Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance v. Uniondale Realty Associates

11 Misc. 3d 980
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 3, 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 11 Misc. 3d 980 (Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance v. Uniondale Realty Associates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance v. Uniondale Realty Associates, 11 Misc. 3d 980 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Anthony L. Parga, J.

[981]*981Ordered that the motion by plaintiff the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company pursuant to CPLR 3212 for an order deleting the name of Norman Stark from the caption, deleting the names of “John Doe #1” through “John Doe #12” and replacing same with WFC-1 Realty Corp., awarding summary judgment to plaintiff and an order appointing a referee to compute as against defendant Uniondale Realty Associates is granted in part and denied in part, and so much of the motion as seeks summary judgment with respect to a prepayment fee or premium is denied, and upon searching the record the claim for such fee is dismissed (CPLR 3212 [b]), and the application is granted in all other respects. So much of the motion as seeks summary judgment as against defendant WFC-1 Realty Corp. is withdrawn. The cross motion by defendant tenant WFC-1 Realty Corp. to dismiss is withdrawn.

This is an action for foreclosure upon commercial premises owned by defendant Uniondale Realty Associates. The underlying consolidation of notes (the note or loan agreement), dated March 3, 1997, provides for an $11 million loan payable in $96,160 monthly installments of principal and interest. The term runs from March 15, 1997 to September 15, 2015, with an interest rate of 8.16% per annum, and a default rate of 13.16%. The note permits prepayment, but under a “lock-in provision” does not permit prepayment before September 15, 2003. In exchange for any prepayment prior to the end of the term, the note provides for a “premium” computed pursuant to a treasury based “yield maintenance” formula. The computation of “yield maintenance” provides a lender with the monetary equivalent of the value represented by its “loss [of] the long term secured return it suffers when a loan is repaid” (Current Issues Concerning Mortgage Prepayment, 478 PLI/Real 871, 891-892 [Feb. 2002]).

Additionally, the note also provides for payment of that prepayment premium in the event there is a payment beyond the sum in default (thereby constituting a prepayment) after default and acceleration. It is the applicability of this prepayment premium after default and acceleration clause which presents the only genuine issue upon summary judgment. The prepayment premium plaintiff seeks exceeds $2 million, approximately 23% of the outstanding principal.

To establish a prima facie case in an action to foreclose a mortgage, the plaintiff must establish the existence of the mortgage and mortgage note, ownership of the mortgage, and [982]*982the defendant’s default in payment (Campaign v Barba, 23 AD3d 327 [2d Dept 2005]). Defendant has failed to note any factual issue with regard to bona fide mortgage ownership in the public record, and plaintiff established a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment as a matter of law, with the sole exception of the prepayment fee or premium.

The note contains the following or prepayment premium clause which states:

“Borrower shall have the right, upon thirty (30) days advance written notice, beginning December 15, 2003 of paying this note in full with a prepayment fee. This fee represents consideration to Lender for loss of yield and reinvestment costs. The fee shall be the greater of Yield Maintenance or 2% of the outstanding principal balance of this note on the date of prepayment” (emphasis supplied).

Yield maintenance is achieved in the note through the use of a United States Treasury based formula which ostensibly seeks to duplicate the secured return as consideration for premature payment, i.e., prepayment. This premium represents a type of unaccrued interest. The note formula calculates the difference between certain United States Treasury interest yields and the contract interest yield, and applies the percentage difference to the outstanding principal reduced to present value to determine the premium. For clarity and consistency of reference, the court will continue to refer to the prepayment fee as a prepayment “premium.”

The note also includes the following relevant language:

“In the event of a prepayment of this note following (i) the occurrence of an Event of Default . . . followed by the acceleration of the whole indebtedness evidenced by this note . . . such prepayment will constitute an evasion of the prepayment terms . . . and be deemed to be a voluntary prepayment . . . and such payment will, therefore, . . . include the prepayment fee required under the prepayment in full privilege recited above” (emphasis supplied).

This “evasion” clause allows for collection of the prepayment premium after default and acceleration. However, can there be true prepayment after default acceleration when the whole of the obligation is due and owing? As stated by one court:

“ ‘ “Prepayment” is a payment before maturity. “Acceleration” is a change in the date of maturity from the future to the present. Once the maturity date is [983]*983accelerated to the present, it is no longer possible to prepay the debt before maturity. Any payment made after acceleration of the maturity date is payment made after maturity, not before.’ ” (Rodgers v Rainier Natl. Bank, 111 Wash 2d 232, 237, 757 P2d 976, 978 [1988]; see, also, Matter of LHD Realty Corp., 726 F2d 327, 330-331 [7th Cir 1984].)

The court concludes that the latter-quoted clause is intended to prevent evasion of the premium required for prepayment simply on grounds that a default and acceleration have occurred, or that the prepayment is involuntary. Those instances where a prepayment is considered involuntary, e.g., a sale in condemnation, are not at issue here (see Silverman v State of New York, 48 AD2d 413, 414 [3d Dept 1975]). The function indicated by the language used, particularly the word “evasion” which means “to escape or avoid, especially by cunning or trickery” (Word-Perfect dictionary), is to prevent avoidance of the premium by an intentional default. In relevant part, the thrust of the evasion clause is to penalize any attempt on the part of the borrower to prepay without including paying the premium.

This meaning is clear when the language is examined in light of the historical development of prepayment maintenance clauses, and particularly yield maintenance clauses. A review of the history of commercial prepayment clauses and the recent origins of yield maintenance provisions is essential to understanding of the purpose and context of the wording of the subject clause.

As noted, in conformity with the current lending trend, the subject note contains a “yield maintenance” provision which “peg[s] the prepayment premium to the difference between the original mortgage interest rate and the market rate of a Treasury obligation of comparable maturity” (see, Current Issues Concerning Mortgage Prepayment, 478 PLI/Real 871, 936, 919, supra).

“Yield maintenance formulas are calculated to cover [a] lender’s reinvestment loss when prepaid loans bear above market rates” (Lefcoe, Yield Maintenance and Defeasance: Two Distinct Paths to Commercial Mortgage Payment, 478 PLI/Real 871, 935, Appendix). Under a yield maintenance formula, the borrower “discharges the debt with a one time fee sufficient to enable the lender, reinvesting at current rates, to earn no less than what it would have earned had the borrower not prepaid” (id.).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
11 Misc. 3d 980, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/northwestern-mutual-life-insurance-v-uniondale-realty-associates-nysupct-2006.