IBJ Schroder Bank & Trust Co. v. Fairfield Communities, Inc.

178 F.3d 78, 1999 WL 311367
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMay 6, 1999
DocketNo. 1042, Docket 98-9024
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 178 F.3d 78 (IBJ Schroder Bank & Trust Co. v. Fairfield Communities, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
IBJ Schroder Bank & Trust Co. v. Fairfield Communities, Inc., 178 F.3d 78, 1999 WL 311367 (2d Cir. 1999).

Opinion

JACOBS, Circuit Judge.

IBJ Schroder Bank, Trustee for Note-holders of Fairfield Communities, Inc. (“Fairfield”), brought this action against Fairfield, alleging that Fairfield’s prepayment of an obligation to the Noteholders was structured to evade the terms of an Indenture entered into by the parties and to shortchange the Noteholders. IBJ (“the Trustee”) appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Stanton, J.) granting summary judgment in favor of Fairfield and dismissing the complaint.

I

As part of Fairfield’s bankruptcy reorganization, it negotiated an exchange of previously issued Notes maturing in 1992 for new ones, collateralized with real estate, paying lower interest rates and maturing in 1997. Upon maturity, the Notes were to be paid either (i) in cash (“Option One”) or (ii) with a mix of the collateral (ie., the appraisal value of the remaining real estate and the proceeds of previous sales) and — under some circumstances — ■ Fairfield securities (“Option Two”).

The district court found that when the parties created the Indenture, they anticipated that the value of- the collateral (the appraised value was then $22 million) would be more than enough to pay off the approximately $15 million in Notes. At [80]*80the same time, they anticipated that Fair-field’s stock, then trading at approximately $2 per share, would continue to trade in that range. See IBJ Schroder Bank & Trust Co. v. Fairfield Communities, Inc., No. 97-Civ. 4491, 1998 WL 191426, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Apr.22, 1998).

The parties were wrong on both scores. The value of the collateral real estate plummeted: the appraised value at the maturity date was $7.17 million (and later was sold for only $4.4 million). Meanwhile, Fairfield’s stock value skyrocketed above $20 a share. See id.

Given this state of affairs, Fairfield apparently sought a way to avoid the expense of Option One’s full cash payment as well as the potentially more expensive Option Two, which would require delivery of the collateral (and proceeds) and the appreciated Fairfield stock. See id. So, on the day before the maturity date, Fairfield wire transferred $7.9 million to the Trustee. And on the maturity date, Fairfield formally elected Option Two and tendered the real estate collateral. The total of (i) the appraised value of this collateral (slightly more than $7 million), (ii) the $7.9 million tendered the day before, and (iii) the insignificant proceeds of prior sales, amounted to the approximately $15 million due on the Notes. See id., 1998 WL 191426, at *2.

Unfortunately for the Noteholders, the real estate was sold for much less than the appraised value, and the Noteholders ended up with $2.7 million less than was due on the Notes. See id.

II

The Trustee refused to accept the $7.9 million prepayment on behalf of the Note-holders, saying it was tendered in a manner not authorized by the Indenture, and put the funds in a separate account. (As discussed below, the parties disagree on whether this action resulted in a waiver of the Trustee’s claim that the payment was unauthorized.) Shortly after the maturity date, the Trustee commenced this action in New York County Supreme Court, seeking: (i) a declaration that Fairfield had defaulted on its obligations under the Indenture; (ii) an injunction requiring Fair-field to deliver all of the reserved securities to the Trustee or to make full cash payment; and (iii) a preliminary injunction requiring Fairfield to provide security for its alleged repayment obligations. In June 1997 Fairfield removed the case to federal district court.1

The district court concluded that the $7.9 million prepayment was effective, and granted summary judgment in favor of Fairfield. See id., 199,8 WL 191426, at *3. The court noted that no provision of the Indenture prohibited Fairfield from tendering these funds or the Trustee from accepting them, and pointed to several provisions of the Indenture that provide for fund transfers. See id. As discussed more fully below, the court placed decisive emphasis on Section 4.08 of the Indenture, a provision from the agreement’s subordination section. After reviewing various provisions of the Indenture, the court concluded:

In view of the absence of any provision prohibiting the payment defendant attempted to make, and the evident availability of the trustee’s accounts for reception of such amounts and their application to pay off the Notes, defendant has the better of the argument that the payment it devised, although somewhat unexpected, is acceptable under the Indenture. Thus, aside from the apt epithet “gimmick,” plaintiff is left with the argument that it is aggrieved by a substantial underpayment on the Notes.

Id. The “substantial underpayment” on the Notes, the court concluded, was the result [81]*81of the Indenture’s use of the appraised value of the real estate in the payment formula and the subsequent sale of the real estate at significantly below that value. See id.

On appeal, the Trustee argues that the district court erroneously construed the Indenture, and asks that we reverse and remand for entry of summary judgment in favor of the Trustee, with a direction that the district court issue a permanent injunction requiring Fairfield to transfer certain securities to the Noteholders.

We conclude that the Indenture specified carefully crafted payment options for Fairfield; that the payments Fairfield made just before and upon maturity met the requirements of none of them; that the Indenture afforded no room for another, improvised payment formula; that Fairfield made an election to pay according to the formula for the delivery of collateral and Fairfield securities; and that the Trustee should therefore be granted partial summary judgment. We also conclude, however, that a $2 million cap set forth in Section 2.15(b) of the Indenture will limit any premium the Noteholders are to receive and that the case must be remanded to the district court for consideration in the first instance of the appropriateness of injunctive relief.

Ill

Fairfield, which constructs and owns vacation properties to be sold as time shares, completed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan in 1992. As part of the plan, it exchanged notes it had issued in 1989 for notes with a lower interest rate to be repaid in 1997. That debt restructuring was accomplished by a detailed Indenture between Fairfield and the Trustee, the terms of which are at issue in this appeal. A feature of the Indenture was the use of real estate to secure the Notes.

A detailed review of the Indenture provisions relevant to the issues on appeal is unavoidable.

A. The Accounts and Payment Options

The payments that the Indenture contemplates are specified in part by reference to the Account or Accounts in which they are deposited and from which they are to be drawn. The Indenture sets up four specified “Accounts” to serve limited and defined purposes, as set forth in the margin.2

Section 2.01(b) of the Indenture provides that, until the maturity date, payments of principal and accrued interest may be paid only from the Interest Payment Account and the Prepayment Account.

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Bluebook (online)
178 F.3d 78, 1999 WL 311367, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ibj-schroder-bank-trust-co-v-fairfield-communities-inc-ca2-1999.