Markos v. Karvounis

District Court, W.D. Kentucky·Decided July 26, 2021·No. 5:21-cv-00026·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY PADUCAH DIVISION CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:21-CV-00026-TBR-LLK

CHRISTINA D. MARKOS et al. PLAINTIFFS

V.

THANOS KARVOUNIS DEFENDANT

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Pending before the Court are three motions: (1) Defendant Thanos Karvounis’s Motion for Permission to Record Deed [DN 15]; (2) Plaintiffs’ Counter Motion for Transfer of Partnership Assets [DN 20], and (3) Plaintiffs’ Motion for Periodic Accounting and Continued Distribution of Profits. [DN 23]. The motions are fully briefed and ripe for adjudication. For the reasons stated below, all three motions are DENIED. I. Background The following background information appears to be undisputed. In 1996, Defendant Thanos Karvounis entered into a partnership called Tommy’s Pizza Palace with the Plaintiffs’ father, James Karahalios. The partnership was, in part, in the business of owning, leasing, and managing real property known as Olympic Plaza, located in Murray, Kentucky. James Karahalios died in 2013 and his partnership interest vested in his widow, Georgia Karahalios, pursuant to Article X of the Partnership Agreement. [See DN 1-1 at 4]. Then, when Georgia Karahalios died in June 2020, her one-half interest in Tommy’s Pizza Palace vested in a trust, the beneficiaries of which are her three children, the plaintiffs in this action. Plaintiffs state that following Georgia Karahalios’s death in June 2020, Karvounis notified them in October 2020 of his intent to dissolve and wind-up the partnership. [DN 1 at 4]. They also state that he proposed a buy-out of their one-half interest in the partnership. Id. Plaintiffs objected to dissolution and winding up of the partnership. Id. Plaintiffs assert that Karvounis has formed a new limited liability company, Olympic Plaza, LLC, and that Karvounis intends to transfer the Tommy’s Pizza Palace assets to Olympic Plaza, LLC. Id. The complaint seeks injunctive relief to halt the dissolution and wind-up of the partnership

and to require Karvounis to continue making profit distributions during the pendency of the litigation. Id. at 5. Plaintiffs further seek to require Karvounis to retain an independent third-party to provide an accounting of their partnership interest(s) pursuant to KRS 362.360. Id. at 5. Karvounis filed an answer and counterclaim, alleging that Plaintiffs are intentionally interfering with the windup of the partnership, and that such interference constitutes tortious interference with business relations and business expectancies. [DN 13 at 8]. II. Defendant’s Motion for Permission to Record Deed and Plaintiffs’ Counter Motion for Transfer of Partnership Assets a. Arguments

Defendant Thanos Karvounis now moves the Court for permission to record a deed transferring the real property owned by Tommy’s Pizza Palace to Olympic Plaza, LLC. [DN 15]. Karvounis states that he is now responsible for managing new and existing leases of tenants at the Olympic Plaza property, but he is unable to enter new leases or renew existing leases because he cannot do so under the Tommy’s Pizza Palace partnership. Id. at 6. As such, Karvounis desires to pay Plaintiffs for Georgia Karahalios’s partnership interest and continue operation of the business under the new entity, Olympic Plaza, LLC. Id. Plaintiffs object to transfer of the property. [DN 20]. Plaintiffs argue that because winding up of the partnership has not been completed, the Tommy’s Pizza Palace partnership still exists and “may continue to operate and fulfill leases in its own name until such time as all accounts are settled.” Id. at 2. Moreover, Plaintiffs assert that Karvounis has a fiduciary duty to the partnership, and “[t]ransferring the real property prior to settlement of the outstanding partnership affairs would be a breach of Defendant’s fiduciary duty and would cause Plaintiffs irreparable harm and injury.” Id. at 3. Plaintiffs also move for transfer of the partnership assets to Plaintiffs in exchange for

payment to Defendant. Id. In sum, Plaintiffs ask the Court to deny Karvounis’s Motion for Permission to Record Deed [DN 15] and to enter an order permitting transfer of the partnership assets to Plaintiffs in exchange for payment for Karvounis’s interest in the partnership and its assets. Id. at 4. Karvounis replied. [DN 21]. He argues that the Tommy’s Pizza Palace partnership has been dissolved as an ongoing business, the partnership affairs were wound up as of December 31, 2020, and all that remains is settlement of the Plaintiffs’ interest in Georgia Karahalios’s partnership interest. Id. at 2-3. Moreover, Karvounis argues that Plaintiffs are asking the Court to determine that the partnership is ongoing until a settlement is reached because “one of their goals is to

continue to extract one-half of the business profits after December 31, 2020.” Id. at 3. In short, Karvounis states that the Plaintiffs have no rights to the partnership except as ordinary creditors, and under his authority to wind up the partnership, he should be permitted to transfer legal title of the real estate. Id. at 4. As to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Transfer of Partnership Assets, Karvounis argues that the plaintiffs have no legal interest in the real property, the partnership property has passed to him, and he has the right to wind up the partnership affairs. Id. at 4-5. Finally, in the plaintiffs’ sur-reply, [DN 22], Plaintiffs assert that the Kentucky statutes do not permit Karvounis to transfer the real estate to himself because such possession of the property is not for a partnership purpose under KRS 362.270. Id. at 1-2. Plaintiffs point to subsection (2)(a) of the statute, which provides, in part, that a partner has no right to possess partnership property for any other purpose than a partnership purpose without the consent of the other partners. KRS 362.270(2)(a). The statute also provides that “[o]n the death of a partner his right in specific partnership property vests in the surviving partner or partners . . . [s]uch surviving partner . . . has no right to possess the partnership property for any but a partnership purpose.” KRS 362.270(2)(d).

Plaintiffs also contend that while Karvounis may have the right to continue the business provided proper wind up, he does not have the exclusive right to do so, and the Plaintiffs also should have the right to continue the business. Id. at 2. Plaintiffs reassert their request for the partnership assets to be transferred to Plaintiffs in exchange for payment to Karvounis. Id. b. Discussion The Court will deny both Karvounis’s Motion to Record Deed [DN 15] and Plaintiffs’ Counter Motion for Transfer of Partnership Assets [DN 20] because it appears to the Court that neither motion is procedurally proper. See Johnson v. Ryan, No. CV-18-00889-PHX-DWL, 2018 WL 6573228, n.1 (D. Ariz. Dec. 13, 2018) (collecting authorities which find that a motion for

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

Markos v. Karvounis, (W.D. Ky. 2021).

Markos v. Karvounis (Markos v. Karvounis) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related