PROPERTY ASSET v. Pirogue Cove Apartments

693 So. 2d 1217, 1997 WL 174843
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 11, 1997
Docket97-CA-0212
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 693 So. 2d 1217 (PROPERTY ASSET v. Pirogue Cove Apartments) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PROPERTY ASSET v. Pirogue Cove Apartments, 693 So. 2d 1217, 1997 WL 174843 (La. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

693 So.2d 1217 (1997)

PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC.
v.
PIROGUE COVE APARTMENTS, a Partnership in Commendam.

No. 97-CA-0212.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

April 11, 1997.

*1218 J. David Forsyth, Peter S. Title, Sessions & Fishman, L.L.P., New Orleans, for Plaintiff-Appellant, Property Asset Management, Inc.

Peter J. Butler, Peter J. Butler, Jr., Richard G. Passler, W. Christopher Beary, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P., New Orleans, for Defendant-Appellee, Pirogue Cove Apartments, A Partnership in Commendam.

Before CIACCIO, ARMSTRONG, JONES, WALTZER and LANDRIEU, JJ.

*1219 WALTZER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment sustaining a peremptory exception of no cause of action on a petition to enforce an in rem mortgage by an ordinary proceeding and dismissing the action with prejudice.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On September 9, 1996, appellant, Property Asset Management, Inc. ("PAMI"), filed suit against Pirogue Cove Apartments, a Partnership in Commendam ("Pirogue Cove"), to enforce by ordinary process a defaulted mortgage loan. The mortgage loan includes: (1) a mortgage encumbering an apartment complex (the "Pirogue Cove Apartments") owned by Pirogue Cove and located in Eastern New Orleans (the "Mortgage"), (2) a chattel mortgage encumbering the chattels appurtenant to the Pirogue Cove Apartments (the "Chattel Mortgage"), together with the immovable property encumbered by the Mortgage (collectively referred to as the "Property"), and (3) a promissory note dated April 6, 1981 in the original principal amount of $9,178,900 (the "Note"). The Note, which is non-recourse, relieves Pirogue Cove of any personal liability, and the Mortgage stipulates that PAMI's only recourse is against the Property. The Note and Mortgage were recorded in the mortgage and conveyance records of Orleans Parish.

PAMI alleges that there is a principal balance of $8,890,053.05 due on the mortgage loan, together with interest in the amount of $1,242,529.07 through August 31, 1996, plus interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from September 1, 1996 until paid. Because PAMI has no recourse against Pirogue Cove personally, PAMI's petition seeks only an in rem judgment and restricts the enforcement of the Mortgage to a foreclosure of the Property.

PAMI also sought and obtained an order from the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans sequestering the property and appointing PAMI, or its agent, as keeper of the Property during the pendency of the foreclosure proceeding. The keeper was authorized to manage the Property and to collect the revenues therefrom, which amounts to approximately $125,000 per month.

On October 2, 1996, Pirogue Cove filed an answer to plaintiff's suit together with a reconventional demand for damages for wrongful seizure under the writ of sequestration. On October 3, 1996 Pirogue Cove filed an exception of no cause of action. The trial court heard the exception of no cause of action on October 18, 1996, at which time the court signed a judgment maintaining the exception of no cause of action and dismissing the petition with prejudice. Although the trial court did not issue written reasons for its judgment, the transcript of the hearing reflects that the trial court sustained the exception of no cause of action for two reasons. First, the trial court held that the terms of the Mortgage precluded PAMI from enforcing the Mortgage by an ordinary proceeding against Pirogue Cove. Second, the trial court ruled that Louisiana law permits in rem proceedings to be filed only against nonresidents and that since Pirogue Cove was a Louisiana partnership, an in rem proceeding could not be filed against it.

Pirogue Cove subsequently filed a motion to enforce the October 18, 1996 judgment and to dissolve the writ of sequestration and appointment of a receiver, which the trial court granted on November 18, 1996.

PAMI filed a suspensive appeal from the October 18, 1996 judgment granting the exception of no cause of action, but the trial court refused to set a specific monetary amount for the appeal bond. Concerned that its suspensive appeal would be lost if the court did not set a bond, PAMI applied to this Court for supervisory writs to set a monetary amount for the bond, which we denied.

On November 22, 1996, PAMI filed a suspensive appeal from the judgment dissolving the writ of sequestration and appointment of a receiver, but the trial court refused to sign an order granting PAMI a suspensive appeal from that judgment. PAMI again applied to this Court for supervisory writs to require that the trial court grant PAMI a suspensive appeal, which we also denied.

The orders of this Court denying PAMI's requests for supervisory relief related only to whether PAMI could take a suspensive appeal *1220 and whether a stay should be granted. This expedited appeal seeks review of the merits of the trial court's judgments sustaining the exception of no cause of action and dissolving the writ of sequestration and appointment of a keeper.

SPECIFICATION OF ERRORS

1. Whether the trial court erred in sustaining the peremptory exception of no cause of action.

2. Whether the trial court erred in dismissing the petition with prejudice without giving PAMI an opportunity to amend.

3. Whether the trial court erred in ruling that in rem proceedings may be brought only against nonresidents.

4. Whether the trial court erred in dissolving PAMI's writ of sequestration and appointment of a keeper.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

On review, a dismissal for no cause of action should only be sustained if the well-pleaded allegations of fact in the petition clearly show that, based on the circumstances alleged, there is no remedy under any theory of law. Morgan v. ABC Manufacturer, 637 So.2d 1076 (La.App. 5 Cir.1994). Additionally, the appellate court must determine whether the trial court properly considered La.Code Civ.P. art. 934 in sustaining the exception without granting the plaintiff an opportunity to amend.

1. ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1: Whether the trial court erred in sustaining the peremptory exception of no cause of action.

The trial court erred in sustaining the peremptory exception of no cause of action. An exception of no cause of action raises the question of whether the law affords a remedy for the particular grievance that the plaintiff alleges. Roberts v. Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, No. 92-C-2048 (La.3/21/94), 634 So.2d 341; Daly v. Reed, No. 95-2445 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/15/96), 669 So.2d 1293. All facts pleaded in the petition are accepted as true without reference to any extraneous supporting or controverting evidence and all doubts are resolved in favor of the sufficiency of the petition. La.Code Civ.P. art. 931; Roberts, 634 So.2d at 342-343.

PAMI's petition states a cause of action. Specifically, the petition alleges that: (1) PAMI is the holder and owner of the Note made by Pirogue Cove, (2) the Note is secured by the Mortgage and the Chattel Mortgage encumbering the Property, (3) the mortgage loan is in default, (4) an in rem judgment should be rendered against Pirogue Cove for the amount owed, and (5) after the judgment is rendered, the Property be seized and sold and, out of the proceeds of the sale, PAMI be paid in preference to other claims.

The law affords a remedy for PAMI's pleaded cause of action.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
693 So. 2d 1217, 1997 WL 174843, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/property-asset-v-pirogue-cove-apartments-lactapp-1997.