Rnr Invest. Ltd. Partnership v. Peoples First Com. Bank

812 So. 2d 561, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 4061, 2002 WL 464691
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 28, 2002
Docket1D01-1682
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 812 So. 2d 561 (Rnr Invest. Ltd. Partnership v. Peoples First Com. Bank) 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
Rnr Invest. Ltd. Partnership v. Peoples First Com. Bank, 812 So. 2d 561, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 4061, 2002 WL 464691 (Fla. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

812 So.2d 561 (2002)

RNR INVESTMENTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Appellant,
v.
PEOPLES FIRST COMMUNITY BANK, Appellee.

No. 1D01-1682.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

March 28, 2002.

*562 Darrin R. Schutt of Seemann & Schutt, P.A., Cape Coral, for Appellant.

*563 Timothy M. Warner and Sherri Denton Mallory of Warner & Mallory, P.A., Panama City, for Appellee.

VAN NORTWICK, J.

RNR Investments Limited Partnership (RNR) appeals a summary judgment of foreclosure granted in favor of appellee, Peoples First Community Bank (the Bank). RNR argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment because disputed issues of material fact remained with respect to one of RNR's affirmative defenses. In that affirmative defense, RNR alleged that the Bank was negligent in lending $960,000 to RNR without consent of the limited partners when, under RNR's Agreement of Limited Partnership, the authority of RNR's general partner was limited to obtaining financing up to $650,000. Under section 620.8301(a), Florida Statutes (2000), however, the Bank could rely upon the general partner's apparent authority to bind RNR, unless the Bank had actual knowledge or notice of his restricted authority. In opposing summary judgment, RNR produced no evidence showing that the Bank had actual knowledge or notice of restrictions imposed on the authority of RNR's general partner. Accordingly, no issues of material facts are in dispute and we affirm.

Factual and Procedural History

RNR is a Florida limited partnership formed pursuant to chapter 620, Florida Statutes, to purchase vacant land in Destin, Florida, and to construct a house on the land for resale. Bernard Roeger was RNR's general partner and Heinz Rapp, Claus North, and S.E. Waltz, Inc., were limited partners. The agreement of limited partnership provides for various restrictions on the authority of the general partner. Paragraph 4.1 of the agreement required the general partner to prepare a budget covering the cost of acquisition and construction of the project (defined as the "Approved Budget") and further provided, in pertinent part, as follows:

The Approved Budget for the Partnership is attached hereto as Exhibit "C" and is approved by evidence of the signatures of the Partners on the signature pages of this Agreement.... In no event, without Limited Partner Consent, shall the Approved Budget be exceeded by more than five percent (5%), nor shall any line item thereof be exceeded by more than ten percent (10%), ...

Paragraph 4.3 restricted the general partner's ability to borrow, spend partnership funds and encumber partnership assets, if not specifically provided for in the Approved Budget. Finally, with respect to the development of the partnership project, paragraph 2.2(b) provided:

The General Partner shall not incur debts, liabilities or obligations of the Partnership which will cause any line item in the Approved Budget to be exceeded by more than ten percent (10%) or which will cause the aggregate Approved Budget to be exceed by more than five percent (5%) unless the General Partner shall receive the prior written consent of the Limited Partner.

In June 1998, RNR, through its general partner, entered into a construction loan agreement, note and mortgage in the principal amount of $990,000. From June 25, 1998 through Mar. 13, 2000, the bank disbursed the aggregate sum of $952,699, by transfers into RNR's bank account. All draws were approved by an architect, who certified that the work had progressed as indicated and that the quality of the work was in accordance with the construction contract. No representative of RNR objected to any draw of funds or asserted that the amounts disbursed were not associated with the construction of the house.

*564 RNR defaulted under the terms of the note and mortgage by failing to make payments due in July 2000 and all monthly payments due thereafter. The Bank filed a complaint seeking foreclosure. RNR filed an answer and affirmative defenses. In its first affirmative defense, RNR alleged that the Bank had failed to review the limitations on the general partner's authority in RNR's limited partnership agreement. RNR asserted that the Bank had negligently failed to investigate and to realize that the general partner had no authority to execute notes, a mortgage and a construction loan agreement and was estopped from foreclosing. The Bank filed a motion for summary judgment with supporting affidavits attesting to the amounts due and owing and the amount of disbursements under the loan.

In opposition to the summary judgment motion, RNR filed the affidavit of Stephen E. Waltz, the president one of RNR's limited partners, S.E. Waltz, Inc. In that affidavit, Mr. Waltz stated that the partners anticipated that RNR would need to finance the construction of the residence, but that paragraph 2.2(b) of the partnership agreement limited the amount of any loan the general partner could obtain on behalf of RNR to an amount that would not exceed by more than 10% the approved budget on any one line item or exceed the aggregate approved budget by more than 5%, unless the general partner received the prior written consent of the limited partners. Waltz alleged that the limited partners understood and orally agreed that the general partner would seek financing in the approximate amount of $650,000. Further, Waltz stated:

Even though the limited partners had orally agreed to this amount, a written consent was never memorialized, and to my surprise, the [Bank], either through its employees or attorney, ... never requested the same from any of the limited partners at any time prior to [or] after the closing on the loan from the [Bank] to RNR.

Waltz alleged that the partners learned in the spring of 2000 that, instead of obtaining a loan for $650,000, Roeger had obtained a loan for $990,000, which was secured by RNR's property. He stated that the limited partners did not consent to Roeger obtaining a loan from the Bank in the amount of $990,000 either orally or in writing and that the limited partners were never contacted by the Bank as to whether they had consented to a loan amount of $990,000.

RNR asserts that a copy of the limited partnership agreement was maintained at its offices. Nevertheless, the record contains no copy of an Approved Budget of the partnership or any evidence that would show that a copy of RNR's partnership agreement or any partnership budget was given to the Bank or that any notice of the general partner's restricted authority was provided to the Bank.

A hearing on the motion for summary judgment was held, however, a transcript of that hearing is not contained in the record. Thereafter, the trial court entered a summary final judgment of foreclosure in favor of the Bank. The foreclosure sale has been stayed pending the outcome of this appeal.

Summary Judgment

The party moving for summary judgment bears the heavy burden of proving a negative—the nonexistence of a genuine issue of material fact. "If the record reflects even the possibility of a material issue of fact, or if different inferences can be drawn reasonably from the facts, the doubt must be resolved against the moving party and summary judgment must be denied." Cox v. CSX Intermodal, Inc., 732 So.2d 1092, 1095 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999) (citation *565 omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
812 So. 2d 561, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 4061, 2002 WL 464691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rnr-invest-ltd-partnership-v-peoples-first-com-bank-fladistctapp-2002.