant assigned to Eagle Valley, Ltd., a right to 50 percent of the landfill’s future profits. In 1984, Eagle Valley, Ltd., entered a redemp[15]*15tion agreement (1984 redemption agreement) whereby it assigned all its assets and liabilities to its shareholders in proportion to their shares of ownership. Plaintiff was entitled to ten percent of the assets of Eagle Valley, Ltd., under this agreement, and thus was entitled to five percent of defendant’s total profits from the Eagle Valley Landfill pursuant to the 1983 assignment.

In 1987, defendant loaned $250,000 to plaintiff. The loan agreement had three parts: an agreement (1987 agreement), a note (1987 note), and a collateral assignment (1987 collateral assignment) (collectively, the 1987 loan agreements). The 1987 loan agreements gave defendant two options for recovering on the loan in the event of plaintiffs default. First, the 1987 loan agreements provided that, if plaintiff defaulted, defendant received an option to buy plaintiffs interest in the 1984 redemption agreement2 for $350,000, less the amount plaintiff owed defendant at the time of default; in the event defendant exercised this option, plaintiffs remaining obligations to defendant would be satisfied. Second, the 1987 collateral assignment offered plaintiffs “interest” in the Eagle Valley Landfill itself as collateral.

Between December 1987 and August 1992, plaintiff failed to pay on the loan six times, but the parties were able to amend the agreement, each time increasing the amount plaintiff owed defendant.3 On July 30, 1998, [16]*16apparently after many attempts to contact plaintiff about a seventh default, defendant notified plaintiff by letter that it was exercising its option to purchase his “interest” in Eagle Valley and that this satisfied plaintiff’s obligations under the note to defendant.

In 2002, plaintiff sued defendant, claiming (1) violation of part 6 of article 9 of the UCC, MCL 440.9601 et seq.; (2) breach of contract (breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing); and (3) unjust enrichment. The trial court granted summary disposition in favor of defendant pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8) and (10) on all three counts. This appeal ensued. Before evaluating plaintiffs assignments of error, this Court requested supplementary briefs to determine whether article 9 of the UCC (secured transactions) controlled the parties’ agreement.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A trial court’s decision granting summary disposition is reviewed de novo to determine whether the prevailing party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Allen v Keating, 205 Mich App 560, 562; 517 NW2d 830 (1994). When reviewing a motion under MCR 2.116(0(10), the Court must examine the documentary evidence presented below and, drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, determine whether a genuine issue of material fact exists. Quinto v Cross & Peters Co, 451 Mich 358, 362; 547 NW2d 314 (1996). A question of fact exists when reasonable minds could differ regarding the conclusions to be drawn from the evidence. Glittenberg v Doughboy Recreational Industries (On Rehearing), 441 Mich 379, 398-399; 491 NW2d 208 (1992).

Questions of statutory interpretation are also reviewed de novo. Heinz v Chicago Rd Investment Co, 216 Mich App 289, 295; 549 NW2d 47 (1996). Questions involving the proper interpretation of a contract or the [17]*17legal effect of a contractual clause are likewise reviewed de novo. Rory v Continental Ins Co, 473 Mich 457, 464; 703 NW2d 23 (2005).

III. APPLICABILITY OF THE UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE

Threshold issues regarding the applicability of the UCC must be addressed before this Court considers plaintiffs assignments of error regarding waiver of UCC debtor’s rights, as well as his actions for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, which depend on the applicability of the UCC.

A. CONTROLLING VERSION OF ARTICLE 9

Plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in dismissing his claims based on article 9 of the UCC, MCL 440.9101 et seq., governing secured transactions. While both parties refer to part 6 of article 9, MCL 440.9601 et seq., that part did not become effective until July 1, 2001, nearly three years after defendant’s challenged purchase of plaintiffs collateral occurred. Before July 2001, defaults were governed by part 5 of article 9, as amended by 1978 PA 369 former MCL 440.9501 et seq. (hereafter, the 1979 version).4 Those sections were in effect in 1987, when the parties’ contract was executed, and in 1998, when the contested transaction took place. Therefore, former part 5 controls this case. We occasionally refer to current provisions in our analysis because the pertinent provisions of the former and the current versions of the UCC are similar in substance, if not organization.

B. SUBJECT MATTER OF THE COLLATERAL

At oral argument, this Court asked the parties to file supplemental briefs to answer whether former article 9 [18]*18of the UCC applies to the 1987 loan agreements. Plaintiff answered that article 9 applies. We agree.

As an initial matter, the parties and the trial court misidentified the pertinent collateral in the 1987 loan agreements when determining whether article 9 applied to the transaction. While both parties argue that plaintiffs interest in the 1984 redemption agreement was the pertinent collateral, the option to purchase plaintiffs interest in the 1984 redemption agreement was also collateral. Indeed, because defendant actually disposed of this latter collateral,5 this option, rather than the collateral specified in the 1987 collateral assignment, is the salient collateral when determining whether the 1987 loan agreements fall within the scope of article 9.

Throughout the litigation, the parties have referred to the 1987 loan agreements as one document, although they actually are three complexly interacting components: the 1987 agreement, the 1987 note, and the 1987 collateral assignment. Though the provisions may he located in particular components, their location is not as important as their substance when the 1987 loan agreement documents are read as a whole. See Brown v Yousif, 445 Mich 222, 231; 517 NW2d 727 (1994).

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718 N.W.2d 827, 271 Mich. App. 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fodale-v-waste-management-of-michigan-inc-michctapp-2006.