Talley v. Celestin

894 So. 2d 389, 4 La.App. 5 Cir. 1003, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 10, 2005 WL 57315
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 11, 2005
DocketNo. 04-CA-1003
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 894 So. 2d 389 (Talley v. Celestin) 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
Talley v. Celestin, 894 So. 2d 389, 4 La.App. 5 Cir. 1003, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 10, 2005 WL 57315 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

I ¡.WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, Judge.

Appellant, Gene J. Viola, Jr., appeals from a summary judgment rendered in favor of Jean and Felix Celestin ordering the release of funds deposited in the registry of the court. For the reasons stated herein, we reverse and remand.

Facts and Procedural History

On October 2, 1997, Gene Viola purchased a home located at 303 Nottoway Drive in Destrehan, Louisiana. On this same date, Mr. Viola signed a promissory note in the Parish of Jefferson, payable on demand to Jean and Felix Celestin in the amount of $25,000.00 plus interest. This note was secured with a mortgage of the Nottaway Drive home and was duly recorded. At all times pertinent herein, Gene Viola was married to Jean C. Viola, the Celestins’ daughter.

On December 30, 2003, Mr. Viola sold the home on Nottoway Drive. At that time, the Celestins attempted to collect on the note, which they alleged amounted to $34,375.00 with interest. Mr. Viola objected to the | ¡¡collection of the note on the basis that no consideration was given therefore, and the note was therefore invalid. The act of sale on the home proceeded, and the disputed sums were placed in the escrow account of the closing attorney.

On January 7, 2004, Mr. Viola filed suit in Jefferson Parish against the Celestins seeking damages for breach of contract and a declaratory judgment on the invalidity of the promissory note. The Celestins responded with an exception of improper venue, which the trial court granted, dismissing Mr. Viola’s claim without prejudice. On March 8, 2004, Mr.Viola refiled his suit for declaratory judgment and breach of contract in the 29th Judicial District Court.

On the same date, Ray Talley, the closing attorney for the Nottoway Drive home, instituted this petition for a concursus proceeding in the 29th Judicial District Court seeking to deposit into the court registry the disputed sums obtained through the sale of the house. The petition named as defendants Jean Bouterie Celestin, Felix C. Celestin and Gene J. Viola. Mr.Viola [391]*391moved to consolidate the concursus proceeding with his petition for damages for breach of contract and declaratory judgment. The trial court denied this motion.

On April 5, 2004, the Celestins filed a motion for summary judgment in the con-cursus proceeding contending that they were entitled to an order releasing the sums in the registry of the court as a matter of law. Mr. Viola filed an opposition to the summary judgment.- The summary judgment motion was heard by the trial court on May 10, 2004, and the court rendered summary judgment in favor of the Celestins by judgment rendered on May 13, 2004. The court further ordered the sums on deposit in the registry of the court to be released to the Celestins. Mr. Viola filed a motion for new |4trial which was denied on May 25, 2004. Mr. Viola subsequently filed this suspensive appeal.

Discussion

Appellant first contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in this matter where there remain issues of fact as to whether the promissory note in this case is valid and enforceable. Appellant contends that there are legitimate questions regarding the. consideration given for the note, whether or not the note is valid, and whether or not the Celestins have any interest in the note.

The standard of review of the granting of a motion for summary judgment is de novo, using the same criteria that governs trial court’s determination of whether summary judgment is appropriate. Independent Fire Insurance Co. v. Sunbeam, 755 So.2d 226 (La.2000); Schroeder v. Board of Sup’rs of Louisiana State University, 591 So.2d 342 (La.1991). Summary judgment shall be granted where the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions and affidavits on file, demonstrate that no genuine issue as to any material fact is present and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C.C.P. art. 966 B.

In American Bank v. Saxena, 553 So.2d 836 (La.1989), the Supreme Court held that summary judgment is the appropriate procedural device to enforce a negotiable instrument when the defendant establishes no defense against enforcement. Once the plaintiff, the holder of a promissory note, proves the maker’s signature, or the maker admits it, the holder has made out his case by mere production of the note and is entitled to recover in the absence of any further evidence. Thomas v. Bryant, 597 So.2d 1065, 1068 (La.App. 2 Cir.1992); Johnson v. Drury, 99-1071 (La.App. 5 Cir. 6/2/00), 763 So.2d 103, 109.

[¡Negotiable instruments are deemed prima facie to have been issued for valuable consideration. Once the signature of the defendant is proven the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to show that the-note was given without consideration. However, once evidence has been introduced to rebut the presumption of .consideration the burden of proof shifts back to the plaintiff to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that there was consideration. Williamson v. Guice (La.App. 4 Cir.1993), 613 So.2d 797, 800 (La.App. 4 Cir.1993), writ denied, 617 So.2d 937 (La.1993). (citations omitted).

Applying these precepts, the court in Williamson found a promissory note in the amount of $22,000 to be null for want of consideration where defendant produced evidence that he only received $9,400 from plaintiff through wire transfers. Based on this evidence, the court found that defendant met his burden to rebut the presumption that adequate consideration was given for the note. Further, the court found that plaintiff failed to produce any evidence in the form of cancelled checks or receipts to support payment of the' $22,000 [392]*392stated on the promissory note. Williamson, supra.

Further, in both Malcombe v. LeBlanc, 539 So.2d 665 (La.App. 3 Cir.1989), and Ouachita National Bank in Monroe v. Gulf States Land and Development, Inc., 579 So.2d 1115 (La.App. 2 Cir.1991), writ denied, 587 So.2d 695 (La.1991), summary judgment in favor of the holder of a promissory note was defeated because the debt- or asserted a viable defense to liability on the note. In Malcombe, the debtor offered the deposition testimony of the creditor to prove an agreement that monthly payments could be made on the note, which evidence created an issue of fact as to whether the debtor was in default or whether the note was due at the time j ^alleged. Malcombe, 539 So.2d at 669-670. In Ouachita National Bank, the defendant’s allegation that the plaintiff breached an overall agreement, of which the notes were only a part, raised a genuine issue of material fact as to the question of liability on the note itself. Ouachita National Bank, 579 So.2d at 1123.

In support of their motion for summary judgment, the Celestins submitted a copy of the subject promissory note which was executed on October 2, 1997 by Gene Viola, Jr. in favor of the Celestins in the amount of $25,000.00. The question presented for our review is whether Mr. Viola asserted a valid defense to liability on this note sufficient to defeat summary judgment.

In the present case, appellant contends that there was no monetary consideration given for the note as the Celestins have alleged.

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Bluebook (online)
894 So. 2d 389, 4 La.App. 5 Cir. 1003, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 10, 2005 WL 57315, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/talley-v-celestin-lactapp-2005.