Kirtley v. McClelland

562 N.E.2d 27, 1990 WL 166995
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 12, 1991
Docket53A01-8912-CV-493
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 562 N.E.2d 27 (Kirtley v. McClelland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kirtley v. McClelland, 562 N.E.2d 27, 1990 WL 166995 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

ROBERTSON, Judge.

For the purpose of simplifying the identity of the parties to this appeal, the appellant-defendants will be referred to as the directors or as Kirtley and the appellee-plaintiffs as the Pointe Service Association (PSA). The appellants, William Kirtley, Phyllis Kirtley, Thomas Garrison and Terry Pierson, present or past directors of The Pointe Services Association, Inc., a unit owner's association, appeal from a judgment rendered against them following the bench trial of a shareholders' derivative action. The judgment ordered payment in the sum of approximately $150,000, an accounting and transfer of funds, and ordered payment of attorneys' fees.

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions.

An overview of the basic facts shows that "the Pointe" is a planned residential community built around a golf course and situated on the shore of Lake Monroe. In 1974, Caslon Development Co., the original developer, created the resort community, starting with four independent condominium villages totaling about 250 units. Eventually, plans called for a total of about 1500 residences. To facilitate general community administration, Caslon subjected the development property to certain covenants and restrictions for the benefit of the community as a whole, incorporated PSA, an Indiana not-for-profit corporation, and delegated to PSA responsibility for:

maintaining and administering the common areas and common facilities, administering and enforcing ... covenants and restrictions, establishing a procedure for assessing its members, and disbursing . charges and assessments.

For the most part, PSA acts through its managing agent to perform these duties. It handles, for example, road maintenance, snow removal, general grounds maintenance, accounting services and repairs on the television system, all through contractors. PSA has no employees or equipment other than a television tower and antennae.

Caslon created two classes of membership in PSA as a means of maintaining control over the development process: class A consisted of the owners of units or residential lots while class B referred to the 1500 potential memberships held by Caslon. If all went as planned, Caslon would gradually relinquish control over PSA as well as ultimate financial responsibility [Caslon paid no dues but was to fund deficits in PSA's annual budget], such that [29]*29PSA, which had high fixed maintenance and security costs, would become self-funding. In any event, by the terms of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (Declaration) Caslon would be out of PSA by January 1, 1990.

However, by 1982, growth of the Pointe had stagnated. Only 344 units had been sold. Financial considerations caused Cas-lon's successor, Indun Realty, a subsidiary of Indiana National Corporation, to attempt to sell the development. A buyer for the entire project could not be found; but, the country club, 30 residential units, and the golf course were sold to Resort Management Association (RMA), a limited partnership formed by the directors. As part of the agreement to purchase, RMA became the managing agent of PSA.

Development at the Pointe remained slow. Kirtley became concerned that RMA's investment in the club could be devalued by the plans of potential purchasers of the remaining land and so entered into negotiations with Indun to purchase the undeveloped property at the Pointe. Once the purchase had been consummated, in December, 1982, Kirtley formed a partnership, Pointe Development Company (PDC), and conveyed the property to PDC. Indun assigned the 1500 PSA class B memberships to Kirtley who assigned them to PDC and elected appellants Kirtley, his wife Phyllis Kirtley and brother-in-law Pierson the new directors of PSA. PDC began making changes immediately to encourage the sale of additional units. Among the changes, PDC sold tracts to builders and then diverted part of the purchase price to PSA to fund the deficit.

Over time, discontentment grew among the unit owners who were unable to elect board members, had no say in PSA's decision-making, and were unable to exercise any control over PSA assessments or spending. As a consequence, a group of class A unitowners brought this action against the directors alleging a number of irregularities in the management of the Pointe. One of the points of contention concerns payment to RMA for mowing certain easements and other property shared with PSA. Another involves Kirtley's purchase and sale of television satellite equipment. The issues raised in this appeal are as stated hereafter.

L.

Whether the court erred in denying defendant's motion to dismiss the second amended complaint where no Indiana statutory or common law authority exists for a shareholder's derivative suit against a non-profit corporation.

The directors argue first that the court below erred in denying their motion to dismiss in which they asserted that McClelland and the other plaintiffs, as members of a nonprofit corporation, lacked standing to maintain an action on behalf of the corporation. The directors emphasize the absence of express statutory authorization in the Indiana Not-for-Profit Corporation Act of 1971, Ind.Code 238-7-1.1, and case law addressing use of the derivative remedy by members of nonprofit corporations. They urge a narrow reading of Ind. Trial Rule 28.1, arguing that the language "shareholders" refers to "corporation" while "members" used in conjunction with "unincorporated association" refers solely to members of unincorporated associations.

But for being members of a not-for-profit corporation, PSA has stated a cause of action. The appellees have brought the action to recover losses the corporation wrongfully sustained through the allegedly improper actions of its officers and directors, a situation where relief ordinarily would be obtained through suit by the corporation acting to protect its property and interests but the corporation either actually or effectively refuses to institute suit on its own. Hence, the essence of the question before us is simply whether an equitable forum is available to a corporation formed for purposes other than pecuniary gain to redress injury to its property and interests.

Admittedly, few examples of derivative actions brought by members of notfor-profit corporations or incorporated associations can be found in Indiana case law, but see, eg., Consumers' Gas Trust Co. v. Quinby (7th Cir.1905), 137 F. 882, cert. [30]*30denied, 198 U.S. 585, 25 S.Ct. 803, 49 L.Ed. 1174 even though corporations organized for purposes other than pecuniary gain have had legislative approval since at least 1901. See e.g. Rev.St. 1889, ch. 79 (Burns' Ann.St. 1901 § 4618). Nonetheless, we are convinced that equitable redress would have been available at common law for members of a nonprofit corporation or an incorporated voluntary association had such plaintiffs sought to utilize it.

First, there is nothing about the remedy itself which warrants distinctive treatment based upon corporate purpose, for a derivative action by nature has as its aim the non-pecuniary benefit of the corporation, not the individual stockholder or member. Scott v. Anderson Newspapers, Inc. (1985), Ind.App., 477 N.E.2d 558, trans. denied; J. Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence § 1090 (1941). A stockholder is permitted to sue on behalf of the corporation, not because his rights have been violated, but simply as a means of setting in motion the judicial machinery of the court.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
562 N.E.2d 27, 1990 WL 166995, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kirtley-v-mcclelland-indctapp-1991.