Guarantee Insurance Agency Co. v. Mid-Continental Realty Corp.

57 F.R.D. 555, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1148, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10901
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedNovember 30, 1972
DocketNo. 71 C 1927
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 57 F.R.D. 555 (Guarantee Insurance Agency Co. v. Mid-Continental Realty Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guarantee Insurance Agency Co. v. Mid-Continental Realty Corp., 57 F.R.D. 555, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1148, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10901 (N.D. Ill. 1972).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

McLAREN, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on motions of certain defendants to dismiss for failure to state a claim (Rule 12, Fed.R.Civ.P.) and for summary judgment (Rule 56, Fed.R.Civ.P.). The motions are granted in part and denied in part. However, leave is granted to plaintiff to amend its complaint, as discussed below.

Also before the Court is plaintiff’s motion to have this action proceed with it representing other purchasers in two plaintiff classes and with Kidder, Peabody & Co. representing thirty-seven other underwriters (Rule 23, Fed.R.Civ. [559]*559P.). The motion is granted with regard to the plaintiff classes and is otherwise denied.

The complaint alleges that Section 10 (b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b) and Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5, were violated by issuance of a prospectus from which material information was omitted. It is further alleged that in reliance upon said prospectus Guarantee Insurance Agency Co. (“Guarantee”) and others purchased convertible debentures and common stock issued by Mid-Continental Realty Corp. (“Mid-Continental”).

Mid-Continental owns and manages residential and commercial real estate in the Chicago area. It was incorporated on February 14, 1969, at which time it acquired various real estate holdings, and other assets.

The omission which is alleged to have violated Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 relates to the real estate tax assessments on properties owned by Mid-Continental. The prospectus listed real estate taxes and net income for a five year period, as follows:

Real Estate Taxes Net Income
1964 $1,280,654.00 $262,890.00
1965 $1,353,893.00 $381,290.00
1966 $1,519,405.00 $1,149,549.00
1967 $1,638,911.00 $1,427,278.00
1968 $1,844,919.00 $1,629,122.00

These figures are for properties acquired by Mid-Continental upon its incorporation.

The plaintiff alleges that the prospectus was misleading in that it failed to disclose that Mid-Continental was subject to a special risk of having its tax assessments increased. This risk allegedly arose out of representations purportedly made by Mid-Continental officials to the Assessor of Cook County, Illinois, to obtain tax relief on the ground of economic hardship. In substance, the representations were that the post-real estate tax income from certain buildings was so low that continued operation was uneconomic and that the existing assessments made it difficult to compete with similar properties. As a result of these representations, it is claimed, the Assessor reduced the assessed value of properties owned by Mid-Continental’s predecessors, allegedly resulting in a savings of $500,000 or more per year for each of the years 1964 through 1968.

The core of the complaint is that this tax relief was completely within the discretion of the Assessor and that Mid-Continental could be denied the relief in future years. Indeed, it is alleged that early in 1971 the Assessor declined to continue this economic relief, with the result that the assessed value of Mid-Continental properties was increased by $5.5 million for the year 1970. This increased valuation is said to have cost Mid-Continental approximately $630,000 in additional real estate taxes for 1970. It is further alleged that the 1971 tax bill would also reflect this reassessment in the amount of $630,000.

Guarantee purchased $2,000.00 in principal amount of 5%% convertible debentures and 100 shares of common stock issued by Mid-Continental. It seeks to have these purchases rescinded or, in the alternative, it requests damages.

Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim

In support of their Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss, certain defendants assert that in an action under § 10 or Rule 10b-5 the plaintiff must allege that he suffered an injury and that a causal nexus exists between the alleged omission and the injury. These assertions will be considered first in regard to a claim for damages and then as to a claim for rescission.

Section 10 of the 1934 Act and Rule 10b-5 do not expressly provide for a private cause of action for damages. The courts have implied a remedy, however, so that public enforcement might be supplemented and private parties might have an effective remedy. Superintendent of Insurance v. Bankers Life [560]*560and Casualty Co., 404 U.S. 6, 92 S.Ct. 165, 30 L.Ed.2d 128 (1971).

As noted above, plaintiff alleged that the Assessor declined to continue the tax relief, details of which were omitted from the prospectus, and that as a result the net income of Mid-Continental decreased. Plaintiff did not allege, however, that the market value of its investments decreased. Before plaintiff could recover damages, he would have to prove that the market value of the common stock and debentures did decline in value. An allegation of such decline must be made in order to state a claim for monetary damages.

Defendants have cited cases stating that a plaintiff must prove that the damage incurred was caused by the acts that allegedly violated Rule 10b-5. Bound Brook Water Company v. Jaffe, 284 F.Supp. 702, 709 (D.C.N.J.1968); Cohen v. Colvin, 266 F.Supp. 677, 683 (S.D.N.Y.1967). The Court agrees that causation is an element, but defendants’ cases do not make clear what is necessary in order to satisfy this requirement.

The law governing violations of § 10 and Rule 10b-5 is rapidly developing and as yet is not subject to easy interpretation. The Court notes that the tort concept of “causation in fact” is frequently mentioned in regal'd to the issue of reliance in Rule 10b-5 eases. Chasins v. Smith, Barney & Co., 438 F.2d 1167, 1172 (2d Cir. 1970); List v. Fashion Park, Inc., 340 F.2d 457, 464 (2d Cir. 1965). In Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah v. United States, 406 U.S. 128, 92 S.Ct. 1456, 1472, 31 L.Ed.2d 741 (1972), the Supreme Court held that causation in this sense is satisfied by a showing that the undisclosed facts were material. Materiality was defined in terms of the importance that a reasonable investor would have attached to the undisclosed facts. See also Mills v. Electric Auto-Lite Co., 396 U.S. 375, 385, 90 S.Ct. 616, 24 L.Ed.2d 593 (1970). In this context the courts have adopted what is in essence a “but for” test of causation, i. e., but for the misstatement or omission, the reasonable investor would have acted differently. Bromberg refers to causation in this context as “causation of the transaction.” 2 A. Bromberg, Securities Law, § 8.7(2) at 216 (1971).

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Bluebook (online)
57 F.R.D. 555, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1148, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10901, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guarantee-insurance-agency-co-v-mid-continental-realty-corp-ilnd-1972.