Wingold v. Horowitz

274 So. 2d 591, 1973 Fla. App. LEXIS 7199
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 6, 1973
DocketNo. 71-1324
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 274 So. 2d 591 (Wingold v. Horowitz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wingold v. Horowitz, 274 So. 2d 591, 1973 Fla. App. LEXIS 7199 (Fla. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This case arose out of an action instituted by the appellants, as plaintiffs in the trial court, whereby they sought an accounting, foreclosure of a lien, temporary injunction, and the appointment of a receiver among other things.

In his final judgment and decree, the chancellor made the following findings of fact, conclusions of law, and adjudications:

* # * * * *

“2) The Plaintiff, MORRY WINGOLD, is a resident of Canada. He is in complete ownership and control of the corporate Plaintiff, W & G HOLDINGS, LTD.

“3) The Defendant, BERNARD H. HOROWITZ, is a resident of Dade County, Florida. He is in complete ownership and control of the corporate Defendants, FIRST AMERICAN, LIMITED, SEABOARD HOLDINGS, LIMITED and MIAMI BEACH HOLDING COMPANY. He owns a substantial majority of the stock of FIRST AMERICAN INVESTMENT and MANAGEMENT COMPANY. Each of those corporations has personally appeared in this cause by and through Answer and Motions filed herein.

“4) This action was brought by the Plaintiffs to enforce a debt against securities located in Dade County, Florida. Other assets were brought into the receivershipi in this case and delivered to the receiver pursuant to Order of this court, and are presently in the receiver’s hands and are subject to this Judgment and Decree.

“5) This court has jurisdiction of all the parties to this cause and of the subject matter hereof.

“6) Toward the end of 1970, Defendant, HOROWITZ, acting through his corporations, was selling to the public lots located in the Bon Accord Tract on Long Island in the Bahamas. HOROWITZ had caused this tract to be subdivided into some 460 lots. By the end of 1970, eighty three lots had been sold to various purchasers on the installment basis. MR. HOROWITZ had put some $190,000 into the project, either directly or acting through his corporations.

“7) The HOROWITZ interests did not own the Bon Accord tract. HOROWITZ had an agreement to purchase it. The completion of the purchase and other minor expenses required additional financing of approximately $150,000.

“8) By the end of 1790, MR. HOROWITZ had determined not to put any more money into the Bon Accord project. He wished to secure outside money for its completion. He began negotiations with the Plaintiff, WINGOLD. On December 21, 1970, First American Limited, MR. HOROWITZ’S corporation, and IDEAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED, which owned the Bon Accord Tract, executed a written extension of time to close until February 1, 1971 for the sum of $5,000. According to MR. HOROWITZ, any further extensions of time to close on the Bon Accord tract could have been obtained by him at the rate of $5,000 per month. Having obtained the extension from the owners of the tract, MR. HOROWITZ continued to negotiate with WINGOLD.

“9) On February 1, 1971, MR. HOROWITZ and MR. WINGOLD agreed in writing that WINGOLD would advance $18,500 as a deposit on the balance due on the Bon Accord tract and MR. HOROWITZ agreed that he would repay the $18,500 to MR. WINGOLD if the purchase was not completed and if HOROWITZ did not wish to continue, WIN-GOLD could take over the transaction in its entirety. On that same day, an agreement was executed between counsel for Ideal Investment, the owners of the Bon Accord tract and counsel for NASSAU OAK-LANDS LIMITED, a Bahamian corporation, whereby NASSAU OAKLANDS LIMITED advanced the $18,500 and ob[593]*593tained a maximum of thirty (30) days to close the transaction. NASSAU OAK-LANDS LIMITED was a company which had been formed for MR. WINGOLD’s use and was owned or controlled by him. The company had not been active before.

“10) On February 16, 1971, the parties met in the Bahamas to consulate the transaction they had been negotiating. There were present at the meeting, MR. WIN-GOLD and Mr. Toothe, his counsel, MR. HOROWITZ and Mr. Trask, his counsel; and Barry Shapiro, MR. WINGOLD’s son-in-law.

“11) The transaction in substance was that NASSAU OAKLANDS LIMITED would purchase the Bond Accord tract. MR. WINGOLD would advance or cause to be advanced to NASSAU OAKLANDS, or for its benefit, the sum of $150,000, including the $18,500 paid on February 1. NASSAU OAKLANDS would execute a mortgage for the $150,000 to MR. WINGOLD or to a corporation owned or controlled by him (which is W & G HOLDINGS, LIMITED, Plaintiff here), the said mortgage to bear interest at 12% per annum and to amortize itself until paid at the rate of $5,000 per month. The first payment would become due March 16, 1971, or one month after date. WINGOLD would own 51% of NASSAU OAKLANDS and HOROWITZ 49% until the mortgage was paid at which time it would become 50-50. HOROWITZ would cause the accounts receivable he had created on the Bon Accord tract (resulting from the sale of the 83 lots aforementioned) to be assigned to NASSAU OAKLANDS LIMITED and he or his corporation would service the accounts receiving 10% of the receipts thereof. In addition, MR. HOROWITZ, through FIRST AMERICAN INVESTMENT and MANAGEMENT COMPANY, contracted to sell the balance of the Bon Accord property for NASSAU OAKLANDS; FIRST AMERICAN to receive 45% of the sales price as commission. That contract, Exhibit E in evidence, provided that SEABOARD HOLDING, INC., owned by MR. HOROWITZ, was designated (until further notice by NASSAU OAKLANDS) to handle the monies. Thus it was, that out of each dollar of sales created by HOROWITZ, his corporation would receive 45% in commission, (plus an additional 10% for servicing the accounts) and additionally, HOROWITZ would receive approximately 22^4% of the balance as a stockholder in NASSAU OAKLANDS.

“12) The negotiations on February 16 took all day. Papers were drafter and re-drafted at the instance of the parties and changes were made at the request of the HOROWITZ interest. As part of the negotiations, WINGOLD required securities for the payment of the mortgage. HOROWITZ gave securities as follows:

a) He executed a personal guarantee and assigned as security therefore a note from Cavanagh Leasing Corp., Exhibit G in evidence. HOROWITZ contends that the note was non-assignable; however, the Court finds that it had been previously assigned by MR. HOROWITZ to a national bank to secure a loan and that in any event, as between HOROWITZ and WIN-GOLD, HOROWITZ cannot advance the defense of non-assignability.

b) HOROWITZ caused MIAMI BEACH HOLDING CO., to guarantee re-payment by NASSAU OAKLANDS of the mortgage and he pledged all of the accounts receivable of MIAMI BEACH HOLDING CO. theretofore, or thereafter created with the land underlying.

“13) During the course of negotiations, HOROWITZ required that NASSAU OAKLANDS LIMITED pay $50,000 for the Bon Accord accounts receivable, the same to be evidenced by a promissory note to be payable to FIRST AMERICAN INVESTMENT and MANAGEMENT COMPANY. During the course of negotiations, the amount of the mortgage from NASSAU OAKLANDS LIMITED to W & G HOLDINGS LIMITED was increased from $150,000 to $200,000 and the interest rate was reduced from 12% to 9%. [594]*594“14) The $150,000 was advanced by MR. WINGOLD through his counsel, Mr. Patrick Toothe’s trust account. Mr. Toothe disbursed it as shown by his reconciliation in evidence for the purposes therein shown which the Court finds to be proper. The payment due March 16, 1971, from NASSAU OAKLANDS. LIMITED to W & G HOLDINGS, LIMITED on the mortgage was not made in full and the mortgage has been in default since that date.

“15) In passing on the credibility of the various parties testifying, the Court notes that MR.

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274 So. 2d 591, 1973 Fla. App. LEXIS 7199, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wingold-v-horowitz-fladistctapp-1973.