Schmidt v. Farm Credit Services

738 F. Supp. 1372, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6901, 1990 WL 79756
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedMay 31, 1990
DocketNo. 88-4102-S
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 738 F. Supp. 1372 (Schmidt v. Farm Credit Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schmidt v. Farm Credit Services, 738 F. Supp. 1372, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6901, 1990 WL 79756 (D. Kan. 1990).

Opinion

[1373]*1373MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SAFFELS, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on cross motions for summary judgment filed by plaintiff Frank S. Schmidt and defendant Farm Credit Services. Plaintiff, a resident of California, is a minority shareholder in Schmidt C & R Co., Inc. (“defendant corporation”). Plaintiff brings this derivative shareholder’s action to have the court set aside and declare void an assignment and transfer of a mortgage in the defendant corporation’s property to defendant Farm Credit Services. Plaintiff contends that the assignment of the mortgage was done without proper corporate authority.

The following facts have been established for the purpose of this motion. John C. and Pamela K. Schmidt, husband and wife, own 375 shares of stock in the defendant corporation. At all times relevant to this lawsuit, John C. Schmidt served as president of the corporation and Pamela K. Schmidt served as vice president and secretary-treasurer of the corporation. On February 25, 1980, John C. Schmidt in his capacity as president of the defendant corporation, applied for a loan from the Federal Land Bank of Wichita, defendant Farm Credit Services’s predecessor. (The Federal Land Bank of Wichita and defendant Farm Credit Services will hereinafter be referred to collectively as defendant lender.)

The board of directors of defendant corporation held a meeting on February 27, 1980. The minutes of this meeting indicate that the board of directors approved a resolution authorizing John C. Schmidt, as president of the corporation, to borrow from defendant lender an amount not to exceed $400,000. The members of the board of directors present at that meeting were John C. Schmidt and Pamela K. Schmidt. The only other director was Susan Ensign. In an affidavit, Ms. Ensign states that she was not notified of the meeting at which this authorization was approved. The bylaws of defendant corporation empower the directors to authorize an officer to enter into a contract or execute instruments on behalf of the corporation. For all times relevant to this lawsuit, John C. Schmidt and Pamela K. Schmidt controlled and operated the corporation and neither plaintiff nor the other minority shareholders took an active role in its operation.

On March 31, 1980, a promissory note and mortgage in the amount of $320,000 were executed between defendant lender and defendant corporation. As security for the loan, defendant corporation executed a mortgage on all its real property in Marshall County, Kansas, approximately 660 acres, to defendant lender. The note and mortgage were executed by John C. Schmidt, as president, and Pamela K. Schmidt, as secretary for the corporation. The mortgage was duly filed of record in Marshall County on April 9, 1980. Defendant lender was aware that the proceeds from this loan were intended to be loaned by the corporation to John C. and Pamela K. Schmidt, individually. Defendant lender was presented with the resolution, approved by the board of directors, authorizing John C. Schmidt to execute the loan on behalf of the defendant corporation. In his deposition testimony, Alan Jaax, an agent for defendant lender who handled the loan to the defendant corporation, stated that he based his conclusion that John C. Schmidt had authority to execute the note and mortgage on behalf of the defendant corporation on this resolution to borrow and the articles of incorporation and bylaws of the defendant corporation.

The defendant corporation’s annual reports since 1980 have been filed with the Secretary of State of Kansas. These reports disclosed the mortgage for $320,000, and that the defendant corporation had loans to shareholders. However, the yearly profit/loss statement sent by the defendant corporation to shareholders apparently did not disclose the fact that the corporation had loaned money to shareholders John C. and Pamela K. Schmidt until the profit/loss statement sent for the year ending December 31, 1986. Plaintiff Frank Schmidt contends he was never- aware that the defendant corporation had made a loan to John C. and Pamela Schmidt until March 1987.

[1374]*1374A moving party is entitled to summary judgment only when the evidence indicates that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Maughan v. SW Servicing, Inc., 758 F.2d 1381, 1387 (10th Cir.1985). The requirement of a “genuine” issue of fact means that the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The moving party has the burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. This burden “may be discharged by ‘showing’ — that is, pointing out to the district court — that there is an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party’s case.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). “[A] party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment may not rest on mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 256, 106 S.Ct. at 2514. Thus, the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment. Id. The court must consider factual inferences tending to show triable issues in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Bee v. Greaves, 744 F.2d 1387, 1396 (10th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1214, 105 S.Ct. 1187, 84 L.Ed.2d 334 (1985).

The main issue presented in this case is whether the president of the defendant corporation could legally bind the corporation to a note and mortgage under the circumstances of this particular transaction. It is generally recognized law that if a principal has delegated authority to an agent by words expressly authorizing the agent to do a delegated act, the agent has express actual authority to do the delegated act. See Mohr v. State Bank of Stanley, 241 Kan. 42, 734 P.2d 1071, 1075 (1987). Generally, a corporation is bound by contracts entered into on its behalf by its duly authorized officers or agents acting within the scope of their authority. Executive Financial Services, Inc. v. Loyd, 238 Kan. 663, 665, 715 P.2d 376, 378 (1986).

After reviewing the established facts in this case, the court finds that John C. Schmidt, as president of the corporation, was duly authorized by the corporation to bind the corporation to the executed note and mortgage in the present case.

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Bluebook (online)
738 F. Supp. 1372, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6901, 1990 WL 79756, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schmidt-v-farm-credit-services-ksd-1990.