Philbin v. Federal Deposit Insurance

147 Misc. 2d 70, 553 N.Y.S.2d 274, 1989 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 871
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 21, 1989
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 147 Misc. 2d 70 (Philbin v. Federal Deposit Insurance) 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
Philbin v. Federal Deposit Insurance, 147 Misc. 2d 70, 553 N.Y.S.2d 274, 1989 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 871 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

John Copertino, J.

Gerald Philbin, plaintiff in action No. 1 and defendant in [71]*71action No. 2, has moved to vacate a judgment entered against him on May 12, 1989, and an order dated February 27, 1989, "which allows the FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] to recover against Gerald Philbin the total sum of $252,057.86.”

The FDIC, defendant in action No. 1 and plaintiff in action No. 2, has cross-moved "for an order disqualifying Jack F. Scherer, Esq. as attorney for Gerald Philbin, pursuant to Disciplinary Rule 5-102.”

Central National Bank, the entity originally sued by Phil-bin, was declared insolvent by the Comptroller of Currency in September 1987, and the FDIC was appointed receiver of its assets.

In February 1989, the FDIC moved for summary judgment in action No. 2 and for dismissal of the complaint in action No. 1. The motion was granted on default, and the judgment now sought to be vacated was subsequently entered.

The dispute between the parties began on March 5, 1981, when Philbin made a promissory note payable on demand to Central State Bank (the predecessor of Central National Bank of New York) in the amount of $105,000; thereafter and on July 22, 1981, Philbin made another promissory note payable on demand to the same bank in the amount of $150,000. No qualifying or conditional language was contained in either note. As collateral for the loans evidenced by the notes, 7,400 shares of Adobe Oil stock were deposited with the bank.

Philbin made no payments on the notes and Central National Bank sold the stock. In August 1983, Philbin commenced an action against the bank seeking either a return of the stock or the value thereof at the time of its sale. In and around the same time Central National brought an action against Philbin for the amount of the deficiency. Philbin’s answer contained a counterclaim reciting that the bank never paid the proceeds of the loan to the maker and converted the Adobe Oil stock, and demanding judgment in the sum of $229,404. The bank replied that Philbin had received consideration for the notes, that the sale of the collateral was due to the default in payment, and that after proper notice Philbin failed to timely object to the sale thereby waiving the right to object thereto. Laches was also alleged.

Philbin seeks to open his default on the summary judgment motion by citing ongoing settlement discussions between his attorney and the FDIC in and about the time of FDIC’s [72]*72motion. His then-attorney, Peter Newman, has submitted a copy of a letter dated February 22, 1989, addressed to the court with a copy being forwarded to the FDIC’s attorney "requesting an adjournment [of the motion] on consent * * * until March 27, 1989.” Philbin maintains that he has always contested the bank’s (and the FDIC’s) position vis-á-vis his responsibility on the notes and would not have knowingly defaulted on such a motion. He also points out that a settlement had been under discussion — although not finalized— which would have resulted in a discontinuance of the respective actions of both parties without payment by either party to the other.

In support of his claim and counterclaim, Philbin notes that the FDIC does not dispute that he did not receive the proceeds of the loan and that, in fact, the bank checks representing the proceeds of the loan which had been made out to his order, bore his forged signature and were paid to the Kerri Pontiac Corporation (an automobile dealership) and to one Thomas O’Donnell. Philbin urges that his defense of failure of consideration is not nullified — as the FDIC contends — by the holding in D’Oench, Duhme & Co. v Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. (315 US 447). He argues that D’Oench requires the maker of a facially unqualified note to have "lent himself to a scheme or arrangement” before such maker may be held liable to the FDIC, and that he has not done this. Philbin also argues that he was a bona fide borrower who at no time entered into a scheme or secret agreement of any kind and who was wholly innocent of wrongful conduct, be it his or in concert with the bank.

The FDIC stresses that Philbin fails to allege that his signatures were forged on the notes — as distinguished from the checks representing the proceeds of the loan — and that Philbin’s testimony given in an examination before trial is to the effect that it was agreed between him and O’Donnell and known by the bank that O’Donnell was to repay the loans, despite the lack of a recital to that effect in the notes. Philbin testified that ultimately a broader plan had to be followed whereby O’Donnell, who was applying to the same bank for a $3 million loan in order to purchase a hotel — in which Philbin later became a principal — would repay Philbin the sums of $54,000 and $104,000 owed to him by O’Donnell, "off the top” of that loan.

Philbin testified further that unless O’Donnell continued to meet his obligations to the bank and others the $3 million loan would not be made. Any divisions of the Philbin loan [73]*73proceeds to O’Donnell could have been to Philbin’s advantage in that O’Donnell would have still remained eligible for the hotel loan by using the diverted moneys to meet his obligations. Parenthetically, this loan for the $3 million failed to materialize and therein could lie the problem. It would appear that Philbin was forced by O’Donnell into a situation of "throwing good money after bad.”

The FDIC points to the following from page 12 of Philbin’s deposition upon oral examination:

"Q So you’re telling me that the money that you were getting from — supposed to get from Central State Bank as a result of signing this note was supposed to somehow be repayment from Mr. O’Donnell?
"A It was supposed to come to me directly, yes. I was supposed to get the money. He was going to guarantee the payment.
"Q What were you going to do with the money?
"A What was I going to [sic] with the money?
"Q Yes.
"A Number one, I was going to take the money back that he owed me, and he was guaranteeing the payment.
"Q What were you going to do with the balance?
"A He was going to get the balance and guarantee the payment.”

The foregoing, contends the FDIC, brings Philbin within the D’Oench doctrine wherein the FDIC as a receiver can avoid a defense, regardless of whether the maker of the note intended to mislead because Philbin had "lent himself’ to the bank’s effort to mislead bank authorities, that regardless of actual intent Philbin was chargeable with knowledge that he was "asking the bank to conceal the actual transaction.”

An unpublished decision involving this issue, Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v Barkan (US Dist Ct, ND Cal 1972), is cited by the FDIC as follows: "Under the policy expressed in D’Oench v Duhme and expanded in [other cases] the FDIC in its role as receiver is entitled to rely on the assets of a bank at their face value; a secret agreement between the bank and the borrower cannot provide a defense under such circumstances.”

The FDIC further alludes to Langley v Federal Deposit Ins. Corp.

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Bluebook (online)
147 Misc. 2d 70, 553 N.Y.S.2d 274, 1989 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 871, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/philbin-v-federal-deposit-insurance-nysupct-1989.