Remington Investment, Inc. v. Quintero & Martinez Co.

961 F. Supp. 344, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5445, 1997 WL 200466
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJanuary 23, 1997
DocketCivil 94-2762(HL/ADC)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 961 F. Supp. 344 (Remington Investment, Inc. v. Quintero & Martinez Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Remington Investment, Inc. v. Quintero & Martinez Co., 961 F. Supp. 344, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5445, 1997 WL 200466 (prd 1997).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

DELGADO-COLON, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff Remington Investments, Inc. (“Remington” or “plaintiff’) filed the present action against defendants Quintero & Martinez Co., Inc. (“Quintero & Martinez”), Emilio J. Martínez Dominguez (“Martinez”), Arturo E. Quintero Quiñones (“Quintero”), Yolanda Martínez (“Mrs.Martinez”) and the conjugal partnership established between the latter two. Plaintiff seeks payment of $67,521.03 plus interest accrued which defendants, jointly and severally, allegedly owe plaintiff as a result of a revolving credit line *346 contract plaintiff acquired from now-extinct Banco Nacional, N.A. (“the Bank”).

This Court must now consider Remington’s resubmitted motion for summary judgment (Docket Nos. 26-28, 39, 62). In essence, plaintiff alleges that there being no genuine issue of material fact, it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Defendants oppose the entry of judgment at this stage, alleging: 1) that the amount owed is substantially less than that indicated by plaintiff; and 2) that plaintiffs evidence in support of its motion for summary judgment is inadmissible hearsay (Docket Nos. 34,46).

I. Factual Background

On or about July 8, 1991, Quintero & Martinez, a corporation organized under the laws of Puerto Rico, entered into a loan agreement (“Loan Agreement”) with Banco Na-cional, N.A. whereby the Bank agreed to establish, a $75,000 line of credit in favor of Quintero & Martinez. This Loan Agreement provided for payment of interest on the unpaid balance of the line of credit at a rate of 2 percentage points over the New York prime rate, determined daily (Plaintiffs Statement of Uncontested Facts, Docket No. 28, Tab No. 3). On that same day, Quintero, Martínez and Mrs. Martinez executed a document of continuing guaranty whereby said defendants agreed to guarantee, jointly, severally and unconditionally, all debts incurred by Quintero & Martinez pursuant to the Loan Agreement (Plaintiffs Statement of Uncontested Facts, Docket No. 28, Tab No. 6).

The Bank subsequently made some advances to Quintero & Martínez under the line of credit. According to Quintero, these advances were to be used originally for the purchase of some wood in Venezuela. As this transaction fell through, the monies were used for the cash flow of the business (See Plaintiffs Statement of Uncontested Facts, Docket No. 28, Tab 4, Deposition of Quinte-ro, p. 40).

On or about January 24, 1992, upon a determination from the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States to the effect that the Bank was insolvent, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) was appointed receiver of the assets of the Bank (Plaintiffs Statement of Uncontested Facts, Docket No. 28, Tab No. 2). Quintero & Martínez has admitted that after the closing of the Bank, no payments were made on the debt to the Bank (see Plaintiffs Statement of, Uncontested Facts, Docket No. 28, Tab 4, Deposition of Quintero, p. 43).

Thereafter, the FDIC sold some of the Bank’s assets to Remington, an Indiana corporation and plaintiff herein. Included among the newly acquired assets was the loan the Bank had made to Quintero & Martinez (Plaintiffs Statement of Uncontested Facts, Docket No. 28, Tab No. 1, Unsworn Declaration Under Penalty of Perjury of Sean D. Klingle, Executive Vice President, Remington Investments).

II. Procedural Background

Remington filed the present action against Quintero & Martinez and the other above-named defendants to recover the funds owed on the loan (Docket No. I). 1 After initial discovery of evidence between the parties, plaintiff moved for summary judgment (Docket No. 26). In support of its motion, Remington filed a memorandum of law as well as a statement of uncontested facts together with various documents, copies of deposition transcripts, and unsworn declarations made under penalty of perjury (Docket No. 28). 2

Defendants, thereafter, filed their opposition to plaintiffs motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 34). Defendants argue, contrary to plaintiffs position, that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to the amount owed, which they claim is “substantially less” than that demanded by Remington (Defendant’s Opposition to Remington’s Motion for Summary Judgment, Docket No. *347 34, p. 4, paragraph 12) (hereinafter referred to as “Defendant’s Opposition”).

In their opposition, defendants also allege that the evidence presented by Remington in support of its motion for summary judgment, namely, a report from the FDIC containing the inventory of the Bank’s assets, is not admissible under the Rules of Evidence as it constitutes hearsay (Defendant’s Opposition, p. 5). Finally, defendants allege, in what seems to be a contradictory position, that there is no evidence of any advances made to them, since they are not noted in the back of the Master Promissory Note as required by the Note’s terms and conditions (Defendant’s Opposition, p. 7 and Exhibit VI).

Plaintiff then filed a reply to defendants’ opposition (Reply of Remington in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment, Docket No. 39). In its motion, plaintiff essentially rebuffs each and everyone of defendants’ arguments, and reasserts that defendants are not able to produce sufficient evidence that would raise a genuine issue of material fact that would preclude this Court from granting summary judgment in its favor. In addition, plaintiff argues that the FDIC report it produced in support of its motion is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule, under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8).

Defendants, in turn, filed a sur-reply to plaintiffs reply, reinstating the same two arguments raised in their opposition to Remington’s motion for summary judgment. This time, however, defendants relied largely on deposition testimony by Mr. Ramón Vizcarrondo, former manager at the Bank, to the effect that he knew about the line of credit extended to Quintero & Martinez; that monetary advancements were made against such credit line; and that he was under the impression that some payments towards its debt were made by the defendants. However, Vizcarrondo did not recall the total number of payments made or the total amount paid and/or owed. He further stated that, although he “always thought” the amount owed under the line of credit was around $50,000, he was not absolutely certain (Docket No. 46). 3

Remington filed objections to the deposition of Mr. Vizcarrondo (Docket No. 47). In essence, it argues that the thoughts and mental impressions about what Mr. Vizcar-rondo thought they owed is not admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 602, since according to plaintiff it is pure speculation. 4

Remington then filed a “Motion Submitting Additional Affidavit in Support of Motion For Summary Judgment” (Docket No.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Del Toro-Pacheco v. Pereira-Castillo
662 F. Supp. 2d 202 (D. Puerto Rico, 2009)
United States v. A) $58,920.00 in U.S. Currency
385 F. Supp. 2d 144 (D. Puerto Rico, 2005)
Rivera Sanfeliz v. Chase Manhattan Bank
349 F. Supp. 2d 240 (D. Puerto Rico, 2004)
Columbia First Bank, FSB v. United States
58 Fed. Cl. 333 (Federal Claims, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
961 F. Supp. 344, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5445, 1997 WL 200466, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/remington-investment-inc-v-quintero-martinez-co-prd-1997.