Gray v. First Winthrop Corp.

754 F. Supp. 157, 91 Daily Journal DAR 1161, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18077, 1990 WL 255800
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Gray v. First Winthrop Corp.. Read the opinion of the Court — 133 F.R.D. 39
District Court, N.D. California·Decided November 13, 1990·No. No. C-90-2600 JPV·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

VUKASIN, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss1 was scheduled to be heard on November 8, 1990. After a review of the briefs, this court considered it appropriate to submit the motion on the pleadings pursuant to Local Rule 220-1, and now DENIES the motion.

[159]*159BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs invested in a real estate limited partnership which did not perform as well as they had hoped. Plaintiffs allege that defendants, who are the offeror, financial backers, and others involved in the limited partnership, improperly induced plaintiffs to invest. The prospectus and offering materials were issued on October 31, 1984. Among other representations, these materials projected a positive cash flow from the project, based on estimates of full occupancy by October 1985 at certain rental rates. Plaintiffs invested in the partnership in December 1984 and January 1985, each by purchasing one unit in the form of a $100,-000, interest bearing, six year term note.

Plaintiffs received periodic status reports on the project after they invested. From February 1985 continuing through 1986, these reports indicated that the project was failing to perform as projected in the prospectus and offering materials. Plaintiffs allege that the disclosures of adverse circumstances were selective, and were coupled with reassurances that the project would eventually prove profitable. These reassurances allegedly lulled plaintiffs into a false sense of security from which they were not disabused until investigations by their counsel in August of this year. As a result of their attorneys’ investigations, plaintiffs assert claims under the federal securities laws, Civil RICO, intentional and negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and interference with prospective business interests.

The GE Defendants now move to dismiss the complaint, primarily on the grounds that it is time barred. In the alternative, the GE defendants assert substantive defects in two of the common law claims as additional grounds for dismissal.

DISCUSSION

1. Statutes of Limitation.

The GE defendants argue in support of their Motion to Dismiss that plaintiffs received notice in the status reports during 1985 and 1986 of facts which should have alerted them to the alleged conduct of defendants on which the claims are based. For purposes of this motion, this court assumes that under the applicable limitations periods, all of the claims would indeed be time barred if the status reports from 1985 and 1986 triggered the running of the statutes. By contrast, if plaintiffs’ counsel’s investigation of August 1990 is used as the trigger, the claims are clearly not time barred. The only other arguable trigger for the statute of limitations might be the bankruptcy filing of the limited partnership, which occurred in 1989, well within the period for each of the claims.

a. Statute of limitations as grounds for dismissal.

Plaintiffs argue that a motion to dismiss is not the proper setting for resolution of statute of limitations issues. In most cases this is correct. In general, the issue of when a reasonable investor should have discovered a claim should be left to the trier of fact. Briskin v. Ernst & Ernst, 589 F.2d 1363 (9th Cir.1978). If the complaint is time barred on its face, however, a motion to dismiss may be appropriate. Conerly v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 623 F.2d 117, 119 (9th Cir.1980). Although plaintiff bears the burden of proving the suit was filed within the limitations period, Valerio v. Boise Cascade Corp., 80 F.R.D. 626, 633 (N.D.Cal.1978), a complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of their claim. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); see also Jablon v. Dean Witter & Co., 614 F.2d 677 (9th Cir.1980). On this motion, therefore, the GE defendants must demonstrate as a matter of law that plaintiffs can prove no set of facts under which this suit was filed within the applicable limitations periods.

b. Determining date of discovery of claims.

The dispositive issue on the statute of limitations argument is whether plaintiffs’ knowledge of adverse facts in 1985 and 1986 placed them on notice of the claims asserted in this law suit. Based on the [160]*160status reports they received during that period, plaintiffs were aware of facts showing that the projections in the prospectus and offering materials were not being met. The GE defendants argue that, as a matter of law, these facts placed plaintiffs at least on inquiry notice of their claims. Were this the case, the statutes of limitations for all of plaintiffs’ claims, which range from two to four years, would have run prior to the filing of this suit.

Mere disclosure of adverse facts, however, does not place a party on notice of fraudulent conduct. Mosesian v. Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., 727 F.2d 873 (9th Cir.1984). In any investment situation, there are countless reasons why returns may not meet the offeror’s projections, ranging from fraud to poor economic conditions. The reasoning in Mosesian means that investors need not race into court the moment things look bad, unless there are strong additional indications of where to place the blame. Cf. Volk v. D.A. Davidson & Co., 816 F.2d 1406 (9th Cir.1987). This is sound policy, in that it does not require an unreasonable level of vigilance by investors, does not foster an atmosphere of suspicion between investors and offer-ors, and contributes to judicial economy.

Mosesian’s applicability to this motion is further bolstered by plaintiffs’ allegations that the disclosures of adverse facts were coupled with reassurances from defendants. In such a situation, a party’s discovery of the underlying wrongs, which would trigger the statute of limitations, is an issue of fact. See, e.g., Luksch v. Latham, 675 F.Supp. 1198 (N.D.Cal.1987); Washington v. Baenziger, 673 F.Supp. 1478 (N.D.Cal.1987). It can not be said, from the face of the complaint, that plaintiffs will be unable to prove any set of facts demonstrating that they could not reasonably have discovered their claims from the 1985 and 1986 factual disclosures.

The GE defendants attempt to obfuscate this issue by casting it as a discussion of the tort of fraudulent concealment. On this motion, however, the focus on defendants’ alleged acts of concealment is not whether those acts were tortious. Rather, the issue is how those acts influenced plaintiffs’ ability to discover their causes of action.

c. Dismissal is not appropriate.

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Gray v. First Winthrop Corp., 754 F. Supp. 157, 91 Daily Journal DAR 1161, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18077, 1990 WL 255800 (N.D. Cal. 1990).

754 F. Supp. 157 (Gray v. First Winthrop Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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