Gaubert Oil Company, Inc. Versus Bayou Fuel Marine and Hardware Supplies, Inc., C&M Contractors Inc., Lafitte Real Estate, L.L.C., Jacquelyn R. Daigle, Jared Daigle, Chad Daigle, Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company, New Orleans Regional Business Development Loan Corporation, Jhl Enterprises, L.L.C., Jean Lafitte Harbor, L.L.C., Jean Lafitte Marine, L.L.C.

Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided October 23, 2019·No. 19-CA-120·Unknown

Opinion

GAUBERT OIL COMPANY, INC. NO. 19-CA-120

VERSUS FIFTH CIRCUIT

BAYOU FUEL MARINE AND HARDWARE COURT OF APPEAL SUPPLIES, INC., C&M CONTRACTORS INC., LAFITTE REAL ESTATE, L.L.C., STATE OF LOUISIANA JACQUELYN R. DAIGLE, JARED DAIGLE, CHAD DAIGLE, GULF COAST BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, NEW ORLEANS REGIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LOAN CORPORATION, JLH ENTERPRISES, L.L.C., JEAN LAFITTE HARBOR, L.L.C., JEAN LAFITTE MARINE, L.L.C.

ON APPEAL FROM THE TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 759-820, DIVISION "N" HONORABLE STEPHEN D. ENRIGHT, JR., JUDGE PRESIDING

October 23, 2019

JOHN J. MOLAISON, JR. JUDGE

Panel composed of Judges Marc E. Johnson, Stephen J. Windhorst, and John J. Molaison, Jr.

AFFIRMED JJM MEJ SJW COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT, GAUBERT OIL COMPANY, INC. Daniel A. Ranson Ryan C. Higgins

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE, GULF COAST BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, NEW ORLEANS REGIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LOAN CORPORATION Wayne A. Maiorana, Jr. Robert A. Mathis MOLAISON, J.

This is an appeal from the grant of a partial summary judgment in favor of

two defendants, Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company (Gulf Coast) and New

Orleans Regional Business Development Loan Corporation (RLC) in a revocatory

action filed by Gaubert Oil Company, Inc. (Gaubert). The revocatory action is one

of several claims asserted in a petition filed by Gaubert against numerous

defendants as a result of a default on a promissory note held by Gaubert. Gulf

Coast and RLC (collectively known as “the lenders”) are lenders and hold

mortgages and other security interests in certain immovable and movable property

that Gaubert asserts was owned by Bayou Fuel Marine and Hardware Supplies,

Inc. (Bayou Fuel), the maker of the promissory note which forms the basis of the

revocatory action. Gaubert asserts that the property was sold to a third party,

increasing or causing the insolvency of the debtor. For the following reasons, we

affirm the judgment.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 12, 2016, Gaubert filed a petition naming defendants, Bayou Fuel,

C&M Contractors, Inc. (C&M), Lafitte Real Estate, LLC (Lafitte Real Estate),

Gulf Coast, RLC, Jean Lafitte Harbor, LLC, Jean Lafitte Marine, LLC, JLH

Enterprises, LLC, (JLH), Jacquelyn Daigle, Chad Daigle, and Jared Daigle as

solidary obligors. The petition states a claim for indebtedness on a promissory note

made by Bayou Fuel, a revocatory action, enforcement of a security interest and

purchaser liability.

The petition claims that on March 3, 2016, Bayou Fuel, C&M and Lafitte

Real Estate sold movable and immovable property to JLH, adversely affecting

Gaubert’s security interest in the property. The petition prays for a judgment

against all defendants, who Gaubert asserts are solidary obligors, that includes the

annulment of the sale and transfer of any property, the liquidation of the property,

19-CA-120 1 and the annulment of any and all security interests held by the lenders resulting

from the sale.

Gaubert filed a motion for summary judgment against defendants Bayou

Fuel, Jacquelyn Daigle, Jared Daigle and Chad Daigle as to a promissory note

made by Bayou Fuel in Gaubert’s favor. The trial court granted that motion in a

judgment rendered on December 17, 2017. In that judgment, the trial court found

that Bayou Fuel and the Daigles defaulted on a promissory note and were solidarily

liable for payment to Gaubert in the amount of $609,726.35. That judgment was

appealed to this Court. However, before the appeal was considered, the parties

reached a compromise to satisfy the judgment, and ultimately filed a joint motion

to dismiss the appeal. This Court granted that motion on October 8, 2018.

Gaubert Oil Company, Inc., v. Bayou Marine and Hardware Supplies, Inc., 18-225

(La. App. 5th Cir.).

In the instant appeal, Gulf Coast and RLC filed a motion for summary

judgment, primarily arguing that a revocatory action cannot cancel a lender’s

mortgage. The trial court granted the summary judgment finding in part that, a

revocatory action only lies to revoke contracts between third parties and the

obligor. The trial court reasoned that at the time of the sale, Lafitte Real Estate and

C&M, two of the sellers, were not Gaubert’s obligors. Finally, the trial court

found that Gaubert had no recorded lien interests in the assets of Lafitte Real

Estate and C&M at the time of the sale.

Gaubert filed a motion for new trial which the trial court granted in part to

clarify the original judgment. The trial court found that there is no genuine issue

of material fact, and the lenders are entitled to judgment as a matter of law with

regard to Gaubert’s assertion of a revocatory action seeking to directly annul the

lenders’ mortgages and security interests, and dismissed those claims with

prejudice. The judgment clarified that the summary judgment was granted as to

19-CA-120 2 Gaubert’s assertion that the lenders’ mortgages may be invalid based on a theory

that Bayou Fuel, C&M and Lafitte Real Estate operated as a single business

enterprise. The judgment makes it clear that nothing in the original judgment

affects Gaubert’s claim that Bayou Fuel, C&M, and Lafitte Real Estate operated as

a single business enterprise and that each is a solidary obligor on the promissory

note, and that nothing in the original judgment is meant to affect the ranking of any

security interest. Gaubert appeals.

In a separate, but related appeal pending before this Court, defendants, JLH,

Jean Lafitte Harbor, LLC and Jean Lafitte Marine, LLC, filed a motion for

summary judgment in the revocatory action. The trial court granted that motion

and dismissed Gaubert’s revocatory action against JLH, noting that the other two

defendants were previously dismissed with prejudice from this case by a judgment

dated November 27, 2018. Gaubert Oil Company, Inc. v. Bayou Fuel Marine and

Hardware Supplies, Inc., 19-252 (La. App. 5th Cir.) ____ So.3d ___.

FACTS

Bayou Fuel, C&M and Lafitte Real Estate are businesses started by Kenneth

Daigle and Al Gross in the 1970’s in Lafitte, Louisiana. Bayou Fuel operated as a

marina and supply business selling fuel, groceries, marine and hardware supplies.

C&M provided crane and dock services for the oil field industry with equipment to

load and unload barges. C&M also rented boats and cabins, and operated a trailer

park. Lafitte Real Estate owned the immovable property, located at 4932 Kenal

Drive, which it leased to the other two entities.

In 2006, Kenneth Daigle’s sons, Chad and Jared, purchased Mr. Gross’ 50%

shares in the businesses for $2.6 million through financing and a mortgage with

Whitney Bank. That mortgage was subsequently assigned to NCC Financial, LLC

(NCC). After that transaction, all three businesses were owned by Jacquelyn

19-CA-120 3 Daigle (Nicholas Daigle’s wife) (50%), Chad Daigle (26%) and Jared Daigle

(24%) respectively.

Gaubert, a supplier of commercial fuel including gasoline and diesel fuel,

sold fuel to C&M and Bayou Fuel on an open account for many years, and the

parties agreed that a good business relationship existed among them. In 2014,

when the amount unpaid on the open accounts grew to about $900,000.00, Gaubert

put deliveries on a cash on delivery basis. Shortly thereafter, Gaubert and Bayou

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Gaubert Oil Company, Inc. Versus Bayou Fuel Marine and Hardware Supplies, Inc., C&M Contractors Inc., Lafitte Real Estate, L.L.C., Jacquelyn R. Daigle, Jared Daigle, Chad Daigle, Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company, New Orleans Regional Business Development Loan Corporation, Jhl Enterprises, L.L.C., Jean Lafitte Harbor, L.L.C., Jean Lafitte Marine, L.L.C., (La. Ct. App. 2019).

Gaubert Oil Company, Inc. Versus Bayou Fuel Marine and Hardware Supplies, Inc., C&M Contractors Inc., Lafitte Real Estate, L.L.C., Jacquelyn R. Daigle, Jared Daigle, Chad Daigle, Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company, New Orleans Regional Business Development Loan Corporation, Jhl Enterprises, L.L.C., Jean Lafitte Harbor, L.L.C., Jean Lafitte Marine, L.L.C. (Gaubert Oil Company, Inc. Versus Bayou Fuel Marine and Hardware Supplies, Inc., C&M Contractors Inc., Lafitte Real Estate, L.L.C., Jacquelyn R. Daigle, Jared Daigle, Chad Daigle, Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company, New Orleans Regional Business Development Loan Corporation, Jhl Enterprises, L.L.C., Jean Lafitte Harbor, L.L.C., Jean Lafitte Marine, L.L.C.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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