Glass v. Berkshire Development

612 So. 2d 749, 1992 La. App. LEXIS 4045, 1992 WL 381823
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 16, 1992
DocketNo. 92-CA-537
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 612 So. 2d 749 (Glass v. Berkshire Development) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Glass v. Berkshire Development, 612 So. 2d 749, 1992 La. App. LEXIS 4045, 1992 WL 381823 (La. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

GOTHARD, Judge.

This appeal arises from a dispute between a group of condominium purchasers and the sellers-developers and several other defendants. The plaintiffs appeal the summary judgment which dismissed their claims against Hibernia National Bank (“Hibernia”), a lender to the developers, and Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”), holder of promissory notes and mortgages on the condominiums.

The units were originally part of an apartment complex in Metairie and were renovated and converted into condominiums in the early 1980’s.. A group of owners became dissatisfied with the quality of the renovation and the depreciation in value of the condominiums. They filed suit against the developers and others on November 25, 1987, seeking to void the sales and cancel the mortgages, alleging fraud, misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty, and demanding a declaration that FNMA was not a holder in due course of the notes and mortgages.

Made defendants were the following: (1) Berkshire Development Corporation, the corporation that carried out the conversion to condominiums and sold the units to the plaintiffs; (2) Streuby L. Drumm, Jr., a 50% owner of Berkshire; (3) J.H. Harris, also a 50% owner of Berkshire; (4) Harris Mortgage Corporation, owned by Harris, which arranged for financing to the plaintiffs to buy their units; (5) Hibernia, a lender to Berkshire for purchase of the apartment complex and for its subsequent renovation; (6) FNMA, a quasi-government agency that purchased the plaintiffs’ notes and mortgages from Harris Mortgage Corporation; and (7) Gabe Mouldeoux, a construction inspector.

Both Hibernia and FNMA moved for summary judgment. The matter was heard on November 5, 1991, along with exceptions filed by several defendants. Judgment was signed on January 15, 1992, granting summary judgment to Hibernia and FNMA but denying the exceptions of remaining defendants and deferring consideration of them to trial of the merits. The plaintiffs’ appeal followed.

The appellants do not raise specific issues but maintain that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Hibernia and FNMA.

This court, in Security Homestead Fed. Sav. v. Ullo, 589 So.2d 5, 7 (La.App. 5 Cir.1991), summarized the law on summary judgment as follows:

C.C.P. art. 966 B, in part, provides that a summary judgment
“shall be rendered if the pleadings, deposition, answers to interrogatories, and' admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there [751]*751is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
The burden is on the mover to establish that there are no genuine issues of material fact still at issue and he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. St. Pierre v. Lombard, 512 So.2d 1206 (La.App. 5th Cir.1987). Any doubt must be resolved against the mover, and against the granting of a summary judgment, and in favor of a trial on the merits. Chaisson v. Domingue, 372 So.2d 1225 (La.1979); Caplan v. Pelican Homestead and Sav. Assn., 542 So.2d 622 (La.App. 5th Cir. 1989).
Only when reasonable minds must inevitably conclude that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law based on the facts presented to the court is a summary judgment warranted. Sanders v. Hercules Sheet Metal, Inc., 385 So.2d 772 (La.1980); Boue v. Loomis Armored, Inc., 575 So.2d 527 (La.App. 5th Cir.1991). The court must test the efficacy of the motion for summary judgment by closely scrutinizing the mover’s pleadings, while treating those of the opposing party indulgently. Manders v. Singleton, 558 So.2d 772 (La.App. 5th Cir.1990). When there are contradictions on factual issues created by depositions and affidavits, a party is not entitled to a summary judgment. Gatlin v. Coca-Cola Co., 461 So.2d 452 (La.App. 5th Cir.1984); Caplan v. Pelican Homestead and Sav. Assn., supra.

Any determination of the propriety of a grant of the motion for summary judgment must be made with reference to the applicable substantive law. Talamo v. Johnston, 554 So.2d 800 (La.App. 5 Cir.1989).

We shall discuss the dismissals of the two defendants separately.

Hibernia

The plaintiffs allege that the bank was engaged in a joint venture with defendants Drumm, Harris, and Harris Mortgage and that it breached its fiduciary duty to the plaintiff purchasers.

Joint venture. The trial judge stated, in his reasons for judgment, that:

... Hibernia cannot on this record be deemed to have been a party to a joint venture or partnership concerning the development or conversion of the former Berkshire Apartments to condominiums as alleged in the Petition. No intent or agreement to form such a joint venture, nor to share in profits and losses other than as an ordinary lender would, nor to exercise a proprietary interest in management of the enterprise on behalf of Hibernia or any other party has been shown, and no triable issue on any of those points has been established by Plaintiffs.

In the recent case of Riddle v. Simmons, 589 So.2d 89, 92 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1991), writ denied 592 So.2d 1316 (La.1992), the court set out the characteristics of a joint venture, as follows:

A joint venture results from the undertaking by two or more persons to combine their efforts, knowledge, property or labor to engage in and carry out a single business venture for joint profit. A joint venture is analogous to a partnership and controlled largely by the rules applicable to partnerships. There must be a sharing of the profits and losses with each party having some right of control over the business. The existence or non-existence of a joint venture is a question of fact and each case must be considered according to its circumstances. The principal difference between a partnership and a joint venture is that while a partnership is ordinarily formed for the transaction of a general business of a particular kind, a joint venture is usually, but not necessarily, limited to a single transaction, although the business of conducting it to a successful termination may continue for a number of years. No formal or specific agreement is required. Generally the relationship may be formed by an oral agreement and the existence of a joint venture may be inferred from the conduct of the parties and other circumstances. Grand Isle Campsites, Inc. v. Cheek, 262 La. 5, 262 So.2d 350 (1972); Shepherd v. Jay, 508 So.2d 650 (La.App. 2d Cir.1987), writ [752]*752denied, 513 So.2d 1209 (La.1987); American Fidelity Fire Insurance Company v. Atkison, 420 So.2d 691 (La.App. 2d Cir.1982); Latiolais v. BFI of Louisiana, Inc., 567 So.2d 1159 (La.App. 3d Cir.1990); Cajun Electric Power Co-op, Inc. v. McNamara, 452 So.2d 212 (La. App. 1st Cir.1984), writ denied, 458 So.2d 123 (La.1984).

A necessary element of a joint venture is the parties’ intent to enter into a joint venture. Guillory v. Hayes, 576 So.2d 1136, 1142 (La.App. 3 Cir.1991).

The gist of the appellants’ arguments in support of a joint venture between Hibernia and the developers is that, “This was not, and we repeat not,

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Bluebook (online)
612 So. 2d 749, 1992 La. App. LEXIS 4045, 1992 WL 381823, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glass-v-berkshire-development-lactapp-1992.