Harris v. Federal Deposit Insurance

885 F. Supp. 2d 1296, 2012 WL 3139225, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107340
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedAugust 1, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 2:10-CV-0231-RWS
StatusPublished

This text of 885 F. Supp. 2d 1296 (Harris v. Federal Deposit Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris v. Federal Deposit Insurance, 885 F. Supp. 2d 1296, 2012 WL 3139225, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107340 (N.D. Ga. 2012).

Opinion

[1300]*1300 ORDER

RICHARD W. STORY, District Judge.

This case comes before the Court on Defendant Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as Receiver for Community Bank & Trust’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint (“FDIC-R’s Motion to Dismiss”) [50]; Defendants Charles M. Miller, Wes Dodd, and Jan Garrison’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint (“Individual Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss”) [51]; Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to File Surresponse in Opposition to Defendant FDIC-R’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint [66]; and, finally, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to File Surresponse in Opposition to [Individual] Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint [64], After reviewing the record, the Court enters the following Order.

Background1

Plaintiffs initiated this litigation to challenge the right of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) to collect on loans executed by Plaintiffs in favor of a failed state bank, Community Bank & Trust (“CBT”), for which FDIC is acting as receiver.2 The loans at issue in this case arose out of CBT’s troubled banking relationship with Cleveland Motor Cars, Inc. (“CMC”) of Cleveland, Georgia. (See generally Am. Compl., Dkt. [47].) The history of this relationship is as follows. CMC established banking accounts with CBT sometime in or shortly after 1999. (Id. ¶ 21.) By 2004, CMC had $4 million in outstanding loans with CBT. Its bank accounts were constantly overdrawn, resulting in hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees on a daily basis. (Id. ¶ 22.) By February 2008, CMC’s account was overdrawn by more than $1 million. (Id. ¶ 23.) Nonetheless, CBT continued to honor CMC’s checks. (Id.)

In September 2008, CBT requested that CMC raise capital from outside sources. (Id. ¶ 26.) CBT proposed that CMC locate “temporary borrowers” to take out loans with CBT. Under this proposal, the proceeds of the loans would not be paid to the “temporary borrowers” but instead would be paid into CMC’s accounts with CBT. (Id. ¶ 31.) To this end, CMC approached Plaintiffs — friends, family, and/or business acquaintances of CMC representatives or employees — and encouraged them to act as “temporary borrowers for and on behalf of CMC in its banking relationship with CBT.” (Id. ¶¶ 29-30.) Plaintiffs and other “temporary borrowers” thus obtained loans from CBT (collectively the “temporary borrower loans”), which loans became part of a “modified floor-plan lending agreement” between CBT and CMC, designed to supply CMC with operating capital until other financing could be obtained. (Id. ¶¶ 27-28.)

As part of this modified floor-plan lending agreement, CBT “warranted” to both CMC and Plaintiffs that the temporary borrower loans were, in fact, only “temporary” and would be “ ‘rolled up’ ” into a consolidated loan (the “consolidation loan”) that CBT planned to extend to CMC in the future. (Id. ¶¶ 34, 49.) CBT also “promised that Plaintiffs would have no obligations to pay principal or interest on [their] loans.” On the contrary, “CMC made all payments to CBT to service Plaintiffs’ ‘loans’ because this was part of the modified floor-plan lending agreement [1301]*1301between CMC and CBT.” (Id. ¶¶ 34, 48.) In other words, CBT promised Plaintiffs that the loans would not be their responsibility and that upon completion of the consolidation loan, Plaintiffs would be released from future liability for the loans. (Id. ¶ 59.)

Finally, Plaintiffs allege that while the consolidation loan was “executed and approved by CBT’s Board of Directors,” it was not “ ‘booked’ ” or “complete[d].” As a result of this “failure to complete (i.e., ‘book’) the consolidation loan,” CBT failed to consolidate Plaintiffs’ loans as promised. (Id. ¶ 56.) Thus, Plaintiffs have not been released from responsibility for the loans, and the FDIC — acting as receiver for CBT — has deemed the loans to be due and payable. (Id. ¶¶ 56, 60, 62.)

Based on the foregoing factual allegations, Plaintiffs filed the Amended Complaint, naming as Defendants FDIC-R and four officers of CBT-Charles M. Miller, Wes Dodd, Jan Garrison, and Randy Jones. The Amended Complaint alleges claims for breach of contract (Counts I and II), “fraud by silence or omission” (Count III), “fraud by affirmative conduct” (Count IV), and negligent misrepresentation (Count V). Plaintiffs also seek a declaratory judgment “that the consolidation loan is an obligation of CBT and that Plaintiffs are otherwise released from responsibility for [the temporary loans made to them] ...” (Count VI) and an injunction “requiring that CBT book the consolidation loan and provide Plaintiffs the benefits of the same, or otherwise discharge Plaintiffs from any further obligations ...” (Count VII). Finally, Plaintiffs seek attorney’s fees (Count VII) and punitive damages (Count IX) based on Defendants’ alleged bad faith and other like conduct.

Both FDIC-R and individual Defendants Miller, Dodd, and Garrison (collectively the “Individual Defendants”) move to dismiss the Amended Complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 12(b)(6). (Dkt. [50], [51].) The Court considers these motions, in turn.

Discussion

I. FDIC-R’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint [50]

As stated in the Background section, supra, Plaintiffs raise the following claims for relief in the Amended Complaint: breach of contract (Counts I and II), “fraud by silence or omission” (Count III), “fraud by affirmative conduct” (Count IV), and negligent misrepresentation (Count V). They seek a declaratory judgment (Count VI) and injunctive relief (Count VII) discharging Plaintiffs from liability under their loans. Finally, Plaintiffs seek to recover attorney’s fees (Count VII) and punitive damages (Count IX) based on alleged bad faith and other like conduct of Defendants. The Court sets out the standard governing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss before considering the merits of FDIC-R’s motion with respect to each count of the Amended Complaint.

A. Legal Standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires that a pleading contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” While this pleading standard does not require “detailed factual allegations,” “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). In order to withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). [1302]

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Bluebook (online)
885 F. Supp. 2d 1296, 2012 WL 3139225, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-federal-deposit-insurance-gand-2012.