PENINSULA FEDERAL S & L ASS'N v. DKH Properties, Ltd.

616 So. 2d 1070, 1993 WL 100651
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 6, 1993
Docket90-2728
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 616 So. 2d 1070 (PENINSULA FEDERAL S & L ASS'N v. DKH Properties, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PENINSULA FEDERAL S & L ASS'N v. DKH Properties, Ltd., 616 So. 2d 1070, 1993 WL 100651 (Fla. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

616 So.2d 1070 (1993)

PENINSULA FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION, n/k/a Intercontinental Bank, et al., Appellants,
v.
DKH PROPERTIES, LTD., a Florida Limited Partnership, et al., Appellees.

No. 90-2728.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

April 6, 1993.

*1072 Shutts & Bowen, Paul, Landy, Beiley & Harper, P.A., and Sam Daniels, Miami, for appellants.

Richard and Richard and Dennis Alan Richard, Laurel W. Marc-Charles and Sydney A. Marks, Miami, for appellees.

Before FERGUSON, JORGENSON and COPE, JJ.

On Motions for Rehearing

COPE, Judge.

On consideration of the motions for rehearing, we withdraw the opinion dated November 24, 1992, and substitute the following opinion:

Peninsula Federal Savings and Loan Association appeals a final judgment against it for damages and denying Peninsula's counterclaim for foreclosure. We reverse.

Peninsula agreed to make a construction loan to its borrower, DKH Properties, Ltd., for the renovation of an office building in downtown Miami. The initial term of the loan was eighteen months. At the end of the eighteen month construction period, the borrower had the right to extend the loan for an additional three-year period, provided that the borrower satisfied certain conditions. This three-year extension period was referred to as the "Mini-Permanent" loan. During the Mini-Permanent period, the office building would be rented to tenants and the borrower would seek long-term financing.

The borrower attempted to invoke its right to extend the loan for the Mini-Permanent period. The lender refused to extend, contending that the borrower had not met the contractual prerequisites for an extension. The borrower sued in contract and in tort, and the lender counterclaimed for foreclosure. From a judgment in favor of the borrower, the lender appeals.

The tort counts must be reversed. The borrower had purchased the office building and real estate from a partnership, OCE.[1] The borrower gave OCE a purchase money first mortgage on the property. The OCE mortgage provided that OCE would subordinate its mortgage to an institutional mortgage for the purpose of rehabilitating the property.

After Peninsula agreed to make the loan for renovation of the property, Peninsula and OCE entered into a subordination agreement. OCE subordinated its mortgage to Peninsula's 3.5 million dollar mortgage. However, OCE did not agree to an open-ended subordination for Peninsula's future advances clause. Instead, the subordination agreement required that OCE consent to future advances in order for the future advances to have priority over the OCE mortgage.

The borrowers contend that by entering into this subordination agreement, Peninsula was guilty of intentional interference with the borrower's contractual relationships with OCE. That is plainly incorrect.

In the present case the contract between the borrower and Peninsula provided, in part, that the borrower would cause "to be executed by all required parties such instruments and documents as Lender and its attorneys shall require to ensure that Lender shall have a valid first-position lien in the amount of the loan [3.5 million dollars]... ." (Emphasis added).[2] Thus the Peninsula-borrower agreement expressly authorized Peninsula to enter into such *1073 agreements as Peninsula deemed necessary to assure that it had a first mortgage lien on the subject property. As OCE was then the holder of a first mortgage on the property, plainly Peninsula was entitled to require execution of a subordination agreement by OCE in order to place Peninsula's 3.5 million dollar loan in first position. Pursuant to these contractual rights, Peninsula and OCE negotiated a subordination agreement satisfactory to Peninsula.

The tort under consideration here is described by the Restatement (Second) of Torts as follows:

§ 766. Intentional Interference with Performance of Contract by Third Person
One who intentionally and improperly interferes with the performance of a contract (except a contract to marry) between another and a third person by inducing or otherwise causing the third person not to perform the contract, is subject to liability to the other for the pecuniary loss resulting to the other from the failure of the third person to perform the contract.

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 766 (1979) (emphasis added).

Here, the borrower expressly consented to Peninsula's entry into the subordination agreement in such form and content as Peninsula found necessary to assure that it had a first lien position for the loan amount of 3.5 million dollars. As Peninsula took these steps pursuant to the contract with the borrower, this cannot be deemed "interference," nor can it be deemed "improper," and assuredly it was not tortious behavior. See id.; Florida Telephone Corp. v. Essig, 468 So.2d 543, 544 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985); see also Genet Co. v. Annheuser-Busch, Inc., 498 So.2d 683, 684 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); United of Omaha Life Insurance Co. v. Nob Hill Assoc's, 450 So.2d 536, 539 (Fla. 3d DCA), review dismissed, 458 So.2d 273 (Fla.), review denied, 458 So.2d 274 (Fla. 1984); Ethyl Corp. v. Balter, 386 So.2d 1220, 1224-25 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980), review denied, 392 So.2d 1371 (Fla.), cert. denied, 452 U.S. 955, 101 S.Ct. 3099, 69 L.Ed.2d 965 (1981); Nitzberg v. Zalesky, 370 So.2d 389, 391-92 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), receded from in part, Ethyl Corp. v. Balter, 386 So.2d at 1225; Babson Bros. Co. v. Allison, 337 So.2d 848, 850 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976), cert. denied, 348 So.2d 944 (Fla. 1977).[3]

Additionally, the Peninsula-OCE subordination agreement in no way impeded the performance by OCE of OCE's contract with the borrower. The subordination agreement provided that any future advances by Peninsula over and above the 3.5 million dollar level would require the consent of OCE. The borrower contends that under the borrower-OCE agreement, OCE was obligated to grant further subordination for additional costs associated with the building. Assuming that is so, the Peninsula-OCE agreement did not prevent OCE from consenting to future advances or further subordination. In order to establish tort liability it must be shown that there was interference with OCE's ability to perform its contractual obligations under the OCE-borrower contract; here there was none.[4]

The borrower argues that by virtue of the borrower-OCE agreement, OCE was obligated to grant a monetarily unlimited consent to Peninsula's future advances clause. That is not correct.

The OCE-borrower agreement provided:

2. The Mortgagee agrees to subordinate this mortgage and the note secured *1074 hereby to a superior lien to secure a loan from an institutional lender [Peninsula] where such loan is for the purpose of financing the rehabilitation of the property encumbered hereby by the Mortgagor [borrower]. All funds of the institutional lender shall be used for "hard costs" as they relate to the rehabilitation of the property. "Hard costs" are defined as costs for tangible items to be installed in or on the encumbered premises and labor done to the building, plus expenses incurred by the mortgagor [borrower] for reasonable fees paid to architects, engineers, appraisers and leasing agents, interest and points on such financing, real estate taxes and insurance. "Reasonable fees" shall mean the general standard in the community.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
616 So. 2d 1070, 1993 WL 100651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peninsula-federal-s-l-assn-v-dkh-properties-ltd-fladistctapp-1993.