Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union v. Saar

39 Misc. 3d 850
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedApril 3, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 39 Misc. 3d 850 (Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union v. Saar) 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
Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union v. Saar, 39 Misc. 3d 850 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

David I. Schmidt, J.

Defendants Ronald J. Saar, individually, and R.J. Saar Associates, Inc. (collectively, Saar) move for an order, pursuant to CPLR 3212, granting summary judgment dismissing the complaint. Plaintiff Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union cross-moves for an order consolidating this action with an action entitled Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union v Beata Galdi (Kings County, index No. 23591/11) (the Galdi action).

Plaintiff, a federally chartered credit union, brings this action against Saar alleging that it conducted faulty appraisals on two properties in conjunction with a mortgage loan made by plaintiff to one of its members, Beata Galdi. The first loan, in the amount of $2,000,000, was secured by the property located at 134 North Main Street in East Hampton, New York (East Hampton property). The second loan, in the amount of $2,300,000, was secured by the property located at 24 Cliff Road in Amagansett, New York (Amagansett property). The loans were approved by plaintiff based on appraisals by Saar which determined the estimated market value (EMV) of the East Hampton property at $3,500,000 and the EMV of the Amagansett property at $3,000,000 as of May 21, 2007.

According to the complaint, in determining the EMVs of the two properties Saar deviated from the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPA), such as using properties situated in a different neighborhood for comparable sales and applying excessive adjustments to those comparable sales, resulting in EMVs substantially higher than the properties’ actual values. Plaintiff alleges that the actual value of the East Hampton property as of May 21, 2007 did not exceed $1,425,000 while the actual value of the Amagansett property as of May 21, 2007 did not exceed $1,955,000. Plaintiff maintains that it relied on the allegedly inflated appraisals in advancing the loans to [853]*853Galdi, which loans would not have been approved had they exceeded 70% of the EMVs of the respective properties. Galdi has since defaulted in payment on the loans, and the two properties are now the subject of foreclosure actions in Suffolk County Supreme Court.

Plaintiff asserts causes of action against Saar for negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, constructive fraud, violation of General Business Law § 349 and breach of contract. In each of the causes of action, plaintiff alleges that the malfeasance of Saar in producing the appraisal “caused plaintiff to approve the Galdi Loans and sustain monetary injury well in excess of $100,000.”

In its motion for summary judgment, Saar contends that the action must be dismissed as premature since plaintiff has not yet sustained any pecuniary loss, that the causes of action for fraudulent misrepresentation, constructive fraud and negligent misrepresentation must be dismissed since appraisals are matters of opinion and not fact, that plaintiffs cause of action under General Business Law § 349 must be dismissed as Saar’s conduct was not consumer oriented and that the causes of action for breach of contract must be dismissed as duplicative of the negligence cause of action.

The proponent of a summary judgment motion must make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law tendering sufficient evidence to demonstrate the absence of any material issues of fact (Alvarez v Prospect Hosp., 68 NY2d 320, 324 [1986]). Failure to make such prima facie showing requires a denial of the motion regardless of the sufficiency of the opposing papers (id.). The proof submitted to the court should be scrutinized carefully in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion (see Sillman v Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 3 NY2d 395, 404 [1957]).

Saar’s summary judgment motion does not address the truth or falsity of plaintiffs allegations, but rather is directed toward the facial sufficiency of plaintiffs causes of action.

With respect to its contention that the instant action is premature, Saar argues that plaintiff cannot assert a claim of actual loss based on the inflated appraisals until the subject properties are sold in the foreclosure actions for an amount less than their appraised value. In support of this argument, however, Saar improperly relies on cases where the claims were brought pursuant to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). In those cases, the courts held that a [854]*854cause of action does not accrue under RICO until “the amount of damages becomes clear and definite.” Insofar as there could be no “clear and definite” amount of damages until the allegedly undersecured properties were sold in foreclosure, the plaintiff could not establish the requisite injury under the statute. In this matter, however, plaintiff need only allege that it suffered some actual loss as a result of the inflated appraisals. In a breach of contract action, “damages ‘are properly ascertained as of the date of the breach,’ and ‘the injured party has a duty to mitigate’ ” (see White v Farrell, 20 NY3d 487, 499 [2013], quoting Brushton-Moira Cent. School Dist. v Thomas Assoc., 91 NY2d 256, 262-263 [1998]). Plaintiff alleges that it has been damaged by having been induced to make the multimillion dollar loans by fraudulently or negligently inflated appraisals, and that it would not have made the loans (which are now in default) if it was provided with the true market values of the subject properties (see Rodin Props. — Shore Mall v Ullman, 253 AD2d 403, 404 [1998]). While the amount recovered by plaintiff at the foreclosure sales of the properties may have a bearing on the ultimate measure of damages, since plaintiff is presently asserting actual loss as the result of its reliance on the allegedly inflated appraisals, the instant action is not premature.

Saar next argues that the causes of action sounding in fraudulent misrepresentation, constructive fraud and negligent misrepresentation are without merit since an appraisal is a non-actionable opinion, rather than a statement of fact. While appraisals, generally, are statements of opinion which may not form the basis of a fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation action (see Mandarin Trading Ltd. v Wildenstein, 65 AD3d 448, 450 [2009], affd 16 NY3d 173 [2011]; Stuart v Tomasino, 148 AD2d 370, 372 [1989]), “an assessment of market value that is based upon misrepresentations concerning existing facts may support a cause of action for fraud” (Flandera v AFA Am., Inc., 78 AD3d 1639, 1640 [2010]; see Rodin Props.-Shore Mall v Ullman, 264 AD2d 367, 368-369 [1999]; see also Cristallina v Christie, Manson & Woods Intl., 117 AD2d 284, 294-295 [1986]).

Plaintiff maintains that the appraisal is based on specific misrepresentations of fact, including statements that the adjustments to the comparable sales figures are within proper USPA standards and Federal National Mortgage Association guidelines. Specifically, plaintiff states that Saar misrepresented that the comparable sales grid comprised of properties located in the same neighborhood as the East Hampton property (East [855]*855Hampton North) when in fact it included properties located in the Village of East Hampton, where home values are significantly higher.

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Bluebook (online)
39 Misc. 3d 850, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/polish-slavic-federal-credit-union-v-saar-nysupct-2013.