Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. of Am. v. Paderta

315 F. Supp. 3d 1096
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 29, 2018
DocketNo. 10 C 406
StatusPublished

This text of 315 F. Supp. 3d 1096 (Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. of Am. v. Paderta) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. of Am. v. Paderta, 315 F. Supp. 3d 1096 (illinoised 2018).

Opinion

Honorable Thomas M. Durkin, United States District Judge

Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. of America seeks to have Fifth Third Bank pay it funds deposited in a Fifth Third account, which Fifth Third took to satisfy a loan it made to the account holder. Travelers alleges that it has standing because, pursuant to certain surety and indemnity agreements, it is the equitable subrogee of (a) the account holder, (b) the entities that paid the funds in question to the account holder, and (c) entities that the account holder had an obligation to pay using the funds. Travelers and Fifth Third have cross moved for summary judgment on liability on Counts I (conversion) and II (constructive trust)-i.e., the issue of which of them has priority to the funds. See R. 184; R. 187. For the following reasons, Travelers's motion is granted, and Fifth Third's motion is denied.

*1098Legal Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The Court considers the entire evidentiary record and must view all of the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences from that evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Ball v. Kotter , 723 F.3d 813, 821 (7th Cir. 2013). To defeat summary judgment, a nonmovant must produce more than "a mere scintilla of evidence" and come forward with "specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Harris N.A. v. Hershey , 711 F.3d 794, 798 (7th Cir. 2013). Ultimately, summary judgment is warranted only if a reasonable jury could not return a verdict for the nonmovant. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

Background1

I. Krahl & Travelers

Krahl was a general contractor in the business of providing general contracting services for construction projects. R. 185 ¶ 6. The owners of some of the projects Krahl undertook required Krahl to obtain performance surety bonds to guarantee Krahl's performance, including payment of subcontractors, and required the subcontractors to submit lien waivers in order to receive payment from the project owners through Krahl as general contractor. Id. ¶ 7. Travelers issued such surety bonds for Krahl. Id. ¶¶ 8, 10. To receive surety bonds from Travelers, Krahl also had to enter into a indemnity agreement with Travelers. Id. ¶ 11. According to the indemnity agreements, Krahl was required to hold the funds it received from project owners in trust. Id. ¶ 15. But the agreement does not specifically require Krahl to segregate the funds or otherwise identify them as funds held in trust. Id. ¶ 19; see also id. ¶¶ 20-22.

At Krahl's request, Travelers issued surety bonds for the following seven projects in Illinois and Colorado relevant to this case: Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Bond 105150320); Rush University Medical Center (Bonds 105150332, 105200157, 105200155, 105268775); Trammell Crow Co. (Bond 105268769); City and County of Denver (Bond 105268766). Id. ¶ 23. These seven bonds covered a "combined penal sum" of about $40 million. Id. The subcontractors on these projects submitted lien waivers. Id. ¶¶ 94, 101, 108, 115, 122, 129, 135.

II. Krahl & Fifth Third

Krahl borrowed $6 million from Fifth Third over a period of about five years pursuant to a revolving line of credit. Id. ¶ 28. The loan documents provided Fifth Third a security interest in all of Krahl's accounts receivable and proceeds thereof, and in all of Krahl's deposit accounts. Id. ¶ 29. The loan documents also defined "Right of Setoff" as follows:

To the extent permitted under applicable law, [Fifth Third] reserves a right of setoff in all [Krahl's] accounts with [Fifth Third] (whether checking, savings, or some other account) .... However, this does not include ... any trust accounts for which setoff would be prohibited by law.

Id. ¶ 56.

Krahl also opened a deposit account with Fifth Third. Id. ¶ 30. The account was not designated as a trust account, and included no other similar restriction or designation.

*1099Id. Krahl regularly made deposits into and withdrawals from this account. Id.

III. Fifth Third's Knowledge of Krahl's Business

Fifth Third considered its loans to Krahl to be "high quality, high performing." Id. ¶ 31. Because of the quality of the loans made to Krahl, Krahl was only required to submit "gross numbers and balances on its various projects-the details of each project, information about accounts receivable [and payable]" were not required by Fifth Third. Id. Nevertheless, Fifth Third admits that it had documents in its possession showing that some of Krahl's projects required Krahl to obtain surety bonds, and that Travelers had issued such bonds for some of Krahl's projects. Id. ¶ 33. For example, Krahl submitted to Fifth Third a document titled, "Request for Credit Commitment," describing Krahl's business and noting that it sometimes was required to obtain surety bonds for its projects, and that the number of projects requiring such bonds was "growing." Id. ¶¶ 34-35. Fifth Third's analysis also noted that all five of Krahl's largest accounts were bonded projects. Id. ¶¶ 38-39. Additionally, Fifth Third's analysis of Krahl's finances distinguished between bonded and non-bonded accounts receivable, because bonded accounts receivable had "diminished collateral value." Id. ¶ 40; see also id. ¶¶ 37, 40-42, 58-59.

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Bluebook (online)
315 F. Supp. 3d 1096, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travelers-cas-sur-co-of-am-v-paderta-illinoised-2018.