Laurelwood Homes LLC v. United States

78 Fed. Cl. 290, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 280, 2007 WL 2484961
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedAugust 29, 2007
DocketNo. 06-734 C
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 78 Fed. Cl. 290 (Laurelwood Homes LLC v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Laurelwood Homes LLC v. United States, 78 Fed. Cl. 290, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 280, 2007 WL 2484961 (uscfc 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

DAMICH, Chief Judge.

This government contracts case is before the Court on Defendant’s motion to dismiss Count I of Plaintiffs amended complaint, filed on April 3, 2007, for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiff asserts a claim, under the Prompt Payment Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq., for interest in the amount of $149.26 on damages due to vandalism at residential military housing. Plaintiffs claim of interest under the Prompt Payment Act is in addition to its recovery of interest the Defendant has already paid under the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. § 601 et seq. Because the Court finds that Plaintiffs claim for vandalism damages was in legitimate dispute at the time the Defendant initially denied payment, Plaintiff is not entitled to Prompt Payment Act interest. Defendant’s motion, therefore, is GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

On or about October 24, 1988, Laurelwood Homes LLC (“Laurelwood”) and the Department of the Navy (“Navy” or “Government”) entered into Supplemental Agreement Number 3 to lease number N62472-86-RP-00209 for the lease of real property on Naval Weapons Station Earle (the “Outlease”). Am. Comp. ¶ 4. On or about April 30, 1990, the parties executed Exhibit D to the Outlease (the “Inlease”), which provided for the lease of residential housing improvements constructed by Plaintiff on the real property and located inside the guarded gates at Naval Weapons Station Earle. Id. ¶¶ 5-6. Article IX of the Inlease provides, in pertinent part, the following:

The Developer shall in any event and without prejudice to any other rights of the Government bear responsibility for ... malicious damage (other than Government-caused) ... and shall maintain at the expense of the Developer at all times during the term of this Inlease insurance coverage against the risks enumerated ... and shall ensure that the Government is named as a co-insured on any such policy.

Id. ¶ 8. From the execution of the Inlease through April 10, 2006, Laurelwood had been submitting invoices to the Navy for vandalism repairs to the housing, and the Navy had consistently paid those claims. Id. ¶ 10.

By invoice submissions dated April 11, June 5, and July 28, 2006, Laurelwood submitted requests for payment of $13,659.50, plus interest, for “vandalism caused by individuals on the Laurelwood property with the exclusive permission of the Government.” Id. ¶ 12. By letter dated August 22, 2006, Matthew Kurtz, a Real Estate Contracting Officer (“CO”), notified Laurelwood that it would not pay for the vandalism damage. Id. ¶ 13. On August 23, 2006, Laurelwood submitted a formal Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”) claim to Mr. Kurtz in the amount of $13,659.50, plus interest. Id. ¶ 14. On October 3, 2006, Frances M. Hoover, another Real Estate CO, issued a final decision denying Laurelwood’s claim in its entirety and stating that:

[292]*292Based on the provisions of the leasing documents as set forth above, responsibility for damages resulting from vandalism rests with Laurelwood, and the Navy is not responsible for paying the invoices at issue. For the same reasons, past payments to Laurelwood for vandalism damages were made in error, and the Contracting Officer hereby determines that $39,060.89 is due and owing to the Navy for those erroneous payments.

Id. ¶¶ 16-17.

On October 27, 2006, Laurelwood filed a complaint in the Court of Federal Claims requesting both damages in the amount of $13,659.50, plus interest, for vandalism to its property (Count I) and a denial of the Navy’s claim for $39,060.89 for what it considered to be “erroneous payments” (Count II). Comp. ¶¶ 18-32. By letter dated March 12, 2007, the CO revoked her previous demand for repayment of the $39,060.89 and notified Laurelwood of the Navy’s March 6, 2006, payment of $13,659.50, plus $413.11 in interest, for the vandalism damages sought in its claim. Am. Compl. ¶ 18. On April 3, 2007, Laurelwood amended its complaint to seek, as Count I, Prompt Payment Act interest in the amount of $149.26 on the vandalism damages paid by the Navy.1 Am. Comp. ¶¶ 65-75.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

In considering Defendant’s motion to dismiss pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(6), the Court must assume that all well-pled allegations in the complaint are true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiff. See Perez v. United States, 156 F.3d 1366, 1370 (Fed.Cir.1998). “A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is appropriate when the facts asserted by the claimant do not, under the law, entitle him to a remedy.” Id.

II. Analysis

The issue before the Court is whether Laurelwood’s claim for vandalism damages, which the Government has now paid, is subject to interest penalties in the amount of $149.26 under the Prompt Payment Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq. (“PPA”). The Government alleges that the interest already paid by the Navy pursuant to the CDA is the only interest to which Plaintiff is entitled for the vandalism damage claims. Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss (“Def.’s Mot.”) at 1. Laurelwood contends that, in addition to the CDA interest it has already been paid, it is owed PPA interest because, inter alia, there was no “objectively diseernable dispute” over the claim. Pl.’s Opp. to Defs Mot. (“Pl.’s Opp.”) at 3.

The PPA, first enacted in 1982 (P.L. 97-177), provides for the payment of interest when the Government fails to make a timely payment for certain goods or services. The statute states that “the head of an agency acquiring property or service from a business concern, who does not pay the concern for each complete delivery item of property or service by the required payment date, shall pay an interest penalty to the concern on the amount of the payment due.” 31 U.S.C. § 3902(a) (2000). The relevant provision of the PPA for the inquiry here provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

Except as provided in section 3904 of this title, this chapter does not require an interest penalty on payment that is not made because of a dispute between the head of an agency and a business concern over the amount of payment or compliance with the contract. A claim related to the dispute, and interest payable for the period during which the dispute is being resolved, is subject to the Contract Disputes Act of 1978.

31 U.S.C. § 3907(c) (2000). Accordingly, several other judges of this court have acknowledged that the PPA is not applicable when there is a dispute over the payment in question. E.g., Southern Comfort Builders, Inc. v. United States, 67 Fed.Cl. 124, 156 (2005). Similarly, this Court adopts the rationale [293]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
78 Fed. Cl. 290, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 280, 2007 WL 2484961, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/laurelwood-homes-llc-v-united-states-uscfc-2007.