Twenty First Century Holdings, Inc. D/B/A American Geothermal Systems, Inc. Victor DeMarco And N. West Short v. Precision Geothermal Drilling, L.L.C.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 5, 2015
Docket03-13-00081-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Twenty First Century Holdings, Inc. D/B/A American Geothermal Systems, Inc. Victor DeMarco And N. West Short v. Precision Geothermal Drilling, L.L.C. (Twenty First Century Holdings, Inc. D/B/A American Geothermal Systems, Inc. Victor DeMarco And N. West Short v. Precision Geothermal Drilling, L.L.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Twenty First Century Holdings, Inc. D/B/A American Geothermal Systems, Inc. Victor DeMarco And N. West Short v. Precision Geothermal Drilling, L.L.C., (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

ACCEPTED 03-13-00081-CV 5163833 THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 5/5/2015 4:38:36 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE CLERK ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! No.!03'13'00081'CV! FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! AUSTIN, TEXAS ! 5/5/2015 4:38:36 PM IN#THE#COURT#OF#APPEALS# JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk FOR#THE#THIRD#DISTRICT#OF#TEXAS# AT#AUSTIN,#TEXAS# ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! TWENTY#FIRST#CENTURY#HOLDINGS,#INC.#D/B/A#AMERICAN#GEOTHERMAL# SYSTEMS,#INC.,#VICTOR#DEMARCO,#AND#N.#WEST#SHORT# # V.# # PRECISION#GEOTHERMAL#DRILLING,#L.L.C.# ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! FROM#THE#COUNTY#COURT#AT#LAW#NO.#2#OF#TRAVIS#COUNTY,# NO.#C<1

I. Because! the! issue! of! unfairness! has! not! been! fully! litigated! or! adjudicated,!the!September!2012!Settlement!Agreement!is!a!valid! and! enforceable! agreement.! Thus,! the! Court! cannot! unilaterally! declare! the! September! 2012! Settlement! Agreement! unfair! and! treat! it! as! void! by! failing! to! enforce! it.! Texas! Business! Organization!Code!section!101.255!only!gives!the!company!or!the! company’s! members! a! cause! of! action! against! the! “interested! governing! person”! if! the! company! or! the! company’s! members! believe! a! contract! is! not! fair.! Section! 101.255! does! not! automatically! void! an! unfair! contract.!Thus,! Patricia! Denny! must! assert! a! cause! of! action! against! Victor! DeMarco! to! determine! fairness,! obtain! findings! of! unfairness,! and! obtain! a! judgment! declaring! the!September! 2012! Settlement! Agreement! void!in! order!to!avoid!the!terms!of!that!agreement.!! ! II. Regardless,! even!if!the!Court!has!authority!to!determine!fairness! (which! it! does! not),! the! evidence! shows! that! Mr.! DeMarco’s! release! of! his! personal! claims! against! Ms.! Denny! and! the! other! items! Mr.! DeMarco! was! willing! to! give! in! exchange! for! a! “walkR away”!settlement,!do!have!value,!value!that!may!be!even!beyond! the!$5,100.00!negotiated!for!the!July!2012!Settlement!Agreement.!! ! III.! Because! the!September! 2012! Settlement! Agreement! is! valid! and! enforceable,! and! Mr.! DeMarco! was! denied! mediation! by! the! Justice! Court,! this! Court! should! compel! arbitration! pursuant! to! the!September!2012!Settlement!Agreement.! ! ! % %

! 1! STATEMENT%OF%FACTS!! ! This! case! originally! arose! under! a! Drilling! Agreement.! PGD! (a!

company! owned! in! part! by! Patricia! Denny! and! Victor! DeMarco)!

contended! that! AGSI! (a! company! owned! by! Mr.! DeMarco)! owed!

amounts!to!PGD!under!the!Drilling!Agreement,!and!AGSI!contended!that!

it!was!required!to!pay!a!third!party!to!do!what!PGD!was!required!to!do,!

namely!install!pilings,!and!that!it!didn’t!agree!to!pay!for!any!extras!for!

which!it!was!being!billed!by!PGD!(the!“Drilling!Dispute”).!(CR!38R44.)!

While! the! Drilling! Dispute! was! in! litigation,! a! separate! dispute!

arose! between! Mr.! DeMarco! and! PGD! concerning! Patricia! Denny’s!

operation! of! PGD! and! her! refusal! to! provide! documents! and! other!

information! he! had! requested! as! a! 49%! owner! of! PGD! (the! “PGD!

Dispute”).!Her!refusal!to!provide!the!requested!records!to!Mr.!DeMarco!

was!a!violation!of!the!Texas!Business!Organizations!Code.!!

On! our! about! June! 29,! 2012,! AGSI! and! PGD! settled! the! Drilling!

Dispute! for! a! lumpRsum! payment! by! AGSI! to! PGD! of! $5,100.00,! which!

settlement! was! confirmed! by! way! of! a! Rule! 11! Agreement! drafted! by!

PGD’s! counsel! and! filed! with! the! JP! Court.! (CR! 62.)! On! or! about! July! 6,!

2012,! PGD! drafted! and! sent! a! settlement! agreement! to! AGSI’s! counsel!

confirming!the!Drilling!Settlement.!(CR!63R64)!!

! 2! On! or! about! July! 9,! 102,! PGD! repudiated! the! Drilling! Settlement,!

retracted!the!settlement!agreement!it!had!sent,!and!demanded!that!Mr.!

DeMarco!also!agree!to!release!all!claims!arising!from!the!PGD!Dispute!as!

well,!which!was!not!part!of!the!Drilling!Settlement.!(CR!12;!CR!75R77.)!

Mr.!DeMarco!refused!to!release!his!claims.!!

When!PGD!finally!produced!the!documents!that!Mr.!DeMarco!had!

been!requesting,!the!documents!revealed,!among!other!things,!that:!(1)!

PGD!had!not!filed!a!tax!return!for!2011,!!generated!any!KR1!statements!

to!the!owners!of!PGD!for!2011,!or!obtained!an!extension!from!the!IRS!to!

file! PGD’s! 2011! tax! returns! (see! CR! 233);! (2)! no! meetings! of! the!

members! or! managers! of! PGD! had! ever! occurred;! (3)! without! Mr.!

DeMarco’s! knowledge! or! consent,! PGD! had! hired! and! been! paying! Ms.!

Denny’s! husband! as! a! “consultant”! to! PGD;! (4)! without! Mr.! DeMarco’s!

knowledge!or!consent,!Ms.!Denny!had!retroactively!changed!her!capital!

contributions! to! PGD! for! 2010! and! 2011! into! a! promissory! note! she!

signed! on! behalf! of! PGD! to! her! husband;! (5)! Mr.! DeMarco! was! and!

always!had!been!a!Manager!of!PGD,!notwithstanding!representations!by!

Ms.! Denny! to! Mr.! DeMarco! and! others! that! she! was! the! sole! Manager;!

and! (6)! PGD! is! minimally! capitalized,! and! hasn’t! done! any! business! or!

made!any!income!since!2011.!(CR!79R85.)!

! 3! Because! PGD! refused! to! proceed! with! the! July! 2012! Settlement!

Agreement! without! Mr.! DeMarco’s! release! of! claims! against! Ms.! Denny!

and! PGD,! and! failed! to! timely! produce! PGD’s! books! and! records! to! Mr.!

DeMarco,! it! is! suspected! that! Ms.! Denny! knew! all! along! that! she! was!

mismanaging! PGD! and! wanted! to! protect! herself! from! liability! for! her!

mismanagement!of!PGD.!!

Also,!PGD!refused!to!submit!its!federal!tax!returns!for!2011!unless!

and! until! Mr.! DeMarco! paid! the! $5,100.00! under! the! July! 2012!

Settlement!Agreement,!which!PGD!had!already!repudiated.!(CR!70R72.)!

PGD’s! counsel! again! stated! that! unless! Mr.! DeMarco! released! his!

claims!arising!from!the!PGD!Dispute,!PGD!would!set!the!Drilling!Lawsuit!

for!trial.!When!Mr.!Demarco!did!not!agree!to!release!his!claims!arising!

from! the! PGD! Dispute,! PGD’s! counsel,! having! repudiated! the! Drilling!

Settlement,!set!the!Drilling!Lawsuit!for!another!trial.!(CR!78.)!

In! addition! to! giving! Ms.! Denny! the! release! she! so! desperately!

wanted,! the! September! 2012! Settlement! Agreement! was! also! intended!

to! restore! PGD! into! compliance! with! state! and! federal! laws.! In! the!

September! 2012! Settlement! Agreement,! Mr.! DeMarco! settled! both! the!

Drilling!Dispute!and!the!PGD!Dispute!for!a!“walk!away,”!meaning!that!all!

parties—PGD,! AGSI,! Ms.! Denny,! and! Mr.! DeMarco—would! release! all!

! 4! claims! against! each! other,! without! any! payment! by! any! party.! (CR! 79R

85.)! Given! the! irregularities! in! PGD’s! books! &! records! produced,! the!

extreme!delays!in!producing!such!records,!and!the!failure!to!file!PGD’s!

2011!tax!return,!Mr.!DeMarco!also!agreed!to!hire!and!pay!a!CPA!firm!to!

prepare! PGD’s! tax! return! for! 2011! and! balance! and! rehabilitate! PGD’s!

books! and! records,! at! his! own! expense.! (CR! 81.)! The! September! 2012!

Settlement!Agreement!also!included!a!mediation!and!arbitration!clause!

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Twenty First Century Holdings, Inc. D/B/A American Geothermal Systems, Inc. Victor DeMarco And N. West Short v. Precision Geothermal Drilling, L.L.C., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/twenty-first-century-holdings-inc-dba-american-geothermal-systems-inc-texapp-2015.