Tedesco v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. CA4/2

California Court of Appeal·Decided October 16, 2020·No. E070407·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 10/16/20 Tedesco v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO

THOMAS S. TEDESCO, Plaintiff and Appellant, E070407 v. (Super.Ct.No. PSC1704669) WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A. et al., OPINION Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. James T. Latting, Judge.

Affirmed.

Herzog, Yuhas, Ehrlich & Ardell, Ian Herzog, Evan D. Marshall; Law Offices of Joseph D. Davis and Joseph D. Davis for Plaintiff and Appellant.

McGuireWoods, Leslie Mark Werlin and Alicia A. Baiardo for Defendants and Respondents.

Plaintiff and appellant Thomas S. Tedesco1 (Thomas), by his guardian ad litem Stephen Carpenter, appeals from two judgments of dismissal entered on April 5, 2018, after the trial court sustained the demurrers of defendants and respondents Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and Michael A. Bas (collectively the bank defendants), without leave to amend, to Thomas’s first amended complaint (FAC). The FAC alleged causes of action for, inter alia, negligence, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty based on the bank defendants’ transfer of control of an account containing some $30 million (the funds), belonging to a limited partnership of which Thomas was the general partner.

On appeal, Thomas contends the bank defendants: (1) breached the duty of due care owed to him as a depositor (breach of fiduciary duty); (2) negligently and wrongfully transferred control of the funds (conversion); and (3) knew or should have known the documents presented to Wells Fargo did not provide a valid basis to transfer control of the funds (financial elder abuse). As to Bas, Thomas contends he: (1) is liable for cancellation and rescission of a series of documents, which transferred control of the funds (cancellation/rescission); (2) breached the duty of care by transferring control of the funds (negligence); (3) participated in the manufacturing of fraudulent documents used to transfer control of the funds (fraud); and (4) was properly joined in the claim for declaratory relief. Thomas further contends the trial court erred in denying him leave to amend. We affirm.

1 We refer to the Tedesco family members by their first names to avoid confusion.

We mean no disrespect in doing so. (Estate of O’Connor (2018) 26 Cal.App.5th 871, 875, fn. 2.)

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND AND FACTS On July 28, 1988, Thomas and Wanda created the Tedesco Family Trust. In 1993, Thomas was the sole general partner and owner of the controlling one percent general partnership interest, and 98 percent limited partnership interest, in TW Tedesco Properties, L.P., a California limited partnership (Tedesco Properties).2 Following Wanda’s death in 2002, the Tedesco Family Trust was divided into five separate trusts, one of which is the living trust, which was restated in a complete amendment and restatement dated February 11, 2011. On an annual basis, Thomas gifted approximately one-half percent interest in Tedesco Properties to his daughters, Laura K. White, Julie M. Bas, and Sandra L. Kay. Thomas also transferred his interest in Tedesco Properties to his living trust and, therefore, remained the beneficial owner.

On December 13, 2012, Thomas sold a 12.17 percent limited partnership interest in Tedesco Properties to himself as trustee of the living trust. On December 26, 2012, he gifted his one percent general partnership interest in Tedesco Properties to W. Mae, LLC, which is held by his daughters, and gifted 11.7 percent of his limited partnership interest in Tedesco Properties to his daughters’ trusts. A “Seventeenth Amendment to the Agreement of Limited Partnership of TW Tedesco Properties” was executed and filed to reflect these actions.

In early 2013, Thomas became “seriously ill and underwent two surgeries requiring general anesthesia in or about April 2013.” During the following year, he was

2 Wanda owned the remaining one percent limited partnership interest.

of “diminished health and mental capacity, and was reliant in part upon his family members, including [his daughters], to assist him in his business and financial affairs. Because of his temporarily diminished health and vitality, [he] was susceptible to the undue influence of others and unable to fully care for his own finances, to understand the influence of persons seeking to have him transfer his funds or assets or control of his property against his self-interest, or to resist fraud.” Effective June 5, 2013, Thomas resigned as trustee of the living trust, and his daughters became successor trustees.

On August 25, 2017, Thomas (who was then 91 years old) initiated this action alleging various misdeeds by his daughters, his former attorneys, and the bank defendants, regarding his ownership interest in Tedesco Properties and his various trusts. More specifically, Thomas claimed his daughters and others participated in the manufacture of documents, which were used to transfer the controlling interest in Tedesco Properties to his daughters and entities controlled by his daughters. By way of the FAC filed on October 20, 2017, Thomas alleged three causes of action against Wells Fargo (negligence, financial elder abuse, & conversion) and seven causes of action against Bas (cancellation/rescission of documents, breach of fiduciary duty, financial elder abuse, fraud/misrepresentation, negligence, conversion, & declaratory relief). Thomas contends the bank defendants breached their fiduciary duties by failing to (1) contact him, (2) take any measure to assure the validity of the documents transferring his control and interest in Tedesco Properties, along with the funds, and (3) investigate the documents’ authenticity or legal validity.

On January 10, 2018, both Wells Fargo and Bas demurred to the FAC; they primarily argued they owed no duty of care to Thomas, and he cannot establish they caused him harm. After hearing the matters, the trial court sustained both demurrers without leave to amend. Thomas appeals.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Preliminary Matters.

1. Thomas’s standing.

Before we address the merits of the issues raised, we acknowledge the bank defendants’ contention that Thomas lacks standing to “sue for any claimed damage to, loss, or impairment of Partnership property” because Tedesco Properties, not Thomas, is the aggrieved party. The bank defendants argue an individual partner may not sue an outsider “for damage to ‘his’ beneficial interest in the partnership property.” (Mayer v. C.W. Driver (2002) 98 Cal.App.4th 48, 60 [“The property was the partnership’s. The [general and limited partners] could not have sued individually for damage to their individual ‘beneficial interest’ in partnership property . . . .”].) Likewise, they assert an individual partner may not sue on behalf of the partnership when his or her claims are individual in nature and not derivative. (Everest Investors 8 v. McNeil Partners (2003) 114 Cal.App.4th 411, 424 [“A partnership is an entity separate and apart from the partners of which it is comprised, and it is the partnership entity which owns its assets, not the partners.”]; see id. at pp. 425-429.)

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