Kavanaugh v. Berkett

407 So. 2d 645
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedAugust 24, 1981
Docket80-C-1526
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 407 So. 2d 645 (Kavanaugh v. Berkett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kavanaugh v. Berkett, 407 So. 2d 645 (La. 1981).

Opinion

407 So.2d 645 (1981)

Joseph H. KAVANAUGH, et al.
v.
Marian Mayer BERKETT, et al.

No. 80-C-1526.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

June 22, 1981.
Order for Motion to Dismiss August 24, 1981.

John Dale Powers, Michael H. Rubin, of Sanders, Downing, Kean & Cazedessus, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-applicant.

Ralph I. Kaskell, Jr., of Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles, New Orleans, for defendant-respondent.

MARCUS, Justice.

In 1967, Joseph H. Kavanaugh and Bilwood Smith began negotiating with Mrs. Marian Mayer Berkett to lease a certain thirteen-acre tract of unimproved land fronting on the South Acadian Thruway adjacent to Interstate-10 in East Baton Rouge Parish. Mrs. Berkett, a New Orleans attorney, owned the land with other members of her family, namely, Maurice J. Mayer, Jr., Rhea Mayer Cohn and Lois Brier Mayer and her two minor children, Charles Denis Mayer and Margaret Mayer. Mrs. Berkett prepared the lease in which the lessors agreed to permit the lessees "to mortgage" the leased property for the financing of the physical improvements placed on the property provided the mortgage required no personal liability on the part of the lessors and the lessees deposited with an escrow agent a certain amount of government bonds as security. On January 12, 1968, Lois Brier Mayer, natural tutrix of her minor children, obtained a court order authorizing her to lease the minors' interest in said property under the terms and conditions set forth in the attached lease and naming Mrs. Berkett as her agent-in-fact with authority to execute "all documents and papers necessary to effect the lease." The lease was signed on April 29, 1968. Bilwood Smith's interest was subsequently assigned to Robert B. Tudor, Jr.

Shell and Gulf service stations and a Sambo's restaurant were constructed on the property without the need of a mortgage; however, the financing for the construction of a Smuggler's Inn restaurant required the mortgage of the land for the proposed restaurant. A series of negotiations between lessees and Mrs. Berkett were held to formulate a mortgage that would satisfy both Mrs. Berkett and the lender. A stalemate was reached as Mrs. Berkett made it clear that the lessors would not execute any mortgage containing a confession of judgment and waiver of notice and appraisement.

Lessees then brought this action against lessors seeking a declaratory judgment interpreting the lease to require the lessors to sign a "commercially acceptable in rem mortgage" on the leased property and specifically to require them to sign the mortgage submitted by lessees "under the Savings Life Insurance Company commitment." Lessees further prayed for damages for anticipatory breach of the contract. At trial, it was established that after much delay caused by the lessors' refusal to sign a mortgage in favor of Savings Life Insurance Company to finance construction of the Smuggler's Inn, the lessees obtained financing through another lender under more onerous terms. The lessors had refused to sign the mortgage because it contained a confession of judgment and waiver of notice and appraisement.

The trial judge rendered judgment in favor of lessees and against the lessors, interpreting the words "to mortgage" as set forth in the lease agreement to mean a "commercially feasible mortgage" and awarding damages in the amount of $147,000 for the lessors' failure to execute such a mortgage. Lessors appealed.

The court of appeal reversed, holding that because minors were involved, the execution of the lease, on behalf of the minors and by the majors, required only the execution *646 of a "simple mortgage" by the lessors, that is, one not containing a confession of judgment and waiver of notice and appraisement. Therefore, since the lessors were not obligated to execute a mortgage containing a confession of judgment and waiver of notice and appraisement, lessors could not be held liable in damages for failure to execute the mortgage in favor of Savings Life Insurance Company which contained those clauses.[1] On lessees' application, we granted certiorari to review the correctness of that decision.[2]

The ninth article of the lease stated in pertinent part:

(A) LESSEE shall not place any mortgage, lien, privilege, or encumbrance on or against the leased property or permit any of its creditors to do so without LESSOR's prior written consent.
(B) Upon request and during the primary term (first twenty years) of this lease, LESSOR agrees to permit LESSEE to mortgage the leased property or a portion thereof for the purpose of providing initial interim or initial permanent financing of the cost of physical improvements placed or to be placed on the property covered by the mortgage, provided the LESSEE first satisfies the following terms and conditions:
1—The mortgage shall involve and shall require no personal or direct obligation on the part of the LESSOR and shall bear only against LESSOR's land and more specifically, against that portion of the leased property specifically mortgaged.
2—Before any mortgage is placed on any of the leased property for initial interim or initial permanent financing for the purposes described above, LESSEE shall deposit with an escrow agent, fulfilling the requirements set forth in Subparagraph 3 of this Article, negotiable United States Bonds having a market value at the time of the deposit in escrow equal to or in excess of an amount referred to in this lease as the Security Amount, and the Security Amount shall be determined in the following manner:....

Although the lessors' prior written consent is needed before the lessees can place a mortgage on the property in question, the lease requires the lessors to permit the lessees "to mortgage" the leased property for financing the cost of physical improvements placed on the property provided the mortgage is an in rem mortgage, that is, one that bears only against that portion of lessors' land specifically mortgaged and involves no personal obligation on the part of the lessors, and the lessees deposit with an escrow agent a certain amount of government bonds as security.

Lessees contend the term "to mortgage" as used in this lease means a "commercially acceptable in rem mortgage" whereas lessors contend the term means only a "simple mortgage," that is, one not requiring a confession of judgment and waiver of notice and appraisement. Therein lies the controversy.

Joseph H. Kavanaugh testified that the sole purpose he and Bilwood Smith leased the property was to develop it commercially. To do this, it was necessary to be able to mortgage the property as security for loans. He stated that Mrs. Berkett was fully aware of their intended use of the property and knew the loans would be made by commercial lenders. Mrs. Berkett testified that she was aware that the property was going to be developed commercially but insisted that the right "to mortgage" given in the lease was intended to be very restrictive and that she had agreed only to permit a "simple mortgage" as provided by the civil code. Mr. Kavanaugh testified that they never would have signed the lease had Mrs. Berkett indicated that the lessors would not allow a mortgage containing a confession of judgment and waiver of notice and appraisement because only a mortgage containing those clauses would be acceptable to commercial lenders. Mrs. Berkett stated that she was never asked to confess *647 judgment or waive any rights.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Rowan v. Town of Arnaudville
832 So. 2d 1185 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
Frederick J. Frey v. Amoco Production Company
943 F.2d 578 (Fifth Circuit, 1991)
Lirette v. State Farm Ins. Co.
563 So. 2d 850 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1990)
La. Nat. Bank of Baton Rouge v. O'BRIEN
439 So. 2d 552 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
407 So. 2d 645, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kavanaugh-v-berkett-la-1981.